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Australian Politicians Have Absolutely No Clue About Gaming
Posted by Nick Broughall at 2:27 PM on July 25, 2008
There are two things that this Friday seems to be missing here on Giz. The first one is beer. The second is a healthy dose of rage. I'm hoping that the first one naturally turns into the second, although after watching the video above, I'm actually thinking that it might work the other way around.
You see, Logan over at Kotaku got pointed in the direction of this clips from ABC program Q&A. It's a fairly new show that lets people in the audience ask questions of politicians and their kind about topical current events.
As you can see from the video, the topic in question here is the need for an R18+ rating for games in Australia. What spews forth from the politicians' mouths is something many would find more offensive than any super-violent game - total ignorance. This wouldn't be so bad if they admitted they weren't in a position to make any kind of judgment, but instead most of them used it as an opportunity to propagate their own beliefs and opinions without a passing consideration for the facts.
Of course, matters weren't helped by the discussion being started on a misinterpretation of the recently refused game Fallout 3. The gent who asked the question (who gets FULL credit for asking it, by the way) obviously wasn't familiar with the reason the game was refused classification, as he agreed with the host's summary that the game lets the character "self-inject intravenous drugs so that they can kill more people".
In any case, the conversation moves on from there, and instead of addressing the real issue - that adults should have the right to choose what games that they play and more responsibility should be placed on the parents of children to restrict inappropriate content - most of the members of the panel merely announced that restricting content that will negatively effect others makes sense, and by making up examples to suit their argument.
It's enough to make you want to run out, carjack some helpless old grandmother, drive past the ABC studios as the next session of Q&A finishes filming and pepper all their bodies with bullets from a submachine gun out the window as you drive past, all while injecting myself with morphine so I can kill more politicians.
Oh, wait. No it doesn't.
Because no matter how many violent video games I play now, as an adult, I was fortunate enough to have parents who educated me on both right and wrong and the difference between my imagination and real life.
The politicians need to wake up and realise that it's not their role to raise children - that job falls to the parents. And the fact that they think they can decide what's appropriate content for an adult shows that they firmly believe that they're parenting not just the kids, but the grown ups too.
Comments
Micha
Posted July 25, 2008 3:54 PM
It is quite incredible that this game would be refused classification for something that has already been seen in at least one game (BioShock is the one I can think of). I would not mind classifications of games at all - the more information we can easily provide to parents, the better.
In reality, the government needs to start thinking of games in a similar way to movies - at least with regards to restrictions. Games SHOULD be restricted like movies are, and there SHOULD be a rating such as R 18+ for games not suitable for minors. I have a good mind to raise this issue again on Q&A, I missed this episode unfortunately.
Of course, we should not really expect any educated comments from our politicians on the subject of computer games. The only opinions they have are the ones they are told they should have by the vocal anti-gaming lobbyists. Thanks GOD we don't have Jack Thompson out here.
Matt
Posted July 25, 2008 4:14 PM
I want one of them raping amatars please
Steve
Posted July 25, 2008 9:51 PM
I agree with Nick that the parents are the ones raising the children of this country, and so if a parent can go to a movie store and pick up a movie and say 'yes its rated G' or 'no its rated MA' then why can't they walk into an EB store and judge a games content from a rating?
Treat Games like Movies I say! That way we can let the parents of kids decide, not the bloody government.
Sean
Posted July 25, 2008 10:33 PM
"There isn't a rating system on video games."
They have no idea at all.
"Films and computer games are now classified G, PG, M or MA 15+. Films can also be classified R 18+ or X 18+. R 18+ and X 18+ are not classifications for computer games."
http://www.classification.gov.au/special.html?n=291&p=134
Honestly if you don't know what you're talking about keep your bloody mouth shut before you make a fool of yourself. Lucky for politicians making fools of themselves is in the job description.
Joaby
Posted July 26, 2008 12:21 AM
Actually, I misheard the host. There was a lot of background noise and I only heard Tony Jones say "inject intravenous drugs" - minus the "to help you kill more people. The interference actually becomes audible midway through the video when I'm actually given the chance to speak. It was an unfortunate situation to be put in.
Idrhys
Posted July 26, 2008 3:15 PM
"ethics is not catching up with technology..."
Ian Khoo
Posted July 26, 2008 4:33 PM
I'm so incredibly annoyed at these people with the exception of Senator Arbib. You can detect that they are avoiding the issue of censorship of video games. Especially the first speaker. However, Senator Arbib seems to stay on topic, and focus on the issue of whether a game, like Fallout 3, should be permitted to be sold in Australia through the introduction of an R18+ rating system for video games.
Chris
Posted July 26, 2008 5:41 PM
I agree with the politicians, i was playing mario kart recently and after I finished I went down to my locel shops and bought a bunch of bananas and hurled them out the window at people. If I never played Mario Kart I doubt I would have done that
Sam
Posted July 26, 2008 6:06 PM
That kind of ignorance makes me so god damn angry. I dont think i'd have kept anything resembling composure, being that guy in the audience as he was patronised by that woman.
handles
Posted July 26, 2008 6:52 PM
How does he compare violent video games to snuff films?
Unless he dosen't know the meaning of them he is an idiot.
And why do most of these people think there is no rating system at all?
Jon
Posted July 27, 2008 12:30 AM
It's counter productive to complain about how out of touch the powers-that-be are; and how loud the anti-game lobby is; unless we're willing to step up and do something about it. The question is, why can't the vast gaming public get it together long enough to put this kind of rubbish off the agenda. Perhaps at the next election there should be a people-under-40-who-aren't-amazingly-conservative party on the ballot.