September 24, 2006
Some politicians in Australia are taking issue with the official government rating given to Rockstar's controversial Bully
, or, as the game is now known outside of the North American market, Canis Canem Edit.The West Australian is reporting that New South Wales Education Minister Carmel Tebbutt is concerned about what she considers an overly-lenient rating given to Bully by Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC). Ms Tebbutt urged parents to keep the game out of the hands of their children, and has requested that the country's Attorney General review the classification.
"I'm concerned that its message for violence is undermining what we're doing in schools to counteract bullying," she said. "I also want (the A.G.) to assure me that everything that needs to be taken into account has been taken into account in this classification process."
Even before the ESRB assigned Bully a "T" (13 and older) rating, the Australian OFLC rated the game "M" for "Moderate Themes, Violence, Sexual References", which, under the Australian system means the game is recommended for players older than 15. No legal restrictions are placed upon its sale, however.
New Zealand rated the game "R13" with the descriptor "contains violence", which means it's sales are restricted to those 13 and up.
-Reporting from Canada, GP Correspondent Colin "Jabrwock" McInnes
Comments
Dear Ms Tebbutt,
Why are you writing to the Attorney General about the game Bully without ever setting eyes on the game or your hands on a controller?
You claim it's sending the wrong message to school students, but yet you have absolutely no idea about what messages are in the game, because it has not been released in Australia.
I ask that you play the game before you criticise it and the company that made it.
And more importantly, I ask you to allow the Office of Film, Literature and Classification to do it's job free of political interference.
In other words, I ask you to allow the democratic process, the same process that has seen you elected to the position of Minister for Education in the New South Wales parliament, to take it's course and not bully it because you happen to think erroneously about the subject matter at hand.
I would also like to add that there has been absolutely no conclusive scientific evidence to show that violent games lead to violent behavior to any greater degree than any other media.
Sure, go ahead and cite Dr Craig Anderson to me, and I'll respond with what the courts have claimed in every single instance where Dr Anderson's 'evidence' was provided to the courts: "Dr. [Craig] Anderson's studies have not provided any evidence that the relationship between violent video games and aggressive behavior exists." (Eastern District of Michigan, United States District Court, ESA, et al., v. Granholm, et al. April, 2006)
The Judge then added that the evidence introduced alleging that new brain mapping studies show a link between violent games and aggressive thought is equally unpersuasive.
"The research not only fails to provide concrete evidence that there is a connection between violent media and aggressive behavior, it also fails to distinguish between video games and other forms of media,"(Eastern District of Michigan, United States District Court, ESA, et al., v. Granholm, et al. April, 2006)
Go on, I dare you to cite Dr Funk, or Prof. Gentile, or any of the other scientists who try to “prove” violent video games lead to violent behavior and not only can I deconstruct them to show they fundamental flaws in their logic and scientific method used to make their claims, I can show, one for one, studies that are more scientifically sound that disprove that hypothesis.
Video games have simply become the whipping boy for idiot reactionaries looking to get their name in the headlines, but their influence is no greater than television, comics, music or movies.
Like those other media, time will show that there is no need to worry about their impact the future generations as it is parents and guardians who have the greatest impact on raising children, not the violent media du jour.
Thank you
J
Games reviewer and developer
Not sure if you're responding to me, but I'm Australian...
I was using the court ruling to prove my point that craig Anderson, and similar research, has been rejected time and time again by both science and the courts...