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Tag: Australia

  • Canadian Travel Scam Turns Australian Couples into Drug Mules

    The Australian reports that a Perth couple were conned into being drug mules by a bogus Canadian travel agency.

    It all looked legit, at least on the surface. A 72-year-old man and his 64-year-old wife entered a sweepstakes for a bargain holiday to Canada, and ended up back in Australia with 3.5kg in crystal meth rocks instead of their original luggage.

    “Be very careful if you win anything,” the woman cautions reporters under the conditions of anonymity. “I could have ended up in jail for 25 years, and they could have ruined my life. So be very wary, be very careful and check everything out.”

    Australian Customs Officials and Australian Federal Police uncovered the scam earlier this month in a joint investigation. A Canada-based website that was a front for a fake Canadian tour company named AUSCAN Tours was responsible for managing the sweepstakes, which specifically targeted elderly Australian couples with an all-expenses-paid trip.

    Once the “lucky winners” have enjoyed their peaceful vacation, their bags are swapped at the airport and the couple carries the drugs back to their home country. An agent was scheduled to meet with this particular couple when they returned, but they thought there was something wrong with their bags, and reported them to Customs officials.

    A search warrant was issued, and a car and hotel room were searched. Police reported uncovering documents relevant to the con job, more bags just like those used to smuggle the drugs, and $15,000 in cash. A 38-year-old Canadian was arrested at the airport the same day the warrants were carried out, and he is being charged with importing commercial quantities of a border-controlled substance.

    The AFP’s Airport Police Commander, David Bachi, said “The organizers of this scam went to great lengths to provide a façade of legitimacy. Thankfully the travellers contacted Customs and didn’t dismiss their concerns, allowing us to make the arrest.”

    [Image via this YouTube video about Australian Border Security]

  • Kickstarter Australia and New Zealand Goes Live for Project Building

    Last month, Kickstarter announced that they would soon open up to projects based in Australia and New Zealand – but didn’t give an exact timeframe for the launch. Wonder no more, today the company says that people in those regions can start building their projects today.

    Note that this is simply the kickoff – the project building time. Kickstarter says that you’ll be able to officially launch your Australia and New Zealand-based projects on November 13th.

    This month-long preparatory period is nothing new for Kickstarter. They did the same thing when they first launched in the UK and more recently, when they finally launched in Canada. Speaking of Canada, the company just announced that they saw over $3 million in pledges in the first month of being live in the country.

    As with the UK and Canada, launching into Australia and New Zealand is a pretty simple transition for Kickstarter. There won’t be a separate site for Australia-based projects – they’ll be integrated into the rest of the projects on the main site. Projects will be listed in AUD and NZD, and anyone in the world can make pledges toward them. The only real difference between projects based in the US and those based in Australia and New Zealand is in the payments.

    “The mechanics of Kickstarter (all-or-nothing funding, rewards, etc.) are identical for all projects. When pledging, however, backers of Australia- and New Zealand-based projects will enter their payment information directly on Kickstarter rather than through Amazon Payments. All pledges will be processed securely through a third-party payments processor,” says Kickstarter.

    Earlier this week, Kickstarter crossed the 50,000 successfully funded projects milestone.

    Image via Kickstarter Australia

  • Azealia Banks Cuts Show Short Due To Flying Can

    Azealia Banks cut short another festival performance on Saturday after she was pelted with a can onstage, leaving before the first song of the set was even finished. It was the second time in a week she’s disappointed Australian audiences.

    Banks was about 90 seconds into her song “ATM Jam” when the projectile was thrown at the Listen Out Festival in the Royal Botanic Gardens. Later, the 22-year old singer tweeted an apology to fans, saying she would still perform in Brisbane on Sunday. However, Melbourne attendees took to Twitter to complain about the short set, saying they wanted a refund for the $132 tickets.

    Banks can be seen in the video below storming offstage immediately after the can was thrown, shutting down the performance.

    “The incident made Azealia and her stage crew feel unsafe,” her reps said in a statement.

    The singer had a similar incident last week in Sydney, when a full can of beer was thrown onstage.

  • Taylor Swift Makes Touring Records

    We just heard about pop diva, P!nk’s tour success (her recent tour stop of Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena marked the 18th sold out performance) but is she the only one breaking records this week?

    Nope.

    Leave it to genre bouncing musician, America’s sweetheart, Miss Taylor Swift to also come out on top.

    Known for her country prowess, Swift lands among the other top-grossing touring artists in a comfortable No. 3 spot. Her claimed spot is all thanks to the mile-high ticket sales from the last four arenas on the North American part of her Red tour.

    The final three-night stand concerts took place in the heart of where country music resides, Nashville, TN. With sold out crowds at Nashville’s downtown Bridgestone Arena on Sept. 19-21, Swift’s tour was blazing hot. (It did help that Euro cutie with an acoustic guitar, Ed Sheeran, was there performing as an opening act.)

    The country superstar performed everything that weekend from “22” to “I Knew You were Trouble.” She also performed her song, “Everything has Changed,” her duet with Sheeran.

    Here’s a peak at the duo singing at one of her many tour stops on the Red tour.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5aC5r6KvWs

    The overall grosses from the tour currently resides at $115.3 million. Since starting the tour in March, the “Red hot” tour has had attendance at 1.3 million from an astonishing 66 sold out shows.

    The tour will resume the final weekend of November with a five-city run all the way through markets in New Zealand and Australia.

    You better grab your tickets now because the tour ends on Dec. 14. (Since these are hot tickets, your best bet is to check with the individual box offices the day of the concert.)

    Photo Credit: YouTube

  • P!nk Breaks Touring Records in Australia

    P!nk Breaks Touring Records in Australia

    She’s known for her hot pink hair and even hotter attitude. But as of lately, the bad gal of the pop world, P!nk, is dominating some other, more important categories. The diva pop star dominated the weekly tally of Hot Tours with a sky-high record breaking 18-show engagement. This all happened during the Australian part of the diva’s Truth About Love tour.

    Take a look at the opening of her stop in Melbourne, here.

    The 34-year-old pop sensation broke her very own mark performing at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne-the second most populated city in Australia. Her performance was marked as the 18th sold out performance. This set a house record in 2009 with a whopping 17 shows sold out on P!nk’s Funhouse tour.

    The combined gross of $29.2 million (in US$) in Melbourne is the greatest gross for any headliner at a single venue this year.

    Alecia Beth Moore, commonly known as P!nk has been around the music scene since becoming a member of the girl group, Choice. After wanting to break out on her own, the singer-songwriter began her solo career in 2000 with the hit single, “There You Go.” Her debut album, “Can’t Take Me Home” was just the start of the young talent’s success. The album soon was certified double-platinum in the United States.

    The Pennsylvania native has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide along with winning many accolades including three Grammy Awards.

    Follow the diva on Twitter here.

    Photo Credit: YouTube

  • Tony Abbott PM-elect party wins Australian elections

    Australians learned election results Saturday and it was an overwhelming victory for the conservative opposition party. Early Sunday reports indicated the coalition would win a clear majority of 88 out of the 150 House of Representative seats. Labor would probably win 57. Projections in the Senate are less positive for the Liberal party.

    The win for the Tony Abbott-led opposition cuts off what many consider six years of stormy Labor Party rule—marked by infighting and a troubled economy. Prime Minister-elect Abbott declared the nation, “under new management.”

    This election comes only three months after Australia’s first female prime minister, Julia Gillard, was ousted by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Rudd conceded defeat Saturday: “I telephoned Tony Abbott to concede defeat at these national elections. As prime minister of Australia I wish him well now in the high office of prime minister of this country.” Rudd and his wife also wished Abbott’s family well with forthcoming stresses of the office, saying, “We know a little bit of what that is like.” Rudd also announced plans to step down as Labor leader.

    Campaign platforms and issues include the economy—unemployment and foreign aid being key topics—Indonesian asylum seekers sailing into Aussie waters and climate change; on the latter, Abbott is announcing his first action will be repealing an unpopular tax on Australia’s biggest polluters, which he ties to increasing power bills among citizens.

    Abbott’s campaign made frequent use of social media, keeping Facebook and Twitter accounts up-to-date, and at times humorous…

    So what does this say for negative press about Abbott’s popularity? Pre-election press was full of dismal reports about the 55-year-old’s popularity, labeling him as “polarizing.” Abbott seems to be catapulting into the Prime Minister’s seat from improved reactions just this week. He held a confident lead in opinion polls before Australians came out to vote though he only passed Rudd this week. Polling in July by Sydney-based Newspoll had Rudd in the lead 50% to 34%.

    In fun and actually related news, Google fashioned an election-day doodle for the Australian elections this week, demonstrating the process by which a ballot gets to the polling box.

    (image)

    [Image from Tony Abbott Official Facebook and Doodle Collect.]

  • Kickstarter Expanding to Australia and New Zealand ‘Soon’

    Kickstarter has announced that it will open up to Australia- and New Zealand-based projects soon. While there is no official launch date, the company promises that project creators in those countries will have access to its platform “in the very near future.”

    Kickstarter currently operates in the US and the UK. Entrepreneurs in Canada are able to start building their projects now, and they’ll go live on the Canadian Kickstarter site on September 9, 2013.

    The reaction on Twitter to news of Kickstarter’s most recent expansion is positive for the most part:

    Existing Australian crowdfunding platform Pozible pointed out that it’s already been providing this service for a few years now:

    Reaction was overwhelmingly positive when Kickstarter posted the announcement on its Facebook page. In fact, users in Europe and Asia chimed in asking when the company plans to expand into other countries.

    What exactly does this announcement mean for project creators in Australia and New Zealand?

    For now, they can sign up at Kickstarter Australia to receive updates on the launch. The company is also hosting free Kickstarter Schools in Sydney this month.

    Some hope to see a Kickstarter team physically located in Australia at some point in the future. If the way the company has handled its expansion into Canada is any indication, project creators in Australia and New Zealand can eventually expect to see meetups, workshops, and – at the very least – online office hours.

    A search by location on Kickstarter reveals Australia-based projects currently exist, but they’re being operated on the US side of the site. The launch of an official Australia/New Zealand site will make currency exchange and compliance with country-specific government regulations much easier for project creators.

    Image: Kickstarter

  • Intel Report: Syrian Regime Confirmed Chem Agressor

    Recognizing the number of casualties is a moving target, at least 426 children are among the 1,429 people killed in last week’s chemical weapons attacks in Syria. The UN estimates 70,000+ have been killed during the two year conflict as featured in a Syria-focused Flipbook magazine by the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders.

    These casualty numbers attributed to the attacks were disclosed in today’s Unclassified US Intelligence Assessment, which included the above map. The report asserts, “with high confidence that the Syrian government carried out a chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburbs on August 21, 2013. We further assess that the regime used a nerve agent in the attack.”

    While policy makers have been saying this since early in the week, the assessment provides a platform for US responses moving forward.

    The assessment which was issued by the White House Press Office is a result of all-source analysis across the Intelligence Community and in addition to traditional intel reporting, utilizes testimonials from medical personnel, witnesses and social media. Social media reporting started at 2:30 am local time on the day of the attacks and after four hours, thousands had communicated from no less than 12 Damascus-area locations. Policy makers also received a Classified briefing on the report which will not be released to the public so as to protect sources and methods.

    “There is a substantial body of information that implicates the Syrian government’s responsibility in the chemical weapons attack,” the assessment concludes. Intercepts of Syrian officials give evidence that the regime initiated the attacks. Similar reports even revealed concerns about UN inspectors obtaining evidence in the aftermath. Intelligence suggests the regime continued shelling in nearby neighborhoods through the early hours of 26 August.

    President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry both issued statements today in response to the assessment. The President is still considering options but he stressed that any action taken would be, “a limited, narrow act,” that would not require, “boots on the ground.”

    NBC News conducted a survey shortly before the release of the assessment in which 35 out of 100 respondents approved of Obama’s handling of the Syrian case. Half would support a US military response if it was restricted to air strikes launched from US ships.

    Secretary Kerry urged the American public to read the intelligence assessment in its entirety, stressing the Administration’s desire to share available information, “with the citizens who have entrusted all of us… with the responsibility for their security.”

    “And we know it was ordinary Syrian citizens who reported all the horrors.” Kerry commended those who turned to social media, “we know, as does the world, that just 90 minutes later all hell broke loose in the social media.”

    Reasoning for the regime’s appalling actions is believed to be frustration with an inability to secure Damascus and its suburbs with conventional weapons against oppositionists. In fact, the Syrian regime may have conducted earlier, small scale chemical weapons attacks in the last year, the assessment goes on to report. The US is joined in confirming Damascus’ culpability in the attacks by Australia, Britain, France and Turkey; Britain alone has come out firmly against a military response.

    [Images via the White House Press Office.]

  • Crocodile Attack During Birthday Party

    Crocodile Attack During Birthday Party

    A crocodile attack occurred Saturday in the Northern Territory of Australia at Mary River Park. The popular camping site and tourist destination is located 65 miles from Darwin, the state’s capital.

    “The Mary River [in Australia] is known worldwide to have the greatest saturation of adult saltwater crocodiles in the world,” said Senior Sergeant Geoff Bahnert. Why then, did a 24-year-old man, knowing this fact, decide to take a swim in this river?

    A group of friends were celebrating one of the members 30th birthday at Mary River Park. One of the party goers, his name has not yet been identified by officials, along with his friend, decided to swim in the river. They avoided the signs that were posted warning swimmers to stay out of the water and as they made their way way across the river, one of the men was suddenly snatched by a 5 meter-long crocodile.

    http://youtu.be/Rwoang3yCic

    Bahnert, who is from the Northern Territory Police Force said: “Several of the group in the party witnessed the male being taken in the jaws of the croc for a period of time, and then he was out of sight.”

    Police carried out a search for the man on Saturday and were continuing their search on Sunday. In the process of searching for the victim, the police had to kill the largest crocodile at the site for the safety of the search team.

    The man has still not been found and has been presumed to be dead. It is unknown whether or not alcohol played a factor in the man’s decision to swim in the river.

    “We tell people to stay away from the water, they obviously went against this (and) a man was taken,” an employee of the resort, Erin Bayard said. “We say to everybody it’s full of crocs. It’s one of the most populated rivers in the Territory, every couple of kilometres there is a large croc.”

    Image via thinkstock.com

  • Oklahoma Shooting: Teens Killed “For the Fun of it”

    Three teenagers have been charged in the murder of 22-year-old Christopher Lane.

    Lane, an Australian native, was attending college on a baseball scholarship at the East Central University. He was visiting his girlfriend in Duncan, Oklahoma, when he decided to go for a jog. Little did he know that he was about to be the victim of a “senseless” murder.

    Danny Ford, chief of Duncan Police Department, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation: “He apparently was jogging. He went by a residence where these three boys were, they picked him as a target, they went out and got in a vehicle and followed him. Came up from behind and basically shot him in the back with a small caliber weapon, then sped away.”

    Prosecutor Jason Hicks called the boys as “thugs” as he described what happened that day saying, Luna was sitting in the back seat of the car when he pulled the trigger on a .22 caliber revolver and shot Lane once in the back. He said that Jones was driving the vehicle and Edwards was riding along in the passenger seat.

    (image)

    16-year-old, Chancey Allen Luna, and 15-year-old, James Francis Edwards Jr., are being charged as adults with first-degree murder. They are both currently being held without bond. The third teenager, Michael Jones is being charged with accessory as he is the one who was allegedly driving the vehicle. His bond was set at $1 million.

    http://youtu.be/kcsmQYEUG5Q

    It is reported that Edwards has had previous encounters with the law. “I believe this man is a threat to the community and should not be let out,” Hicks said while requesting no bond for Edwards. “He thinks it’s all a joke.” Police believe that Lane was randomly chosen by the three boys who told police that they shot and killed Lane for “the fun of it” and because they were bored.

    Lane’s father can not understand what would make these boys do something like this. He says his son’s death was pointless. “There’s not going to be any good come out of this because it was just so senseless,” he told reporters in Melbourne. “There wasn’t anything he did or could have done. He was an athlete going for a jog like he would do five or six days a week in terms of his training schedule. He was just a kid on the cusp of making his life. To try and understand it is a short way to insanity.”

  • Researchers Use 3D Printers To Make Cartilage

    Cartilage is an incredibly vital component of our bodies. Unfortunately, it can be easily damaged by a variety of diseases and injuries. To replace it, researchers have turned to 3D printers.

    The Herald Sun reports that researchers at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne have created cartilage with the use of 3D printers. Like other 3D printed body components, the 3D printer is used to create a scaffold on which stem cells are placed. Those cells are then grown into cartilage cells which can then hopefully be used to replace cartilage in patients.

    For now, we’re not quite at the point where we can replace cartilage with its lab grown equivalent just yet. The researchers were only able to grow pea-sized spheres of cartilage after 28 days. With further research, however, they should be able to create full replacements.

    Current technology allows doctors to replace lost cartilage, but the replacements only last a few years. With this technology, doctors should be able to create cartilage that will last just as long as the stuff you’re born with.

    What’s more exciting about this breakthrough is that it’s just the beginning. The researchers’ ultimate aim is to facilitate the recreation of limbs. With stem cells and 3D printed scaffolds, the goal is to recreate muscles, bones, fat and other components needed to repair or recreate a patient’s limbs. Some of the researchers even think that we’re only a decade away from the kinds of treatment that we’ve only seen in science fiction up until now.

    Like all good things, this kind of research requires money to move forward. The researchers are hoping to receive $180 million in government funding so they can continue to use 3D printers to create the limbs of the future. It’s a worthy goal and one that Australia should be proud to support.

    [Image: Emmanuelm/Wikimedia Commons]

  • Scammer Sells Online iPhone-Shopper Two ‘Apples’

    Scammer Sells Online iPhone-Shopper Two ‘Apples’

    Someone basically pulled the ol’ “Oh, so you want a new Apple for Christmas” dad trick on an unsuspecting online shopper in Brisbane, Australia last week.

    According to police, a 21-year-old woman was shocked to find that the two new Apple iPhones that she bought from a woman she met on an online classifieds site were actually just apples in boxes.

    Apparently, the woman put an ad on Gumtree looking for two new iPhones. When a seller contacted her, the two women met at a local McDonald’s. The buyer paid around $1,500 AUD (a little over $1,300 U.S.) and received what appeared to be two iPhones in their original boxes.

    But when she got home, she discovered that the Apples she had bought were actually just apples.

    “Don’t stay away because most people are doing the right thing, but be smart about what you buy,” said constable Jess Hopkin. “If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. It’s really just common sense.”

    These kinds of scams happen all the time, and it’s not just on “shady” websites. Gumtree, the online classifieds site at the heart of this case, surely wouldn’t fall into that category. Not only is Gumtree owned by eBay, but it’s a biggest local classifieds site in both the U.K. and Australia. Gumtree services over 60 cities in 6 countries.

    The point is, you gotta watch out for this stuff. Next time you meet someone at a McDonald’s and hand over $1,300 bucks for two small boxes – you might want to check inside the boxes before you walk away. Just a suggestion.

    [Cult of Mac via Herald Sun]

  • Australian Saints Row IV Will be Cut Off From World Co-Op

    After being refused a rating by the Australian Classification Board, Saints Row IV was finally rated “MA 15+” last week. To obtain the rating, publisher Deep Silver and developer Volition had to remove an entire mission from the Australian version of the game. The 20-minute loyalty mission is reported to have used “alien narcotics” as a power-up – something the Australian ratings board found unacceptable.

    Though regrettable, the loss of the mission was a minor concession for the Australian market. Today, however, Deep Silver revealed that the same changes made to the Australian version of the game have also locked Australian gamers out of co-op with international players.

    In a post to the Saints Row Facebook page, Deep Silver announced that the Australian version of Saints Row IV is now different from versions being released in the ESRB, USK, and PEGI regions. As such, those playing the Australian copy of the game won’t be able to co-op with players from other regions.

    The announcement also commented on the “Alien Anal Probe” weapon, saying that it was always planned as DLC. Deep Silver is still waiting to hear whether the weapon can be released at all in Australia.

    The statement, in full:

    To our fans in Australia:

    After Saints Row IV was refused a classification in Australia, we appealed this decision. Despite our appeal, that decision was eventually upheld at the start of this week. The Australian Classification Board has now finally approved our slightly edited version with an MA 15+ rating.

    For this version, we had to cut one optional Loyalty Mission from the game. Loyalty Missions are optional side missions that you can do with your homies. This mission in particular involves alien narcotics in the simulation, which eventually have a positive effect in terms of gameplay. As you cannot depict any positive effect for using narcotics in video games in Australia, this was the reason the game was refused a classification.

    While we are very proud of all our different missions, we do feel that Saints Row IV on the whole remains largely the same without this single optional mission, and we also feel that you deserve to know what you are getting in Australia. Due to the changes we were forced to make, this version is different than the version rated by rating boards like the ESRB, USK, and PEGI, which is why it will be incompatible with those versions in co-op.

    As for the “Rectifier” weapon that was mentioned as an “alien anal probe” weapon recently — it launches enemies into the sky — this is and always has been a bonus weapon for the Season Pass. At this point in time we are still awaiting details on whether we can include it in the Season Pass in Australia or not.

    Of course we would have very much preferred to have been able to offer our Australian community everything as planned, but we also still want to offer the option to get Saints Row IV in their home country; alas without the single side mission.

    (via Kotaku)

  • Saint’s Row IV Passes Australian Ratings Board

    Saints Row IV has now been given a rating by the Australian Classification Board, after initially being rejected. Saints Row publisher Deep Silver and Australian distributor AIE have announced that Saints Row IV has been given an “MA 15+” rating for the country.

    The board had initially refused the game a rating over an “Alien Anal Probe” weapon and illicit drug use “related to incentives or rewards.” Saints Row developers have had to modify the Australian version of the game to achieve the new rating. The anal probe has been moved to a future DLC pack, and an entire loyalty mission for the Saints Row character Shaundi has been removed from the game. The mission reportedly saw characters smoking “alien narcotics” to obtain superpowers. Deep Silver claims that the removal represents around 20 minutes missing from the original game. From the statement:

    This mission represents approximately 20 minutes of gameplay out of the hours available to purchasers. The removal of this mission has no negative impact on the story or the superpowers and will not detract from the enjoyment players will get from their Saints Row IV experience.

    This news comes just after the upcoming Grand Theft Auto V passed the Australian ratings board on its first try, receiving a rating of “R 18+”. The Grand Theft Auto and Saints Row series feature similar games, and the GTA series has a long history of objections from government censors and social conservatives.

  • Microsoft Launches Bing Ads In Australia, New Zealand

    Microsoft announced on Monday that Bing Ads are now available in Australia and New Zealand. The company announced their pending arrival back in April.

    Earlier this month, Microsoft released some stats about Bing Ads and the Yahoo Bing Network. The network has 159 million unique searchers, 51 million of which don’t use Google, the company said. That was with the network active in 25 international markets.

    “This continues our expansion across the globe, and we’re very excited to provide our services to 5.5 million Australians every month, of which 3 million are unique to Bing Ads in Australia and New Zealand!” says Microsoft’s Chris Wallington in today’s announcement.

    “The Australian audience searching for goods and services on Bing typically spends 5% more than the average searcher, providing advertisers with an opportunity to tap into a lucrative consumer base with a high propensity to buy,” he adds.

    According to Microsoft Advertising Search Group GM David Pann, click volume has increased 25% over the last year. During that time, Bing Ads have received over 1,000 platform features and improvements.

  • Saints Row IV Rejected by Australian Ratings Board, Again

    Last month, the upcoming Saints Row IV was refused a rating by the Australian Classification board. The board stated that the game could not be given one of the country’s new R 18+ ratings due to “interactive, visual depictions of implied sexual violence which are not justified by context” (the Alien Anal Probe weapon) and illicit drug use “related to incentives or rewards.”

    Last week, the board re-convened to review its previous classification of Saints Row IV. The Australian Classification Board, however, still isn’t satisfied, and it seems Australian gamers will have to turn to importers for the true Saints Row experience.

    The board today announced that it stands by its original decision and has rejected Saints Row IV yet again. A three member panel of the board rejected the game unanimously, issuing an opinion that, “drug use related to incentives and rewards is not permitted.”

    Unfortunately for Deep Silver and Volition, the ratings board in Australia is not optional, as selling or even advertising a game that has been refused classification is prohibited in the country. With less than a month until the game’s August release date, developers of Saints Row IV will have their hands full unmaking their game to suit the tastes of the Australian Classification Board in time for release.

  • State of Decay Rejected by Australian Ratings Board

    Earlier this week, the Australian Ratings Board announced it had rejected Saints Row IV over an “Alien Anal Probe” weapon in the game, as well as “alien narcotics” that give players super powers. Though the Saints Row series is known for its over-the-top childishly bawdy humor, it seems that the ratings board is rejecting even games where mature content would seem to fit.

    Jeff Strain, executive producer at Undead Labs, today announced that State of Decay has also been refused classification by the Australian Ratings Board. State of Decay was released in the U.S. earlier this month for Xbox LIVE Arcade and has become a hit, with Microsoft claiming that it is now the fastest-selling “original” game for Xbox LIVE Arcade. The game is a zombie survival game that puts players in a zombie apocalypse where they have to avoid zombies and build fortifications while also scavenging for food, tools, weapons, and medicine.

    It seems that those medicines are what the Australian Ratings Board has taken issue with. In a post to the Undead Labs forums, Strain explains that State of Decay was rejected by the board for depictions of drug use. Players can find medications in-game, including amphetamines and opiates, and use them for effects similar to their real-life counterparts. Strain stated that Undead Labs and Microsoft are working on a solution, which could mean changing medication names to something fake. Strain’s post, in full:

    Hola Australian State of Decay fans,

    I have bad news to share: State of Decay has been refused classification by the Australian Classification Board (ACB). We’ve run afoul of certain prohibitions regarding the depiction of drug use. We’re working with Microsoft to come up with options, including changing names of certain medications in the game to comply with ratings requirements. Whatever our path forward, it’s going to take a bit.

    I know this is frustrating — believe me, we’re frustrated too — but each country has the right to set its own rules about content, and it’s our responsibility to comply with them. Rest assured we’ll do everything we can to find a way to get the game into your hands. Stay tuned.

    Jeff

  • Saints Row IV Rejected Over “Alien Anal Probe” Weapon

    Earlier this week it was announced that the Australian Classification Board that it had rejected Saints Row IV, which had been expected to receive one of Australia’s new R 18+ ratings. The board stated that the game was rejected due to “interactive, visual depictions of implied sexual violence which are not justified by context” and for illicit drug use “related to incentives or rewards.” Today, the board got more specific with what exactly it took issue with.

    According to a copy of the board’s report obtained by Kotaku Australia, the game was rejected over a weapon dubbed the “Alien Anal Probe,” which can be used according to its name. The dry description provided by the Australian Classification Board really is funnier than any joke that could be told about it:

    The game includes a weapon referred to by the Applicant as an “Alien Anal Probe”. The Applicant states that this weapon can be “shoved into enemy’s backsides”. The lower half of the weapon resembles a sword hilt and the upper part contains prong-like appendages which circle around what appears to be a large dildo which runs down the centre of the weapon. When using this weapon the player approaches a (clothed) victim from behind and thrusts the weapon between the victim’s legs and then lifts them off the ground before pulling a trigger which launches the victim into the air. After the probe has been implicitly inserted into the victim’s anus the area around their buttocks becomes pixelated highlighting that the aim of the weapon is to penetrate the victim’s anus. The weapon can be used during gameplay on enemy characters or civilians. In the Board’s opinion, a weapon designed to penetrate the anus of enemy characters and civilians constitutes a visual depiction of implied sexual violence that is interactive and not justified by context and as such the game should be Refused Classification.

    With regards to the illicit drug use, the board’s report also cited a side mission in which players can smoke “alien narcotics” to obtain superpowers.

    The previous Saints Row game was infamous for similar bawdy, childish humor. While it may be disappointing to Australian fans that their retail copies of Saints Row IV will be censored, Deep Silver and Volition really couldn’t hope for any better publicity for a game of this sort.

    (via Kotaku)

  • Saints Row IV Rejected by Australian Ratings Board

    The Australian Classification Board, the organization charged with providing ratings for video games, this week rejected Saints Row IV. The game was expected to get a R 18+ rating, but was refused classification over its content. It is the first video game to be refused classification since the R 18+ rating was implemented earlier this year.

    In a statement, the Classification Board said Saints Row IV was rejected for “interactive, visual depictions of implied sexual violence which are not justified by context.” Gamers familiar with Saints Row III will know that game featured weapons such as giant dongs and allowed players to adjust the size of their characters’ sexual organs. The Classification Board also pointed to illicit drug use “related to incentives or rewards,” which it says are prohibited by Australia’s computer games guidelines.

    “Apart from today’s decision, since the beginning of the year, the Board has classified 17 games R 18+ under the new guidelines,” said Donald McDonald, acting director of the Classification Board.

    Deep Silver, the publisher of Saints Row IV also issued a statement this week. It pointed out that the game has received both a PEGI 18 rating and an ‘M’ rating from the ESRB. The game’s developer, Volition, is now in the process of altering the game for the Australian Classification Board, though Deep Silver claims the edits will not reduce “the outlandish gameplay the Saints Row fans know and love.”

  • First Day of Winter 2013 Celebrated With Google (21 Days Late In Australia)

    It’s the first day of winter in some parts of the world, and Google is showing a doodle where appropriate. Well, almost.

    Google is showing this doodle in Brazil, Australia, Chile, Uruguay, Peru, Paraguay, New Zealand, Bolivia and Argentina. In Australia, however, it’s actually not the first day of winter. That was June 1st, as a number of people have pointed out.

    There’s a very slight chance that Google made a mistake in Australia, and got this wrong, but it seems pretty highly unlikely that the company that serves as the gateway to “knowledge” on the Internet for many users, would commit such a blatant error. Rather, Google probably just wanted to wait until it was the first day of winter in more countries to show the doodle at all, and simply included Australia because it happened recently.

    Google is also showing a doodle for Summer Solstice 2013 (the first day of summer) in countries where that is today. Here’s a look at that doodle, or you can check out the video from Simon Rüger below, which shows the animation of both:

  • ‘God’s Bathtub’ Discovered By Scientists In Australia

    I would imagine that God’s bathtub would be very big and very beautiful. That seems to be what led scientists to bestow the name upon a lake recently discovered in Australia.

    Scientists in Australia have discovered a lake, now called Blue Lake, that has been unaffected by pollution and other man-made changes for over 7,500 years. It’s described as a 10 meter deep pool that’s perfectly clear.

    So, where did the God’s bathtub come from? Speaking to the AAP, Dr. Cameron Barr said that the lake was like “God’s bathtub.” He added that it was “absolutely beautiful.” Part of that beauty comes from how the lake has literally remained unchanged after thousands of years.

    Scientists are still in awe over how the lake has remained unchanged despite everything else around it changing thanks to gradual climate change and other factors over the past 7,500 years. They say that the lake is a “climate refuge” for freshwater life. It will allow scientists to observe what conditions were like thousands of years ago from a primary source.

    The main concern now is preserving the lake as it is. One concern is that the lake will attract tourists who will undoubtedly introduce unnatural chemicals into the water. If they are able to preserve, the scientists think the lake could survive as is for thousands of more years.

    Here’s where you can find the lake if you’re interested:


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