Hotline Miami Collection Removed From The Australian Switch eShop

We all know that Australia is a simple anagram of Sony!

/s

BOOOO! but not surprising. also, sidenote: anyone else buy this and mildly annoyed that it is just labeled as "Hotline Miami" when playing it? (like what it shows on your profile page) Also, on the parental controls app, which I use to track time played, it doesn't show up AT ALL. it's weird and feels like a mistake was made somewhere.

Why am I not surprised?

I'll never understand how Australians managed to create the Australian government. They hardly seem related to eachother.

@Dazzle I have the impression australia has become more progressive and leftist than is good for them, the only thing conservative left seems to be that videogame-board. But I'm thousands of miles away, what do I know!

@Branovices It's all a bunch of criminal's offspring after all!
That said, I love australia.

Sorry to hear Australia. That sounds like some proper baloney censorship.

The Classification Board needs a major overhaul.

I imagine piracy must be very high there.

Censorship sucks!

With all the people saying it's "easy" to access this game from another eshop, how exactly do you do that? As someone without an international credit card, it becomes incredibly frustrating trying to purchase anything from a foreign eShop (and yes, I tried PayPal and it would not allow me to make purchases in foreign eshops).

Also worth noting is that SuperHot is SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper on the Russian, Polish and South African eShops compared to everywhere else in the world. Trying to purchase that game led me to my frustrations regarding this.

Can anyone give me advice on how to remedy this?

Anyone know if the Switch version of HM2 includes the level editor and some way of sharing levels? I got bored of waiting for it on PC but I suppose by now it might be worth going back for...

I didn't grab it in time.
Very annoyed at myself.

@Coach_A you can change your region in your account settings, and you can pay using eShop cards that can be bought from various websites, like pcgamesupply.com/Nintendo-eShop/

usually it's possible to pay using paypal or credit card too if the foreign eShop still falls under the same region, and Australia is considered part of the European region.

I got it before the takedown and in Hotline Miami 2 there's an option to skip any scenes depicting sexual violence. I don't get why they don't have locked on for the Australian version if that's the only problem?

@xzacutor Maybe because the developers and the artists would like their game only to be played as intended.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

So if the game was up and someone buys it, do they get to keep it after it gets taken down?

Just set up a US eshop account. Will be buying some funds for it shortly. Australia can suck a fat one. Nanny state bs

@BenAV so I have a PayPal account linked to my Australian account, but when I switched it over to Russian, I got an error stating that my PayPal account was not linked to this region or something along those lines.

In theory, if I created a new account (or switched my second account to Russian), would I still be able to link the same PayPal account? Because I fear I'll just keep hitting the same issue.

WTF people. It's just a game! A bit nudity or sexuality should be ok! They really touch everything lately don't they? Besides gaming I mean... there is more and more censorship lately. Even on Youtube some stuff are even blocked for Europe users and exclusive to USA. Thank god there is VPN. That's why people are piracing. If you don't make it available there are other ways. You're hurting yourself with this foolish decision! Simpletons

An other reason why I don't want streaming a thing. Pain subscription and some games will be removed eventually. When you buy it at least you can play those offline and still access them. But this online thing and streaming... an end is coming near to some gamers for sure

Can anyone share what the content is like? Depictions of sexual violence don't exactly draw me to want to buy the game – thank goodness!

And before anyone jumps on me, I'm not justifying or defending censorship or going anywhere near that volatile subject – you do you.

I just want to try to figure out if I personally I'm likely find the content too much or tastelessly indulgent – or if it is dealt with well within the context of the game?

Yeah it is just a game, and I've played and enjoyed the first – and I know violence is central to this game in particular. But sexual violence is something else and some of us might like to know if that's handled in a glorified way of not?

@BenAV oh okay. Thanks for the response.

So if I set up a UK account do I need a UK address?

Good. Free speech should not be synonymous with "any sick thing goes". Some things just should not be spread for mass consumption.

@Prizm okay Hitler

live in australia. Don't care much because I don't play ma 15 games. Not something that interests me much any who. Anyways you can just create a new account set to a different region since the switch is not region locked

@Scollurio Australia has had a deeply conservative government since 2013, so you're way off. It's the christian conservatives that want to censor video games. The "leftists" here actually support the video game industry.

@Coach_A Your response seems more than unfair . It's a very typical and overly extreme reaction to a view you don't share – and dropping the Hitler name is a classic. Let me ask you an example – would 'Prizm' be a 'Hitler' if, for instance, he would like to prevent say, rape scenes, to be shown during afternoons on broadcast television? Does that make him/her a 'censorship simpleton or 'nazi'' or just someone concerned with what that could do to a kid's mind straight after watching Scooby Doo?

By extension, can you ever imagine a time in your early youth when you might have actually appreciated your parents or guardian keeping you from seeing something? Would you 'Coach_A' like to live in a world where literally anything goes? You may say yes off-the-cuff, but I truly think not. Maybe in the future you'll get your 'anything goes' world – and then be regretting it.

The point is – it's complicated – and honestly I don't understand those who seem to think censorship is a simple issue.

Better ban hero

@Frank-The-Tank I actually wasn't referring to the videogame situation at all, more to the overall-progressiveness that's creeping in. Gender-, Identity- and migrationpolitics. Sure, it's a far cry from the crazyness in the UK (a volkswagen ad was banned because it showed a young woman caring for her child - obviously a negative gender stereotype that can cause harm), germany and sweden, but still. Again, I can only judge what I read in the "news".

I thought Australia made a age rating R18 a few years ago to allow games like this to be release in there country.

@brunojenso there’s some pretty bad depictions of rape, if I’m remembering correctly. They added the 18+ classification down there, and this still didn’t pass through. Censorship is VERY complicated, but games like Hotline Miami 2 should 100% be apart of the conversation. I personally don’t support censorship, but if someone who does were to bring up depictions of rape murders, I would have a hard time arguing against their point.

@LaytonPuzzle27 yeah but they literally treat it as MA15 with a new name. In Australia they classify ALL video games as childrens toys and the start of Hotline Miami has adult content explicitly forbidden regardless of context. Drug use is also banned meaning no We Happy Few either. Aparently Grand Theft Auto is a fine children's toy though.

@commentlife Thank you for a well considered reply. I think this game isn't for me by the sounds of it. Let's call it self-censorship. Shame as I enjoyed the first – but it sounds like the sequel is a step too far for me. I feel the same about GTA and a few others that mix sex and violence in some glorified ways.

btw, cool username

@Scollurio What? Australia has a very tory government

it's quite disgusting

I also noticed that Sagebrush and Animal Fight Club also got removed from the Australian e-shop after I put them on my wish list. They're still there but it says "not available for purchase." I can't find anything about that online.
This is getting crazy, what's going on!!

@Kriven Very well put, now just tell that to Google.

@Cosats Then they wouldn't be skippable at all.

@brunojenso Hotline Miami is a franchise that has quite the heavy focus on detailed, elaborate, and well cared for plot. They don't dive for low hanging fruits of general shock value or glorification of such things depicted. Without spoilers, I assure you, it's not mindless, it's treated as a horrible thing as it should be, and it is rather important to the progression of the plot

It's also NOT self censorship, and I don;t think you should call it such. Self censorship would be if they did not have it at all, but this is legitimately censorship. An organization (government? Not familiar with aussie's game industry) banning a piece of media for what it depicts. I also don't think it's fair to bring up impressionable children in defending this considering the game isn't for children.

@YourGoodFriendly That's very helpful, thank you. I think you may have misunderstood my meaning of self-censorship (because I was super unclear) - I was just referring to my proposed decision too avoid the game as (my)self-censoring it.

I take your point about the example regarding impressionable children - my Scooby Doo example. I was just trying to counter the overused 'Hitler' response that often arises whenever any form of content control is suggested – but you are right this game was always targeted as 'mature' content (that being another ridiculous, but I suppose functioning term). Anyway thank you for helping me have a balanced view of the game.

Wondering if labyrinth of Refrain is banned in AUS.

@Scollurio I don't know what news you're reading, but your view of Australia is way off. I would reassess what you're reading. The general trend you describe sounds like something someone on an obscure right-wing internet forum would say.