In Valve news, good and not so good:

LEFT 4 DEAD 2 DEMO PRE-LOADING NOW

Those who have pre-purchased Left 4 Dead 2 via Steam may now pre-load the game demo, which is due to launch for early access on Tuesday, October 27. Early access to the L4D2 demo is available for both retail (360, PC) and Steam (PC) customers. Those who pre-ordered via participating retailers should be able to pick up their early access codes this weekend and be ready to play on Tuesday when the demo launches.

As for the ratings deal Down Under… well, it looks as if Australian gamers wanting their zombie killing unaltered will be out of luck as:

“In the review board’s opinion, Left 4 Dead 2 could not be accommodated within the MA 15+ classification,” it said. “The computer game contains a level of violence which is high in impact, prolonged, repeated frequently and realistic within the context of the game.”

Well, duh… But I guess the board has to protect the folks over 18 who want to buy the game from themselves and any potential bad behavior seeing exploding zombie heads will cause. Ah well… EA and Valve appealed the rating after presenting a ‘sanitized’ version of the game to the review board, but the board stood fast. Soooo, Down Under gets the game… but it’s going to be a lot less gory than what’s hitting here.

I’m guessing the US PC version may be the way to go for you guys, unless it’s been banned from import into the country…