The Australian Classification Board has a hard time letting any game slip through its chubby little fingers and onto shop shelves, so it’s no surprise that South Park: The Stick of Truth was nearly banned by the land down under.
In reports obtained by IGN, it transpires that the main bone of contention for the ACB was a sequence in which one of the characters (presumably Cartman) receives an alien anal probe, as seen in the first series of Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s cartoon series. A statement from he board describes an “interactive animated sequence titled Alien Probing [which] features buttock-nude male characters, captured by aliens, repeatedly having an oversized, phallic probe thrust into their buttocks. The probe is repeatedly thrust in and out, mimicking sexual thrusting and accompanied by squelching sound effects.” There is no way that the person writing this kept a straight face while doing so.
The Board continues: “While one character, Mr Slave, seems to find the probing pleasurable and says “can we try the big silver one again” no indication of explicit or implicit consent is viewed in the sequence. The characters are secured to the tables and comments made by the probed characters include “Not that way!”, “Oh God no! Shut it off!” and “no no no that kills! Switch it back!”
The “offensive” material has since been changed, with Australia’s copies of South Park: The Stick of Truth now having the sequence relayed to them via blocks of text accompanied by a still image of a crying koala underneath a big, red “CENSORED” message. Well played, Matt and Trey.
