Instaban.

The whole place is a stinking mess with its double standards and over regulation. And yet nothing seems to actually get done! I’m off to england.

Please?

Pretty please?

If you want to contact the people on the show individually, here’s how:
Nick Zenophon is http://www.aph.gov.au/SEnate/senators/homepages/contact.asp?id=8IV or nickx@xen.net.au

Barnaby Joyce is http://www.barnabyjoyce.com.au/Contact.asp or senator.joyce@aph.gov.au

Mark Arbib is http://www.alp.org.au/people/email/arbib_mark.php

Although Ms Redout’s association doesn’t have appear to have a general email, there’s numerous emails on her associations website – kaym@aigroup.asn.au; stephanie.vlandys@aigroup.asn.au; sgordon@aigroup.asn.au; craigr@aigroup.asn.au; jillm@aigroup.asn.au.

Christine Jackman is a little hard to track down, even though she is a journalist. Try jacksonc@theaustralian.com.au or simply letters@theaustralian.com.au. However, like all “good” journalists, she does have a facebook account…

Also, I suggest you also write to Tom Crago (tomcrago@tantlus.com.au or possibly tomcrago@gdaa.com.au) and demand that he step up and defend Game Developers of Australia from this type of ignorance and slander.

After watching an excerpt of the program that aired last Thursday (24/07/08) that covered the questions regarding video game classification and censorship I was shocked to discover both a considerable degree of ignorance to the area from both panelists and the host, Tony Jones, and a reluctance, excluding panelists Mark Arbib and Christine Jackman, to admit to being unfamiliar with the issue.

The most glaring inaccuracy was Tony Jones’ statement that there is not a rating system on video games, further suggesting that any individual of any age can purchase any video game that has been approved for sale. This is incorrect (see http://www.classification.gov.au/special.html?n=271&p=190) and any video game that posses a certain level of violence (typically either showing blood or the like) cannot be sold to anyone under the age of 15. Instances in which young children are in possession of such games are typically a case of parents not aware of the classification system (as Tony Jones himself showed is certainly prevalent) or poor policing of retail guidelines. Those against video game censorship are largely in favour of solutions including better classification education for parents or stricter retail guidelines.

The discussion of Fallout 3 also seemed skewed towards discussing the violence within the game and the dangerous potential of that, however the reasoning behind refusing classification for the game did not mention violence at all, but rather due to the appearance of morphine in the game’s publicity stills. While I in no way condone the use of drugs, its appearance in various media as a story-driving element is important as seen in works within other media (such as the book/film Trainspotting or the film “Requiem for a Dream”. Those involved in the discussion also used the term ‘ban’ or ‘banned’ frequently but this, too, was erroneous, as the title has been technically been ‘refused classification’. While this may appear to be splitting hairs, the difference is that ‘banned’ suggests action of an active classification board while refusal to classify is indicative of the fact that the incompleteness of our rating system results in censorship as default.

Many statements made by panelists seemed obtuse or irrelevant such as Barnaby Joyce’s mentions ‘avatar rape’, though such a title would likely be illegal with or without an R18+ classification nor does his vague description suggest such a title exists; it appears as though he is assumptive that a game like that must exist. Heath Ridout states “Grant Theft Auto seemed to turn everyone in to a car thief” and “violent games breeds violence” as though it was accepted fact (http://www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/impact/myths.html is an excellent and well researched source to discount some of these beliefs). Ridout goes on to suggest that those over 18 will obtain the games anyway, which would require either importing (illegal due to customs law) or through illegal downloading. Is Ms Ridout suggesting that breaking the law is the best solution to this incomplete classification system?

An R18+ classification for video games is present in nearly all developed countries, excluding Australia. The issue is not about making games more accessible to minors but by giving video games the same classification used by other media. I concede that the question on your program was poorly asked and the asker unfortunately accepted Tony Jones’ loaded description of the title involved, however the responses clearly highlighted the misinformation over the issue both with politicians and the media.

I can only hope that this is an issue that might receive more thorough research and investigation in the future.

Yours,

Alex Collie