Aussie Gamers, Time To Have Your Say


gruso

gruso

thunderbox
Joined
Feb 28, 2008
Messages
7,461
Age
47
Location
Sydney, Australia
Website
pandorapress.net
Background: The conservative tossers that hold the balance of power in this country refuse to allow an R18+ classification for games. As a result, many, many titles deemed too full on for an MA15+ rating are refused classification. That means they can't be legally sold unless the content is modified. (Valve went down this path recently, here's what happened). Many games just don't go on sale at all.

The effects of this are not just a lack of blood and boobies for mature gamers. A lot of content that probably should be R18+ actually slides through under the MA15+ rating. That means my young nephews have easy access to games like GTA4 and HOTD:Overkill, which I'm not really cool with. (That's a parenting issue when it comes down to it, but no one takes MA15+ seriously these days). It also means adult gamers are turning to grey imports and piracy to get the real thing. EB Games reckon they could count the copies of L4D2 they sold on one hand.

Some time ago, the government commissioned a study on this issue. The resulting discussion paper was never released to the public. <_< Finally, today, a press release from the Home Affairs Minister, Brendan O'Connor:

R 18+ CLASSIFICATION FOR COMPUTER GAMES DISCUSSION PAPER RELEASED

Minister for Home Affairs Brendan O'Connor today encouraged people to share their views on whether an R 18+ classification category for computer games should be included in the Australian National Classification Scheme.

"I urge everyone with an interest in this issue to contribute to the discussion so the Government can ensure all community views are considered," Mr O'Connor said. "I regularly receive representations from both industry and gamers seeking the introduction of an R 18+ classification for computer games, as well from as those opposed to its introduction."

Mr O'Connor stressed that neither he nor the Government had formed a view on whether the Classification Scheme should include an R18+ Classification for computer games

"We are releasing a discussion paper rather than proposing a change so we have an opportunity to gauge all community views on the subject," the Minister said

The discussion paper is available at www.ag.gov.au/gamesclassification. Interested community members can register their views on the accompanying submission template by email, fax or post. Full address details are available at the web address above. Submissions close on 12 February 2009.
Click to expand...
Yay. :) I've never written to the guv'ment before ("Dear Mr President, there are too many states these days..."). First time for everything.
 
(Not really on topic, but related)
My son is nearly 14 and allowed to play games 16+. I was shocked when I saw GTA4 and removed it from the list. Stuff like Doom3 which is 18+ here in Germany is much more child friendly than GTA4. GTA was cool back in the days and realism isn't always appreciated IMO.
 
Michael Atkinson said, "This is a question of a small number of very zealous gamers trying to impose their will on society."

I think it's more of a question of a small number of very zealous Attorney Generals trying to impose their will on society.

This guy is a jerk.
 
Best thing is, one of the main scare tactics he used was that a certain Japanese "rape" game would be available to children if we got the R18 classification. The discussion paper names the very game, and says no, it would not be available with an R rating. It would still be refused classification. No wonder Atkinson didn't want the paper released.

Graffiti spotted in a L4D mod:

atkinson-deathstop.jpg
 
How is internet filtering right now in Australia? You obviously don't have child porn. The sites it talks about don't seem that bad, all the bad stuff is already illegal anyway it sounds like.

I hate when politicians try to fix things that aren't broke. They always use fear to pass things also, in this case they mention child abuse, but the sites they list as blockable don't have anything to do with child abuse so throwing the word 'child' up there is just to create fear.

After Sep. 11 Microsoft lobbied to pass a bill that would make it illegal for government to use open source. They tied the word 'terrorist' to the bill somehow to create fear but it never passed anyway.
 
I don't think there should be any form of government imposed censorship on video games or the internet. If all these "concerned parents" (read: irresponsible wankers) want the government to do their parenting for them, maybe they should start thinking about what exactly is causing the moral decay of society in the first place. I believe they would find that poor parenting would be the catalyst. If they cant filter their own net connection or their childrens video games and media, why should anyone listen to them? Because they formed a lobby group with a whole bunch of other useless opinionated fucks?

And never underestimate the damage a religious group could cause, flagging whatever content they deem as "sinful". I don't wanna live in a country where my right to look at titties and shoot some 3D zombies in the face (preferably at the same time) is compromised by small and extremely vocal minority groups. Australia is becoming sissified. I cant smoke inside the pub (cause you know, smoking apparently is more dangerous than alcohol) I gotta risk a criminal charge cause I just wanna smoke some weed every now and then, and now this? We may as well all go communist.

I have always thought that there should be an R18+ category and people who look younger than 25 should need to show some ID upon purchase. I believe this category should exist purely to shut the mouths of all the assholes that want to sterilize everything because there are things in the world that don't suit them and they get all butthurt and blame forms of entertainment for their childrens fucked up behavior.

EDIT: I am not saying sick fucks should have access to child porn. Child molesters should be fucking executed. And in a perfect world, people should have the right to download the video of said executions if they are so inclined.
 
http://www.pirateparty.org.au/

I never intended to go into politics but the Pirate Party has already helped a lot in Germany. Not sure how far along your Australian PP is but you should probably join the fun and help them if you care about these issues.
 
Yeah, big news seeing that go through today (on appeal, basically). An internetfriend of mine works for Sega Australia, and he was at this meeting. Apparently they slid it through because (i) the setting isn't realistic, and (ii) the player does not have control of the character during the most violent scenes (such as tearing a marine's head, spine attached, from his body). So they must be cutscenes or quicktime events. That's the public information anyway - there were elements of the approval process that he was not able to tell us about. Interesting...

So we have AVP, yay, but it probably should be an R18+ game. I certainly don't want my young nephews playing it. Personally though, I can't wait to tear the heads off some marines.

@ mali & OrR: Thanks for the links, I think I'll do some reading. :)


Update for Aussies: Campaign website Grow Up Australia has provided an online version of the submission form. Ordinarily you would have to download it from ag.gov.au, fill it out and mail/fax it. Grow Up Australia knows we're a bunch of lazy pricks, so if you fill out the web form they'll do the paperwork for you. Sweet! No excuses now, do it do it do it. And send the link to everyone, including non-gamers.

http://www.growupaus...mes-submission/
 
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