I did. But it would seem that as a Victorian, the South Australian AG isn’t interesting in coresponding with me. Maybe cause I’m not in his state?

Except his decision affects the entire damn country. At least 90% of the time we can import these games from New Zealand…but again, this clearly shows the lost revenue to the Australian industry.

Not the mention that I’m 29. I’m sure a 16 year old wouldn’t be importing. They’d be torrenting.

I should also mention that it was not my goal to portray the entire article as bias.

I don’t take it as an insult at all. In fact, I hope Ross’ article drives people online for more balanced opinions, where hopefully they’ll read this piece. While I agree that our audience is mostly comprised of gamers and the tech-savvy, this article is as much for them as it is for interested individuals that type “r18+” into a search engine.

You mention that Ross is arguing for an R18+ rating for games. If that was his objective, I have to be honest, he did a very bad job. I did not get that impression at all, especially with comments such as “trying to foist a category of computer games on us that will contain mostly mind-numbing violence”. If I missed something, please let me know.

I agree that Ross, at the very least, has given the issue some much-needed mainstream attention. However, I don’t think this should stop us from making sure that people who do want more information have a chance to see both sides of the story. I also don’t think that reaching a mainstream audience is a good enough excuse for me not to reply.

In short, who cares what Fitzgerald says? He’s a dinosaur who’s getting fewer readers every day. If trends continue he’ll soon be going into full tabloid mode in a desperate attempt to attract enough readers to keep his job.

Fitzgerald makes an entirely legitimate point, which you’ve sought to take an unnecessary cheap shot at. Yes, it is the first time ever that the SCAG meeting is comprised entirely of ALP Attorneys-General. That’s a perfectly legitimate point because he qualifies it right away linking it to a policy platform that the ALP took to the election.

I believe the fact you unnecessarily mentioned that detracted from a good, well-written article and dented your credibility.

Fantastic job on the response Logan, couldn’t have said it better myself.

http://i25.tinypic.com/2r6ns4y.jpg

It’s Mahesh Sharma. I write for The Australian but i used to write for ITJ. how’s it going?

While I think your criticisms of the article are fair enough, i think the one key point to note is that Ross has brought this issue to the mainstream.

So far reporting on this would’ve been on the side of the SA AG, or just online, where it would be picked up by a very techy audience.

For it to get in the paper is a big deal, and an even bigger deal when it’s considered that he’s arguing for an R 18+ rating, which is not a very common view in the mainstream media (ie. the television channels and other newspapers)

What alot of bloggers and online writers fail to understand is that they’re pretty much only reaching a tech savvy audience, and aren’t reaching the mass audience.

That’s not meant to be an insult, but just the way that audiences are geared atm.

What if we had a 21+ rating instead?

A 30+ rating?

How old do we have to be before we can make up our own minds about what we do and don’t like?