There were rumblings last month that South Korea was going to block Android Marketplace because some games hadn’t been reviewed by the Korean Game Rating Board. Oh, yeah, Korea? Well, Google’s gonna just go ahead and exclude all games pre-emptively.
Maybe all lazy parents should move to South Australia, because everyone’s favourite state government seems to want to do all your parenting for you. The South Australian government is now enforcing a law that requires all R-rated films for sale or hire to be segregated from all other movies of a lower rating. Not only that, but advertising R-rated films will also be illegal.
Yesterday afternoon, the federal government finally got around to releasing their long-coming discussion paper on the merits of introducing an adult classification for videogames. They’re also asking for public consultation, so if you have a logical, coherent and informed argument to support an R18+ rating, you should download the discussion paper and submit your thoughts before next February.
It’s all well and good for us consumers to bitch about the lack of an R18+ rating in video games, but it’s another thing altogether when politicians start doing it for us. The Hon Kate Jones MP has sponsored a government petition up in Queensland to bring change to the current classifications scheme.
Mark Newton, Internode engineer and superhero in the battle for a filter-free internet, has pointed out another fundamental flaw in the Australian classifications system: Rather than fixing an obviously broken setup, the ACMA would prefer to force Apple to remove the “Gift this movie” option from iTunes in Australia to deal with Internet classification.
After plenty of online commentary, bickering, arguments and maybe the odd fistfight, the battle for an R18+ rating for games may have taken a step towards existence today after the AGs from around the country failed to reach a unanimous decision regarding the R18+ discussion paper. According to Gamespot AU, instead of being caught up in a tangle of disagreement, the Commonwealth Minister for Home Affairs, Bob Debus, has taken it upon his department to release the discussion paper to the public.
Australia’s video game classification system doesn’t work, according to Michael Atkinson, the South Australian Attorney-General and chief opponent of the introduction of an R18+ category. In a letter to Kotaku today, the minister claimed he “doesn’t trust” the Classification Board to do their job properly and claims that the current MA15+ category is being stretched to the limit to accommodate the games industry’s publishers.
We’re all familiar with the stubborn refusal of SA Attorney General Michael Atkinson to rationally debate the merits of an R18+ rating for video games, but it appears he’s quickly descending into Ewe Boll territory to argue with his critics. In response to a letter from Kotaku AU reader Terry, a 57 year old grandfather gamer, Atkinson responded to Kotaku and challenged their readers to go up against him at the next election.
As another working week draws to a close and you begin to wonder what manner of horrible evils are lurking out there in the world to destroy the wonderful ideals of a handful of politicians, know that your children are just a tiny bit safer today thanks to South Australian Attorney General Michael Atkinson. Not only has he not changed his mind about having a universal rating system for all forms of entertainment in this country including video games, but he’s actively delaying the public discussion (again) by refusing to provide his final comments on the matter.
