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March 6th, 2008 @ 11:46
A forward-looking Australian politician has said he will refuse to grant an 18+ certificate for the country, meaning that the oldest age-ratings available for games will remain at 15+ after a Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (SCAG) meeting on March 28.
A spokesperson for Michael Atkinson, the South Australian attorney-general, has confirmed that he will maintain his long-running opposition to the proposed system.
“The attorney-general remains very firmly opposed to introducing an R rating for computer games in Australia,” the spokesperson said.
Minister Atkinson would not consider an 18+ rating even if there were measures to protect children from being exposed to adult content, the spokesperson said.
“He doubts whether any safeguards could be put in place to deter young people, who after all (are) the most computer literate and savvy in our society, from being able to access material.”
It was hoped that the meeting might yield a decent debate on the subject, although the chance of a positive result has never been good.
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March 6th, 2008 at 11:48 am
And we think we have it bad in Europe. Australia really is the arse-end of PAL gaming. Poor buggers.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:53 am
It really is shocking. So backwards.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Sadly, this is a pretty undeniable truth:
“He doubts whether any safeguards could be put in place to deter young people, who after all (are) the most computer literate and savvy in our society, from being able to access material.”
March 6th, 2008 at 11:55 am
But there’s also nothing to stop those same savvy young people from importing 18+ software from Europe.
March 6th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
…or use circumvention technologies.
March 6th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
I think those things are secondary to their real aim of encouraging developers not to create the 18+ material in the first place.
March 6th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
But it’s a lost cause, surely? Most games are created outside of Australia, and Australia itself is such a tiny market it’s not going to have any impact whatsoever on the content of most games. Which basically means devs have to butcher their games for one territory, or choose not to release it at all. Either way, it sucks to be Australian even if you don’t get skin cancer.
March 6th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Better than pretending the problem doesn’t exist. I think it’s quite laudable really, too many games try for cheap shocks.