Xbox Gaming in South Africa

The complaints have been flooding in, from forums to 'customer feedback' sites such as HelloPeter.com. A response has finally been posted by local Product Marketing Manager for Xbox 360 in South Africa, John Press, but it isn't what we wanted to hear:

The Gears of War 2 limited collector's edition for the South African market does not contain any of the downloadable elements found in the version advertised on international websites & where the Live service is available. Live has not launched in South Africa at this point and as a result downloadable content which relies on users having legitimate access to the service is excluded from the content of the collector's edition.

Legislation and a ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority prevents us from utilizing Live branding on local versions of the game until such time as the service is available in country. The inclusion of Live branding and Live related content would imply that the service is available locally and could be construed as being misleading.

We are in the process of seeking alternative methods of delivering this content as we recognise the value this content to our local customers. In addition we remain committed to bringing Live to SA but unfortunately there is no update with regards to a launch date at this point. We appreciate your understanding at this time as we seek an alternative solution to this issue.

All we can hope for is that they find an alternative solution quickly, cause at the moment, South Africans are getting ripped off. Nuff said!

[Via Craign.net]