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General discussionPre-order: Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number(270 posts)(270 posts)
(270 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted February 25, 2015
A haze of neon carnage.



<span class="bold">Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number</span>, a conclusion to the psychotic saga, is now available to pre-order for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, DRM-free on GOG.com with a 10% discount.

Limbs strewn everywhere, pulsating to the rhythmic thumping of a haunting (hauntingly good) mixtape. <span class="bold">Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number</span> is a conclusion to the maddeningly good saga that's conquered so many of our hearts, then left them bleeding out in the corner of a musty motel room. A quiet end, we should count ourselves lucky. Should have, because Hotline Miami is back with a thick, bloody vengeance. If there is one thing to love about the series (other than than the incredible soundtrack and gritty neon-laced setting), it's the precise, fast-paced gameplay which just got better and a bit more varied. There are new unique mask abilities like dual wielding or chainsaws (maybe dual-wielding chainsaws, if we're lucky), and seven new playable characters to make up this twisted part-prequel, part-sequel story of Jacket's aftermath.

If there was ever a good reason to pick up the bigger package, the <span class="bold">Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number Digital Special Edition</span> comes with the Remix EP and 6 unique tracks. An absolute treat, if you're into the Hotline musical stylings. Nothing's lost if you don't want to make the commitment just yet. You can always get the standard edition, and get the upgrade pack when it becomes available later on.

Once it's complete, all versions of the game will also come with a DRM-free Custom Level Editor to create your own maps and share them with friends. While you're waiting, make sure to grab the Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number Digital Comics for free!



Ring ring. It's <span class="bold">Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number</span>. Will you pick up? The pre-order is available now on GOG.com, with a 10% discount.











Why is Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number not available for pre-order in Australia?
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number was refused classification by the Australian Classification Board - the classification and censorship body formed by the Australian Government - this means that we are legally unable to sell the game to our Australian customers. We hated to hear it as much as you do, but after thoughtful consideration we felt that by refusing to sell the game worldwide, we would effectively apply the Australian censorship to 190+ other countries in the world. That would be unfairly punishing not just to our customers, but also the developers who took a stand against censoring their game.
By preventing purchases from IP's located within the borders of Australia, we make sure that the smallest number of people are affected by the ban. It sucks, but we believe it's the least of all evils.
Post edited February 25, 2015 by Konrad
Posted February 26, 2015
Don't worry, I hear it will be sold for aussies on TPB with a whopping 100% off day-one discount.
Post edited February 26, 2015 by Crosmando
Posted February 26, 2015
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htown1980: I appreciate the sentiment but writing to the ratings board is futile. They are obliged, by legislation, to ban this game. They cannot just change the decision because it is unpopular. They don't really have a lot of discretion.
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bansama: Were they also obliged by legislation to lie about the contents they were sent to review? They allegedly banned the game based partly on "thrusting" movements that never existed in the material sent to them.
The issue was that the game was found to breach the National Classification Code, Computer Games Table, 1. (a) which states that games that "depict, express or otherwise deal with matters of sex, drug misuse or addiction, crime, cruelty, violence or revolting or abhorrent phenomena in such a way that they offend against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults to the extent that they should not be classified."

You might think that thrusting is crucial to a determination of whether the game offends that provision. I don't think it is. I also don't think it is acceptable to ban adults from playing a game that contains one 2 second scene of thrusting but allow them to play the game if there is no thrusting.

If you want to debate whether the board correctly or incorrectly described that aspect of the game that is your prerogative, but that isn't going to fix the underlying problem.
Posted February 26, 2015
http://youtu.be/RybNI0KB1bg
Posted February 26, 2015
Looks cool, However, I haven't even finished the first installment. Wishlisted.
Posted February 26, 2015
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RadonGOG: But I´m pretty sure that the result of an open voting dealing with "do you wanna have a game/ movie banned in one country but not banned in any other on GOG or not" would be a pretty clear "we want"
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Gydion: What's open voting. Also, informal results for movies.
Voting on main page. Oh, and I don´t know if you don´t wanna see the facts, but these aren´t many votes. If it were 50000 or so we could have been talking---but this isn´t a significant poll, it´s a low turnout, a poor polling!

BTW: I voted for that "Nay to more big movies which would introduce region locks" some time ago! Why? Because region locking in the movie sector is a total different kind of stuff. It´s about not being able to playback stuff with a different region code then your player software! (which is a quite illegal, but sadly legalized move in my eyes...)

You see? I voted for that stuff, but I´m still an opponent of your argumentation and there is no logical dropout in between!
Post edited February 26, 2015 by RadonGOG
Posted February 26, 2015
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Gilozard: Most online shops don't require a guardian to consent, no. Because there's no way to know if the purchaser is who they say they are.
For creating a simple/basic account for browsing random products in a digital store, yes, anyone can do it, regarding the age, as long as they can read/write and use a computer.
But I was talking about payment for those digital products (games/movies/etc. How can a child pay without a consent from his legal guardian? He can't, as far as I know. So he can't buy stuff freely on the internet.
There's your "protection" already, no need to step it up with totalitarian measures.

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Gilozard: I have no idea what you're going on about with the rest of your post. I certainly didn't talk about kids murdering people for playing videos games.
I was assuming you're trying to protect the "children" from the "evil" doings of some digital products.
If you don't think that way then there's abolutely no point in taking this sort of totalitarian procedures. A family can and should take care of their children.

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Gilozard: FYI, almost all US old-age-related program funding is founded on using the younger working population to support the older, non-working population.
Well, so you believe in the classic PONZI scheme of the pension/retirement/health system, which is a bad and not working system as history demonstrated time after time.

I see now that soulsick82 already told you on a basic level about parts (totalitarian measures) of what I was trying to say. Good job soulsick82 !
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soulsick82: snip
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bansama: GOG, you would have earnt my respect again if you had simply refused to sell the game worldwide.
No, what they should have done is selling the game worldwide, including Australia, without any kind of region block or whatever. And probably Australia could not have done jack shit to gog, see those others games here on gog that sell to ausies despite the fact they didn't receive their fascist ausie rating board classification.
And if somehow that stupid ausie government would have obtained a court order (which I really doubt) and force gog to comply in implementing region block for Australia then the shit-storm would have been HUGE and could probably have changed this disastrous totalitarian habit.
Post edited February 26, 2015 by mobutu
Posted February 26, 2015
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GOG.com: By preventing purchases from IP's located within the borders of Australia, we make sure that the smallest number of people are affected by the ban. It sucks, but we believe it's the least of all evils.
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bansama: And you'd be wrong. It's banned in AUS because the publisher refused to appeal the rating board decision. You shouldn't be using their apathy as an excuse to start regionally restricting. GOG, you would have earnt my respect again if you had simply refused to sell the game worldwide. But now, you've shown you're just like every other store. How long now until you start restricting access to content in other regions, not because of supposed legal need, but simply because the publisher asks you to? Value *ALL* your customers over profit please.
Would an appeal require the services of a lawyer or law firm specializing in these matters? Would that expense be worthwhile or even feasible for an indie developer?
Posted February 26, 2015
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mobutu: No, what they should have done is selling the game worldwide, including Australia, without any kind of region block or whatever. And probably Australia could not have done jack shit to gog, see those others games here on gog that sell to ausies despite the fact they didn't receive their fascist rating board classification.
These other games are not on the radar right now. HM2 case is loud as the game is being released now and topic of this ban was covered by media many times. If gog would ignore the ban, all the media would happily cover this story and ask for clarification. Which also includes contacting the other side of this topic, being the censorship body, for their clarification how gog can do this.

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mobutu: And if somehow that stupid ausie government would have obtained a court order (which I really doubt) and force gog to comply in implementing region block for Australia then the shit-storm would have been HUGE and could probably change this disastrous totalitarian habit.
They don't have to obtain any court order. They censorship body can at their own discretion force google and other providers to blacklist you. And you do live on some other planet if you believe that such "punishment" would cause any shit-storm beyond this little forum that would achieve anything (if the whole HM2 AU ban coverage achieved precisely ZERO). The moral of such story for any average and sane person outside of this forum would range from "tough luck gog" to "maybe respect lawmakers next time".

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bansama: GOG, you would have earnt my respect again if you had simply refused to sell the game worldwide. (...) Value *ALL* your customers over profit please.
What you are saying is that it would be better for me not to be able to buy this game drm-free game, in the store of my preference, because of a decision of AU government censorship body that has nothing to do with the country I live in?

Well, two things
1. I disagree that if GOG punished me as per your suggestion I would feel "valued" to any extent. Quite the opposite.
2. I'm sorry but who are you to tell what is better for me? AU government already did that for their citizens and you are now acting in exact same way, making calls who is allowed to buy what in GOG because of your personal point of view.
Post edited February 26, 2015 by d2t
Posted February 26, 2015
Oh man, I can understand why some of the cool guys from GoG seem to have left this market, it's so full of shit right now with DRM, regional pricing, censorship, neo-feminist attacks because of beautiful ladies etc...

Please keep it up and don't give in to all this stuff as far as possible.

I don't approve of this at all, but I don't know if GoG really had an alternative to this step to avoid being completely blocked by Australian connections like is happening with the Chinese ones for quite a while now.
When did the Internet become a matter of states and their petty control freak methods? It's so sad.
Where is this "free world" that was promised to us eastern Germans in 1989?
It always was one of the good things of globalisation for me, interacting with humans just as human characters and letting all this behind. I loved it when GoG only had a single currency because that's one of the goals humanity should have anyway, but oh well, here I go dreaming again...
Post edited February 26, 2015 by Klumpen0815
Posted February 26, 2015
DAMN IT! from the bottom of my heart FUCK YOU OFLC! Seriously get the fuck out of my country and take your stupid beliefs with you.
Posted February 26, 2015
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mobutu: And if somehow that stupid ausie government would have obtained a court order (which I really doubt) and force gog to comply in implementing region block for Australia then the shit-storm would have been HUGE and could probably change this disastrous totalitarian habit.
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d2t: They don't have to obtain any court order. They censorship body can at their own discretion force google and other providers to blacklist you. And you do live on some other planet if you believe that such "punishment" would cause any shit-storm beyond this little forum that would achieve anything (if the whole HM2 AU ban coverage achieved precisely ZERO). The moral of such story for any average and sane person outside of this forum would range from "tough luck gog" to "maybe respect lawmakers next time".
This is entirely untrue.

The Australian Classification Board can only classify material. There is no censorship body with any enforcement powers whatsoever.

If there is a breach of the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Enforcement Act or the another State or Territory's equivalent legislation (and, again, a non-Australian corporation distributing the game is not a breach of that legislation) the relevant State or Commonwealth solicitor must prosecute the case. There is no ability to compel google to "blacklist" a website.
Posted February 26, 2015
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d2t: snip
I understand what you're saying, my point was that it would have been better for gog to fight the battle not forfeit it without any efforts whatsoever. Sell the game to ausies and then when a comply order would come only after instill the ban.
Would have made all the difference in world ;)
Posted February 26, 2015
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d2t: What you are saying is that it would be better for me not to be able to buy this game drm-free game, in the store of my preference, because of a decision of AU government censorship body that has nothing to do with the country I live in?

Well, two things
1. I disagree that if GOG punished me as per your suggestion I would feel "valued" to any extent. Quite the opposite.
2. I'm sorry but who are you to tell what is better for me? AU government already did that for their citizens and you are now acting in exact same way, making calls who is allowed to buy what in GOG because of your personal point of view.
It's not that simple no. The AU ban isn't legitimate. If you read up about the situation, you'd know that ultimately, it's not the ban that prevents this being sold in AU, it's the publisher's business decision to not appeal an obviously incorrect ruling.

Also, lets remember that GOG built their service on three main principles.

1 - DRM free
2 - Fair worldwide pricing
3 - Worldwide availability

They've already managed to screw with #2. Now they're starting to do the same with #3. If customers don't voice their concerns in this respect and don't call for GOG to stick to their founding principles, then it won't be long before GOG waiver on #1 too.
Posted February 26, 2015
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htown1980: The Australian Classification Board can only classify material. There is no censorship body with any enforcement powers whatsoever.

If there is a breach of the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Enforcement Act or the another State or Territory's equivalent legislation (and, again, a non-Australian corporation distributing the game is not a breach of that legislation) the relevant State or Commonwealth solicitor must prosecute the case. There is no ability to compel google to "blacklist" a website.
So then why GOG abandoned the fight from day zero? I really don't understand, it baffles me ;(
Posted February 26, 2015
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htown1980: This is entirely untrue.

The Australian Classification Board can only classify material. There is no censorship body with any enforcement powers whatsoever. (...) There is no ability to compel google to "blacklist" a website.
Officially maybe there isn't and I didn't say that it's ACB that specifically enforces censorship, however I present you this interesting article:

https://www.efa.org.au/2009/03/19/leaked-government-blacklist-confirms-worst-fears/

"The blacklist, which EFA tried unsuccessfully to obtain under Freedom of Information laws, was expected to contain not only some sites publishing illegal material involving minors, but also a majority of sites that were blocked for other reasons. Nevertheless, an examination of the list by EFA has turned up a few very surprising additions. YouTube videos, a MySpace profile, online poker parlours and a site containing poison information were present, as well as many apparently harmless sites such as that of a tour operator and a satirical encyclopedia."
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionPre-order: Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number(270 posts)(270 posts)
(270 posts)