A public demonstration against the lack of an R18+ rating in Australia, which featured marchers dressed as zombies, went off without a hitch—but with plenty of lurching—in Sydney over the weekend.
Rhys Wilson, head of the group Aus Gamers Limited which organized the protest, wrote on Facebook, “I want to thank each and every one of you guys for making yesterday easily one of the best days of my life. I haven't heard any complaints from anyone, and I'm more than happy to do this again later in the year, assuming I'm not killed in a freak manure truck accident.”
IT Wire estimated the crowd of gathered ghouls at between 500 and 600 strong, easily surpassing a November 2009 similarly-themed march, which drew around 175 participants.
Australian gamers might be closer than ever to the introduction of an R18+ videogame rating following the resignation of South Australian Attorney General, and anti-game crusader, Michael Atkinson. His replacement, John Rau was called a “nice guy” and, more importantly, a supporter of R18+ by Gamers4Croydon President Chris Prior. The addition of an R18+ rating category for games still requires a unanimous vote from all state, territory and federal Attorney Generals however.
Embedded video is from YouTube user psychaeus. A whole bunch of pictures from the event can be found in aceyspadey’s Photobucket account here.
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R18+ AU March March Draws 500+ Zombie Participants
March 30, 2010 -
Posted in
Shout box
Technogeek: If the developer were male there wouldn't have been a "conversation" in the first place.10/19/2014 - 2:27am
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Monte: trolls are just at their absolute worst when it comes to women and feminist. You could bet good money that if the developer were male the trolls would be silent and the conversation would actually focus on the journalism.10/18/2014 - 9:18pm
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Monte: Papa: Not the first time we've had a journalism scandals before, but the harassment never got close to this level; the difference with this scandal is that feminists are involved. Without the feminist angle, their would be A LOT less harrassment10/18/2014 - 9:15pm
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Papa Midnight: Monte: That's honestly rather short-sighted. As has been proven with other persons who have been targeted, if it wasn't Quinn, it would be someone else.10/18/2014 - 6:26pm
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Avalongod: I think that's part of what gives an esoteric news story like this real life...it taps into a larger narrative about misogyny in society outside of games.10/18/2014 - 3:29pm
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Avalongod: @Monte, well the trolls made death threats that came to police (and media attention). I think this is tapping into a larger issue outside of games about how women are treated in society (like all the "real rape" stuff during the last election)10/18/2014 - 3:28pm
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Wonderkarp: Zippy : Havent tried the PS4 controller. might later.10/18/2014 - 2:37pm
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Monte: Seirously, If Quinn was not involved and GG was instead about something like the Mordor Marketing contracts, the trolling would have never grown so vile and disgusting. There have been plenty of movements in the past that never sufferred from behavior..10/18/2014 - 1:57pm
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Monte: We have seen scandel's before but the trolling has never been as vile as what we see with GG. Trolls usually have such a tiny voice you can barely notice them, but its like moths to a flame whenever femistist are involved.10/18/2014 - 1:53pm
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ZippyDSMlee: Wonderkarp: You might be able to if you had a PS4 controller.10/18/2014 - 1:00pm
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MaskedPixelante: http://store.steampowered.com/app/327940/ Night Dive starts charging for freeware.10/18/2014 - 12:21pm
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Matthew Wilson: the sad thing is there are trolls on both sides of this. people need to stop acting like their side is so pure.10/18/2014 - 12:19pm
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MechaTama31: So, only speak out on a scandal that hasn't attracted trolls? I wouldn't hold my breath...10/18/2014 - 10:49am
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Monte: I feel like GG just needs to die. The movement is FAR to tainted by hatred and BS for it to be useful for any conversation. Let GG die, and then rally behind the NEXT gaming journalism scandal, and start the conversation fresh.10/18/2014 - 10:33am
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quiknkold: and we dont have a Dovakin to call a cease fire10/17/2014 - 7:37pm
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quiknkold: The whole thing is Futile. Both sides are so buried deep in their trenchs that there isnt a conversation. Its just Finger Pointing, Name Calling, Doxxing, Threats. there needs to be a serious conversation, and GG isnt it.10/17/2014 - 7:37pm
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quiknkold: I thought it was a good article. Jeff is right. I feel like GamerGate did destroy its message. I am for Ethics in game journalism, but man. so much hate. and its on both sides. I've seen some awful stuff spewed on twitter. Its a big reason why I exited..10/17/2014 - 7:34pm
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Matthew Wilson: while he focused on gg, he did call out both sides crap.10/17/2014 - 7:18pm
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Papa Midnight: That was a damn good read offered by Jeff Gertsmann.10/17/2014 - 7:17pm
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Matthew Wilson: http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/letter-from-the-editor-10-17-2014/1100-5049/ deferentially a nice write up.10/17/2014 - 6:44pm
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Comments
Re: R18+ AU March March Draws 500+ Zombie Participants
As glad as I am that they're tryign to bring attention to the issue, a lot of people will assume gaming made them homeless or something, and some minds will not be changed no matter how hard you try.
Re: R18+ AU March March Draws 500+ Zombie Participants
I remember there were allot of protests trying to get their message across that we should not be involved with the Iraq war, but did the people who needed to listen ever listen at all?
No...
Protesting is useless if nobody really understands what it is. And dressing up is not going to make anything better.
There was the discussion paper, and the petittions, THESE are the things worth taking note of...
Re: R18+ AU March March Draws 500+ Zombie Participants
Seriously guys. Some of you are advocating that the mass suffer for the few (last topic about this walk) or now that those participants should be denied equal rights because of... HOW THEY CHOSE TO DRESS UP? REALLY? I mean, if you think Crocs are hideous and anyone wearing them should not be allowed within 500 meters of another human being, would that be better? Or hanging pants? Guys with makeup? Cap on the side? Bling? Revealing clothes? Or clothes that hide too much? F***in crap, as long as they respect public decorum laws, I say let them wear what they want. If the protest is more or less succesful because of it, so be it, but why wish them hardship for it?
Re: R18+ AU March March Draws 500+ Zombie Participants
Because some gamers think people who do that make the rest of us look bad. Bullshit, but there you go. It's a way to grab attention and goes to show how dedicated the ones protesting are. They don't give a flying crap what people who are already looking down on them think. So long as they can get their message across it's a job well done. Other gamers can feel embarresed about it but I see such thinking as waste of energy.
Re: R18+ AU March March Draws 500+ Zombie Participants
The problem with this viewpoint is that it's those "looking down on them" who's minds need to be changed. A message that falls on deaf ears to those who have the power to make the changes necessary is where the real wasted energy is.
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You KILL Vampires. You don't DATE them.
Re: R18+ AU March March Draws 500+ Zombie Participants
But those people will ALWAYS be looking down on gamers, Atkinson is the perfect example of this.
What this does is get the average person that doesn't know shit about games to notice that there is a LOT of support for R18+. Hopefully.
-Optimum est pati quod emendare non possis-It is best to endure what you cannot change-
Re: R18+ AU March March Draws 500+ Zombie Participants
Again, you'd have gotten more attention with actual mature forms of protest. Gamers4Croydon, for example, will have done far more than people dressing like zombies ever will. Why? Because it presented their case in the way that shows gamers as normal people.
Or do you not realize that people think that gamers are just "zombies" playing their games? These protesters did more to destroy what they were working for, much like PETA and extremist members of the Pro-Life movement here in the US. Do they get their point across? Oh, fuck yeah they do. However, since they don't do it in a way the normal person can relate to, the message just becomes a joke to society.
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You KILL Vampires. You don't DATE them.
Re: R18+ AU March March Draws 500+ Zombie Participants
People dress up to protest all the time. I don't see anyone complaining about it here. Of course the last one I heard about here featured "chicks" protesting nude at KFCs....
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Chris Kimberley
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Chris Kimberley
Re: R18+ AU March March Draws 500+ Zombie Participants
People are complaining that, by dressing up, you are making it so the very people who need to take you seriously won't do so. Your KFC protest is a perfect example.
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You KILL Vampires. You don't DATE them.
Re: R18+ AU March March Draws 500+ Zombie Participants
By dressing up they got people to pay attention. That's the goal of any protest. To let people know about whatever issue it is you're protesting for/against. There will certainly be some who'll say, "Oh you're dressing up so you must be immature and stupid." Personally, I think walking around holding signs and chanting is silly because it wont realistically make people pay attention. So I'm more likely to ignore that kind of protest simply because the people involved don't seem, to me, to have a good grasp on reality.
This kind of thing is harder to ignore.
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Chris Kimberley
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Chris Kimberley
Re: R18+ AU March March Draws 500+ Zombie Participants
They got people to pay attention, yes, but how many of those people took their message seriously? Think about it - the people in the GP story want to pass off that they're mature and adult enough for mature and adult content in video games. How do they do it? By dressing up for Halloween. I doubt anyone would look at them and say "here is the model of maturity. Yes, I know I wasn't really vocal beforehand, but these people have opened my eyes! We DO need an M18+ game rating!"
Protests are supposed to get people to pay attention AND to change people's minds on the subject. You can't say you deserve mature content by being immature.
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You KILL Vampires. You don't DATE them.
Re: R18+ AU March March Draws 500+ Zombie Participants
Zombie walk will not proof that everyone in Australia is mature enough for this silly 18+ games
Re: R18+ AU March March Draws 500+ Zombie Participants
If Austrailia ever gets an 18+ rating, they should have a special provision that everyone who participated in this idiocy be excluded from buying mature games, ever. This is one of the most childish, immature things I have ever seen. Why should anyone take "adult" gamers seriously?
Re: R18+ AU March March Draws 500+ Zombie Participants
This could be very damaging if Atkinson still be as Attourney General, and I still think this is a poor choice just as the cosplay march they tried to arrange last year.
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