While the PS4 is topping hardware sales charts in North America, we must not forget that its sales performance is typically strong across the globe—one very important reason for its unassailable lead over the competing Xbox One.

That includes Australia too, where, according to a new advertisement released for the console by Sony going into the Holiday season, Sony claims that the PS4 has been the highest selling console in the country every year for the last five years. You can check out this advertisement for yourself below, but assuming this information is true, it’s pretty significant for Sony. They have managed to retain this title over the last five years, even as the competition introduced aggressive discounts (such as Microsoft with the Xbox One S), or new hardware altogether (Nintendo with the Switch, Microsoft with the Xbox One X).

Technically, I suppose Sony could lose their lead for 2018 in the next six weeks, but something tells me that Australia clearly likes the PS4, and that is not about to happen.

The loot box controversy is refusing to die down, as EA’s greed with their egregious monetization in Star Wars Battlefront 2 is turning out to have larger repercussions than just for them or their game- it has squarely brought loot boxes, and the excess of monetization, to the attention of regulatory bodies worldwide.

Of these, we have already reported how Belgium, Netherlands, and Hawaii in the US are now looking at curtailing loot boxes- and now, Australia has joined the party, too. Jarrod Wolfe, a strategic analyst for the Compliance Division of the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation has said on Reddit (via Kotaku) that loot boxes constitute gambling by definition.

“The normalization of gambling vernacular and mechanics targeted at vulnerable persons (minors) is not just morally reprehensible, but is also legally questionable,” he said, adding that”if these companies want to include significant elements of gambling in their products then perhaps we should work with the Australian Classification Board to ensure than any product that does that and monetizes it gets an immediate R rating. I could imagine that this would send ripples through the industry and it would support the objectives of the Gambling Legislation to ensure minors are not encouraged to participate in gambling.”

Wolfe also said that anyone hoping the situation will eventually simmer down is in for a rude awakening, because he said that there are enough people knowledgeable about the medium, and about the implication of loot boxes, in governments worldwide that this situation stands to get worse.

So- hopefully, the situation continues to get worse, and the blow back forces all companies engaging in this RNG gambling bullshit in games to dial back the abuse and exploitation. Loot boxes represent everything that is wrong with modern day AAA gaming.

It’s a bit repetitive repeating this point at the start of each of these stories, but it does serve to drive the point home- the Switch is officially a success, at least judging it sorely by its launch. Nintendo has reported great sell through numbers at launch around the world- and now we can add Australia to the list of territories where the company’s newest system, and its premier launch title, have done well.

“We can confirm that, across Australia and New Zealand combined, Nintendo Switch sold more in its launch weekend than any other Nintendo hardware in history,” Nintendo’s Australian branch confirmed. “Launch title The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has not only been bestowed with some of the highest review scores in gaming history, in Australia and New Zealand combined it’s had the best launch weekend sales in the Zelda series’ 30-year history. Not only that, it’s the biggest-selling Nintendo hardware launch title ever in this region, even outselling Wii Sports – previously the biggest-selling Nintendo launch title ever in this region – in terms of first weekend sales.”

Now that Nintendo has a good start, third parties have to be taking note of the system. Will many of them jump in? And can Nintendo ensure its own games release on time? The Switch’s first year will be fascinating to behold.

The Xbox One S has been an enormously successful release for Microsoft, and it has seen Microsoft finally begin to reclaim the sales crown somewhat from Sony and PlayStation. The Xbox One has outsold PS4 in the US for a few months now, according to NPD, and it has also been outselling the PS4 in the UK. Now, it looks like a third country has been added to that list, because Microsoft have announced that in Australia, the Xbox One was the best selling console from August 1 to October 30.

Sales of the Xbox One were revitalized probably by the launch of the Xbox One S, as well as a strong software lineup, which includes ReCore, Gears of War 4, and of course, Forza Horizon 3.

“We’d like to thank our fans for their continued support and passion for Xbox in Australia,” Microsoft Australia’s Xbox Business Lead Jeremy Hinton said. “It’s great to see such enthusiasm for the new Xbox One S & Forza Horizon 3, as well as the range of exclusive bundles including Gears of War 4, Battlefield 1, FIFA 17, and Minecraft – all of which are available now. With the upcoming launches of Dead Rising 4 this December, and Halo Wars 2 in February 2017, there has never been a better time to be an Xbox gamer”

With the launch of the PS4 Pro today, Sony may begin to regain some of the sales momentum that they have lost- but for now, kudos must be given to Microsoft for managing to turn the Xbox One around so well.

In the end, Ubisoft’s brand new open world action adventure game IP Watch Dogs may have disappointed a lot of people, but the only reason a lot of people could be disappointed by it is because a lot of people bought it to begin with. While we have been aware of the game’s mammoth sales success for a while now, it appears that the game completely dominated the sales charts in Australia last year- it was so successful, in fact, that it sold more than even behemoths such as Grand Theft Auto V and FIFA 15.

Of course, even Watch Dogs could not dethrone the actual king from its seat. Yes, Call of duty: Advance Warfare managed to top the charts even in Australia, and fend off all of its strong competition.

You can see the full sales charts below:

1. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (360, XBO, PS4, PS3, PC)
2. Watch Dogs (PS4, XBO, 360, PS3, PC, NWU)
3. FIFA 15 (360, PS4, XBO, PS3, Wii, 3DS, PSV)
4. Grand Theft Auto V (PS4, XBO, 360, PS3)
5. Minecraft (360, PS3, XBO, PS4)
6. Destiny (XBO, PS4, 360, PS3)
7. Far Cry 4 (PS4, XBO, 360, PS3, PC)
8. Call Of Duty: Ghosts (360, PS3, XBO, PS4, NWU, PC)
9. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (360, XBO, PS4, PS3, NWU, PC)
10. Battlefield 4 (XBO, PS4, 360, PS3, PC)

On the whole, it was a mixed year for the Australian gaming market-

Overall Software sales suffered a decline of 5.3% from 2013, while PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Wii U, and 3DS sales all experienced growth.

Poor Vita, though.

Australia’s rating board system for video games is a mess, a fact that came to light recently yet again when the highly anticipated sequel to cult indie hit classic, Hotline Miami, was refused classification in the country, effectively leading to a ban on its sale within the country. To Australian fans of the first game who were looking forward to playing the long delayed sequel to the the first game, which has been promised to be everything the first game was and more, this probably comes as terrible news. But the developers of Hotline Miami and its sequel have come up with a solution for Australian fans- a solution that is probably the first time something like this has been officially condoned by the gaming industry.

What does the developer have to say? Just pirate the game. No need to worry about it, just torrent the game, and enjoy. Don’t believe me? Check out the email conversation for yourself above (click on the image to see it in full resolution).

So… I mean, yeah, guys, you’re not out of options. Even options that might have seemed morally suspect to you are now officially being sanctioned by the developers of the game. Which, coming from the developers of Hotline Miami, is strangely fitting in a way.

Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto series is absolutely no stranger to controversy, of course- in fact, at this point, one has to wonder whether Rockstar isn’t counting on there being some sort of controversy around the game, to give it more mainstream visibility, as well as the desirability associated with the forbidden fruit. So, yes, here we are again- in Australia, retail chain Target has gone ahead and pulled all versions of Grand Theft Auto 5 from its store shelves, following repeat customer concerns about its depiction of violence against women.

“We’ve been speaking to many customers over recent days about the game, and there is a significant level of concern about the game’s content,” said Target’s GM of corporate affairs Jim Cooper.

“We’ve also had customer feedback in support of us selling the game, and we respect their perspective on the issue. However, we feel the decision to stop selling GTA5 is in line with the majority view of our customers.”

Target has confirmed, however, that this applies only to GTA5, as it is a highly specific case, and that other violent movies and games should be unaffected.

“While these products often contain imagery that some customers find offensive, in the vast majority of cases, we believe they are appropriate products for us to sell to adult customers,” Cooper explained.

“However, in the case of GTA5, we have listened to the strong feedback from customers that this is not a product they want us to sell.”

Well… I mean, the game is over a year old at this point, guys. All I am saying is, what in the world took you so long?

Remember Left 4 Dead 2? Valve released the sequel to their hit co-op zombie action game back in 2009, but they ran into a snag in Australia, where the country’s harsh censorship laws for videogames ensured that the game could not be released there as it was, instead leading to a highly censored version that was practically a joke, because of how cut down it was.

Anyway, Australia has since made some strides towards easing up on videogames, especially with the introduction of its R18 rating for videogame software, and Valve has gone ahead and released the full, uncensored version of the game there. Any player who owns the censored version will automatically be upgraded to owning the uncensored version, and they can download it as a free update if they want.

To celebrate this, Left 4 Dead 2 is also on sale there with a staggering 75% off for a limited time, so if Australian players hadn’t jumped in yet because of the game’s butchering, now would be the time.

After reports of THQ Europe offices being closed, it’s now THQ Asia Pacific’s turn to be shut down by the main establishment, according to a report published on MCV. The publisher’s financial condition isn’t worth discussing right now, so asking for a reason for this move is out of the question. We know why they’re doing this.

The head offices of THQ Asia Pacific was located in Melbourne, Australia. The distribution and other rights were transferred to All Interactive Entertainment.

Ian Curran, THQ EVP, Global Publishing, said: “The evolution of our distribution model in the Asia Pacific region will allow us to increase our reach with a lower cost model. AIE is a trusted business partner with whom we have worked with for many years as our distributor in New Zealand.”

Director of All Interactive Entertainment, Robert Kingston, added: “We are delighted to broaden our relationship with a top publisher such as THQ. We look forward to bringing THQ’s highly-anticipated new video game releases and existing game portfolio to our retail network in the territory.”

Thanks to Joystiq for the info.