Rule Of Rose European Ban

H

Hovis!

Vampire Ninja
I just discovered that PS2 title Rule Of Rose has been banned in all European Union territories (UK included I believe), thanks - apparently - to some governmental official from Italy.

Problem is, the concerns alledged at this game are fictious, and a result of nothing more than a knee-jerk moral reaction which accuratly depicts why politicans and many journalists and the like are not educated or intelligent beings (which is a bit of a concern as far as I'm concerned, looking at their responsibilities and all).

In some aspects it reminds me of the farce of what happend with Bully (aka Canis Canem Edit). You get some people who don't research the facts (like the good little boys and girls should) and jump to conclusions from needless hearsay AND make absolute judgements as a result.

I'm not amused, as Popeye once said.
 
It's not actually banned - the publisher bowed to the pressure on the game and didn't release it. But yeah, it sucks. The person who wanted it banned seemed to think it was made for kids. Which shows how much he knows about video games.
 
Gallus Glee said:
It's time to be bending 505 GameStreet's ear or drumming up another publisher, if 505 is too WEAK then perhaps Koei will?
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To be fair, 505 are a small company selling to a niche market, they got on the front page of The Times with that story. Bad publicity like that, and possibly a lawsuit from the parents of a demented child, could kill them off. Can't blame them for playing it safe.
 
Espy said:
To be fair, 505 are a small company selling to a niche market, they got on the front page of The Times with that story.
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All must be well in the world if that can make front page of The Times. ::sigh::
 
Since I hadn't read (or was even aware of) the newspaper reports (still haven't read them), I thought your comment was quite right, Espy.

Having actually taken in some of the details, I've gone from that to absolute astonishment at what 505 have done.

There was no legal case against the game, at all, especially since half of the statement was untrue. 505 didn't have to point that out, the VSC have already defended that angle http://www.mcvuk.com/505-Games-pulls-out-of-Rule-Of-Rose-release.

Instead of riding the publicity wave, delivering what was promised and simply issuing a statement that what the Mayor of Rome (who?) said was uninformed alarmist political c*ck and taking their winnings, they ran off screaming.

Considering that they knew full well what kind of game they were releasing, they should already have had their answers ready. No, instead they issue some pathetic response about talking with 'their partners' and leave gamers in the lurch over untruths.

Considering 505's aversion to any kind of publicity for their software, the press coverage may well have been the wake-up call that publicity = sales.

Their actions have resulted in:

1. Financial loss instead of large financial gain.
2. Gamers (most of whom will have never heard of them) now know that when 505 say they're publishing something that it's worth the paper it's printed on.
3. The non-gaming public now know 505 as "that nasty company trying to release a game so horrible it was BANNED, it was in all the papers, baby-eating and dancing naked with Satan on an altar covered in blood. All sorts dear, yes, I know, terrible..".
4. Shedding the budget range (which will now result in games like GDF and the Zombie Zone series, which are going to garner some sales) to concentrate on mid-range games (like.. Rule of Rose, for instance) means they've lost one angle and had the other one burned.

They may feel they've taken the safe bet, but all they've done is prove the liars right, peed all over their own relaunch and tossed away the fattest cash-cow they never knew they had. If I were them I'd be winding down the lot and taking an office job.
 
Problem solved.

Found an Italian ebay shop selling copies for little more than it would have cost me to buy my copy from play.com.

The manual's in Italian, but the text and dialogue can be switched to English.

With the postage on top of that, it's more than I'd normally pay for any video game, but I just want the thing in my collection. Whether 505 grow a pair or slither further under their rock is something they can chew over in their own time.

What bothered me more than anything is this twitchy little thought that they may have canned it full-stop, in which case there's just import copies after the event - which will eventually dry up and skyrocket in price. I'd rather just get a brand spanking new copy, pay for it and get it all out of the way.

I can snipe cheap PS2 promos on ebay in peace now..
 
I've heard the game itself isn't actually very good but that isn't the point really.

By the way Gallus Glee, I read your piece and tfound your points very interesting. I'm not being sarcastic either. I enjoyed reading it. :)
 
It finally arrived yesterday at 4pm, despite Ebay emailing me so helpfully some time after the purchase and telling me the auction was cancelled and 'advising' me not to pay. This was extremely helpful after I'd used buy it now and paid instantly for the item. Morons.

Had a quick go, just up to the first save point (got things to do), the load times don't seem half as bad as the youtube videos made it look (probably because I'm doing something instead of watching someone else playing).
 
Karmatwisted said:
Oh yeah this game, Is this the one where the damn Myor of Itally said he wanted it banned?!?!?

I mean when has he ever even seen a fabled computer game
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Indeed it was. Clearly he doesn't have as much responsibilty in his position as were led to believe. :? :wink: :lol:
 
Reviewed in Gamesmaster this month - apparently it isn't as scary as they had hoped only got 67%

"A strong start and prevailing sense of unease suggest that Rule of Rose is going to be something a bit special, but the unnerving tension thats masterfully built up in the prolog is gradually erroded as Rose shuffle towards its limp climax"
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It's certainly flawed, though not beyond playability. Flawed gameplay and survival horror go pretty much hand-in-hand anyway, so if someone isn't a die-hard survival horror fan they certainly wouldn't get anything out of this.

I'm enjoying the game, also looking forward to completing it and trying some of the bonus costumes.
 
Conan-san said:
And next the bastards in Rome will go for Cooking Mama, also imported by 505 for sexual discrimination, it's just that anoying.
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In these wacky-days of murderers, rapists and genocidal maniacs getting off with weak sentences, while the P.C. brigade continue their relentless march to insanity (changing Ba-Ba Black Sheep to Ba-Ba Rainbow Sheep in schools) I woulnd't put anything past them!
 
Hovis! said:
Conan-san said:
And next the bastards in Rome will go for Cooking Mama, also imported by 505 for sexual discrimination, it's just that anoying.
Click to expand...

In these wacky-days of murderers, rapists and genocidal maniacs getting off with weak sentences, while the P.C. brigade continue their relentless march to insanity (changing Ba-Ba Black Sheep to Ba-Ba Rainbow Sheep in schools) I woulnd't put anything past them!
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and Phoenix Wright because it premotes the notion that the fuzz are idiots!
 
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