Game Over for Gamers4Croydon

The Australian pro-videogame political party Gamers4Croydon is disbanding.

Founded by David Doe, a former videogame tester, the party was created in order to champion the addition of an R18+, adult videogame rating category in the land of Oz and to assist with the removal of anti-game South Australian Attorney General Michael Atkinson.

On the Gamers4Croydon website, Doe wrote that the party would not be competing in the upcoming federal elections as “all good things come to an end, and it’s time to pass the torch on to people with the resources and experience necessary to bring the change to bear politically.”

Doe encouraged backers to “look closely” at the Australian Sex Party and the Australian Greens as possible replacements for support.

Atkinson, who eventually won re-election before resigning his seat, became aware of Gamers4Croydon very early on, and while he never admitted to being concerned over the impact it could have on his run for re-election, he engaged in some spirited repartee with the group that provided amusement for the videogame community.

Atkinson initially said that he “welcomed” the challenge from Gamers4Croydon, then immediately launched into an attack on violent games:

The voters of Croydon will now be asked directly whether they want interactive games in which gamers score points by raping a mother and daughter, blowing themselves up, torturing human figures . . . killing people and taking drugs to improve their sporting prowess.

Later Atkinson went on to state that he expected “dirty tricks” and “criminal activities” from the Gamers4Croydon campaign, because that is, “What I’ve come to expect from gamers.”

While Gamers4Croydon did not win any seats in the state elections—Atkinson’s opponent Kat Nicholson took 3.7 percent of the votes to Atkinson’s 52.7 in the South Australian election—Doe said about the party that he ”could never have imagined how far it would go, nor how well it would be received.”

Doe left Australians with this thought:

2010 is the dawning of a new age of politics in Australia; the age of the informed voter. This election may not have gamers running in it, but it's certainly going to have them participating every step of the way.

Via GameSpot, Thanks Ryan!