Already out for the Wii platform, the extended cut of House of the Dead: Overkill has been effectively banned on the PS3. Huh? UPDATED.
So here's today's dose of WTF classification news. House of the Dead: Overkill - already available on Wii, has been refused classification for its 'extended cut' release on the Playstation 3.
Sega, publisher of the hyperviolent game, is understandably miffed. "There are far worse titles currently available in the marketplace which involve more than shooting down mutants in humorous circumstances," said MD Darren Macbeth in a release today. "We will do everything we can to prove that House of the Dead: Overkill is worthy of an MA15+ rating in Australia."
Now, sure, this is a game that, during its climax, features a villain crawling back into the bloody vagina of its mother. It's called 'Overkill' for a reason. It's also terribly shlocky, very tongue in cheek, and - most importantly of all - already out! Overkill was rated MA15+ back in 2008 for the Wii. We've contacted the newly renamed 'Classification Operations Branch of Australia', but we're expecting that to take a while.
Perhaps motion controlled violence is less impactful? We have no idea.
UPDATE: Mark Serrels over at Kotaku has uncovered exactly why the game was refused, but it still feels flimsy to us. Check out his piece.
Issue: 137 | June, 2012