Game Stooge

How Atkinson Holds Aussie Gamers Hostage

• Scribbled on December 5th, 2009 by Jordan Lund
• Filed in ESRB/Ratings, Features, Industry News, Legal Brief

As GameStooge reported earlier, the new Aliens Vs. Predator game is being banned in Australia for being too violent. It’s important to note why this keeps happening over and over again in Australia.

Unlike the United States, Australia’s game ratings system is capped at “MA 15+”, or suitable only for those aged 15 and older. This would be more or less the equivalent of a “T” for Teen rating in the United States. Australia has no category for a United States style “M” for Mature and my guess is “AO” for Adults Only is right out. If a game can’t fit in the teen category or below then it cannot be rated, if it cannot be rated then it can’t be released. That’s the trap that Aliens Vs. Predator, Reservoir Dogs and others have fallen in to. Fallout 3 barely avoided this by re-naming some in-game drugs.

So the fix should be easy, right? You add a MA 18+ Category for adult gamers, re-classify adult games as adult games and you’re good to go.

The problem is Michael Atkinson, the Attorney General for South Australia and he believes that adults should be bound by restrictions for children. In order to allow an MA 18+ rating, all Attorneys General in Australia must agree to allow it and Mr. Atkinson is the sole hold-out.

In a response to an Australian gamer, he released this 6 page PDF as to why games will never have an adult rating as long as he’s in a position of power in Australia:

“I am concerned about the level of violence in society and the widespread acceptance of simulated violence as a form of entertainment. I am particularly concerned about the impact of this extreme content on children and vulnerable adults. On balance, the rejection of less than a handful of games each year has a trifling impact on the choices available to Australian adult gamers, compared with the impact extremely violent and sexually explicit games would have on at-risk adults and minors.”

Mr. Atkinson seems particularly dismissive of the issue in general, issuing this challenge on the final page of the PDF:

“I am next up for election in March, 2010. The State District I represent is called Croydon. I would welcome advocates of R.18+ computer games testing public acceptance of my policy by standing a candidate against me in that general election.”

This gauntlet has since been taken up by a group calling themselves “Gamers 4 Croydon” and currently have raised more than $5,000 from people who feel that adults shouldn’t be bound by standards designed for children. They are present on Facebook and on Twitter.

$5,000 doesn’t seem like enough to throw out an Attorney General, but hopefully they will get enough votes on their side to make Mr. Atkinson realize that adults don’t need their government doing their thinking for them.

Cool Kids Are into Social Media, AMIRITE

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