Recently GamePolitics reported on a move to create an R18+ rating for video games in Australia.
The idea is popular among Aussie gamers since adding the new classification would offer grownup consumers additional gaming choices. A number of titles which qualified for sale in the U.S. market, for example, were banned Down Under because they failed to meet the mark for Australia's current highest rating, M15+. These include Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, 50 cent: Bulletproof and Blitz: The League.
Predictably, not everyone in Australian politics agrees with the proposed change. But, as reported by news.com.au, South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson (left) was shouted down in Parliament last week while arguing against adoption of the R18+ rating:
Mr Atkinson is the most vocal opponent to a R18+ classification for games... During the speech, Mr Atkinson began to describe five games that had been banned in Australia. As he was describing drug use in the game Narc, he was cut off by raucous interjections and returned to his seat.
The text of Atkinson's speech explains his objections (it's about the children!), and includes the following:
I do not want children to be able to get their hands on R18+ games easily. I understand that the lack of an R18+ classification denies some adults the chance to play some games, however, the need to keep potentially harmful material away from children is far more important...
Proponents for the classification say the latest technology allows gaming platforms and computers to be programmed to allow parental locks. Today’s children are far more technologically savvy than their parents. It’s laughable to suggest that they couldn’t find ways around parental locks if R18+ games were in the home...
I contest any idea that it is necessary for games to include material of this kind and that a game is more interesting to an adult because it contains extreme violence, explicit sexual material, instruction in crime or characters using illicit drugs...
GP: Unfortunately, we don't have any news on which members of Parliament interrupted Atkinson's speech or why they did so...
Comments
Nah, our media is just desperate for something to fill slow news days and whilst the news is generally moderate and responsible, the current affairs shows have devolved from investigative journalism to tabloid rag in the last 10 years or so. That kind of show is now the perfect outlet for the "Society gone to the dogs" stories, so much so that a comedy show calld The Chaser's War On Everything kept a scoreboard of the 2 major current affairs shows & the story types they ran.
Atkinson was speaking in the South Australian state parliament.
'So are Australian AG’s appointed or are they elected? If they are elected, the people directly affected by the lack of an 18+ rating have some sway over this point. The threat of being voted out of office is a strong influence on policy decisions.'
A bit of both. All members of parliament are elected by the people (in this case, the people of South Australia) but who does what in the government is decided by the party itself. The people have no say who does what job in government, just who gets to have a seat there.
"On behalf on South Australia, I apologize for Mr Atkinsons actions."
Accepted. Though I'd rather see HIM apologise.
Would that mean many more games would be given an R18+ rating than they currently do? YES! But so what? In the US it's a problem, because companies like Walmart won't stock them. Here in Australia, that's not an issue. We don't have a major retail juggernaut like Walmart and most people got to gaming stores to fill their fix .... and I can't see EB, GAME, or any of the other major gaming retailers worry about checking ID for R18+ games 'cause they already do it for M15+ games.
Retailers: Hi how are you today. Looking to pick that one you today are you? Well, that's an +18 rated game; show me some I.D. Don't have it? Bad luck sorry you can't buy it then. Why can't you buy it? Because it's illegal for me to sell it to you without seeing your I.D. first, that's why... (end scene)
Did anybody else see what just happened then?
The ONLY thing we need, and i do stress ONLY: is to make it illegal to buy a game such as those with R+18 without proper identification - PROBLEM SOLVED
Now if the South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson can't get THAT through his thick, out-dated skull, then i truly believe our efforts are doomed, as it could not be any simpler
- Aron Shick