Ok, I missed this bit of news last week as I was preparing for Game Connect, but it looks like Labor won't be making any plans to push for a games R18+ rating if they get elected. Labor Party shadow attorney general Joe Ludwig had this to say to Gamespot AU...
"While I understand that many in the community desire the addition of an R18+ rating for video games, the Federal Labor Party does not believe that there are any fundamental problems with the functioning of the Classification system in Australia and, as such, we do not currently have any proposals to work with state governments to introduce such additional ratings for video games," Ludwig said.
1. Anonymous Wed, 21 Nov
That's just depressing, how do you deal with that kind of ignorance?
"Federal Labor Party does not believe that there are any fundamental problems with the functioning of the Classification system in Australia"
Well that's great, I'm really happy for them, but last time I checked the Federal Labor Party aren't in any way active in playing/developing/publishing/selling games. Perhaps they should ask organizations who ARE involved and let THEM decide if there are any problems with Classification System.
Do they even recognize that those "many in the community" who's opinions the Labor and Liberal governments choose to disregard, are the ones struggling to stimulate growth in our repressed local industry? Which at the end of the day would see more money come into Australia.
That said, we can't give up on this...
Why not have the heads of all dev/publishing houses in Australia write letters to the appropriate government department, requesting a review of our outdated Classification System. Explain to them how this is yet another hurdle in the way of Australia's games industry being able to compete with the rest of the world. Has anything like this been done to date?
Also, if you know a game you plan to buy has been censored for release in Aus, import it or buy/download it online from competing outlets. Maybe if major retailers start screaming about lost sales as a direct result of our ratings system, the government might pay more attention to the cause.
Perhaps a petition sent to major games retailers stating the people who signed will not be purchasing any more games that are 'sanitized' by our ridiculous rating system, would be enough to get that ball rolling.
Whatever the means, common sense and logic seem to bounce right off these guys like ping-pong balls. I think the best and only way to get their attention is to show them how not acting on this issue will hurt Australia economically.
[/rant]
No problems except banning games that don't fit the MA requirements. Soldier of Fortune: Payback being the latest in a long list.
There should be a study (and there have been many already) about the average gamer demographic. Its not teens. Its actually in the 20s. So by not introducing the R+18 rating, what you are doing is biasing most of the demographic. If most gamers were under age we would all understand that its inappropriate for them to be playing games of this nature. Not that in a sane society parents couldn't make those decisions on their own, deciding what's right for their own children. But the sad reality is that its ok for cinema/films but for some reason games are not in the same league.
These law makers need to grow up. We dont need laws to prevent people from doing what they are going to do anyway. You are just making them go to more extreme means (and less safe/reliable) in order to get what they want. Is that the right compromise, to just ignore the issue and hope it goes away?!
Australia is still so backward and I'm ashamed about it - aren't we all?
Hmm, the above comment didn't seem to work out as expected. I was saying that I'm pretty sure I remember reading that the average gamer age is closer to 30.
Hi Chameleon. My bad - I believe the mean is indeed as you noted in the 30s. So other than the "..does not believe that there are any fundamental problems with the functioning of the Classification system in Australia.." what are the arguments that JUSTIFY such a backward, lazy attitude to reality. The video games industry in Australia is and has been suffering from a total lack of support in its perception and funding respectively and its no wonder the games coming out of companies here cannot compete globally. I mean, I think we have talent and certainly we have a fairly good community of artists and gamers who are passionate about the industry - but our 'home front' isn't nearly what it should and could be. And it all starts with our government giving the industry 'equal rights' in the arts.
Can anyone explain the real reason why we are prevented from being 'equal' when the rest of the world knows how much the games industry is a money spinner and artistic legit choice, getting the respect it deserves?
It's a global market and we're all full steam ahead towards distributable downloads for games and media, so there'll be no sensible reason to buy retail for games, particularly with their outrageous markups. I'm hoping it will make our hopelessly inadequate classification system redundant in the end and we can all just bypass it.
Thats all well and good, im in the process of suing the government and dicussing with my laywers