Why is this man still smiling? Is it because he enjoys frustrating the millions of gamers around the country? It’s the only explanation we can think of as, once again, SA Attorney-General Michael Atkinson has thrown a spanner in the works of proposed changes to our videogame classification system.
Clocks
Friday, January 30, 2009 at 1:42 PMHe’s behaving like a bratty child who can’t get his way. Grow up!
Ben Jones
Friday, January 30, 2009 at 1:42 PMThis guy is the biggest troll I’ve ever come across. But he wont be in office forever. Even if he does stop the rating, he’ll be replaced reasonably soon by someone with brains.
cs
Friday, January 30, 2009 at 1:49 PMHey guys can you change that photo, his smug smile makes me want to punch him in the nose (I saw the movie kick boxer that’s were i got the idea to be violent). Maybe i would hate him less if you guys changed it. Could you change it pretty please?
DerangedStoat
Friday, January 30, 2009 at 1:54 PMI could respect him for stating his opinion and sticking to his guns, even if I greatly disagreed with him.
But this is just ridiculous, and completely unprofessional conduct, that someone in his position should not be able to get away with. Resorting to such unethical tactics to enforce your own personal opinion (because it certainly doesn’t appear to be anyone else’s opinion) upon the public should result in Atkinson being barred from politics all together.
Brewer74
Friday, January 30, 2009 at 2:16 PMYea, what a joke. As a games retailer, I would love to see these games inmy store, offer the pople a real choice, not one determined by narrow minded dudes like this. But even more important, I am a gamer myself and want to play these games at home, but that right has been taken out of my hands. Democracy in action.
Steven
Friday, January 30, 2009 at 2:32 PMDammit, dammit, dammit, ect
He seems to believe an R18+ rating will unleash this flood of ultra violent/adult themed games.
No, it won’t. Most other countries already have an adult rating and the addition of it here will simply bring us in line and give our ratings system a better level of control.
I seem to be under the impression that he believes that every parent in Australia has no idea how to do their job. If a parent lets their kid play an R18+ game, then it’s not the system that had failed, it’s the parent.
StrangeAttractor
Friday, January 30, 2009 at 2:33 PMWhat does it take to depose an Attorney General? As he obviously doesn’t represent the views of the public in South Australia.
James
Friday, January 30, 2009 at 2:43 PMAs a games journalist who lives in Adelaide, I would love to sit down with Mr Atkinson and discuss, in great detail, the exact nature of his stupidity and ignorance.
RadarTrap
Friday, January 30, 2009 at 2:54 PMWhat does it matter? When the paper is finally made public people will say the same thing that we’ve been saying all along and Michael Atkinson will continue to ignore us and abuse his power to force his opinion on us.
I, like other adults who like thinking for themselves, will continue to import games that are refused classification if I want them.
Ollie
Friday, January 30, 2009 at 3:10 PMI think instead of flogging a dead horse and going after this Friday Fwit, there should be a call to change the legislation in regards to the Attorneys General having to agree unanimously to introduce the rating. I think 5/7 votes should be the maximum required, it’s over half and means that one single retard like this one can’t hold up the entire nation like he has.
David Fowles
Friday, January 30, 2009 at 3:38 PMSomeone needs to just leak this thing. I’ve little doubt that he either won’t release it because it goes against his singular opinion, or he won’t release it because it is so heavily biased towards his position that even he realises that it will make his position sound barking mad.
In either case, a great way to ensure he gets his way – the way of no change or reform – is just to delay any process, forever.
This is not Democracy.
Jon Doe
Friday, January 30, 2009 at 4:04 PMCalm down stuff like this always takes months to go through. He can only hold of so long before public pressure forces him to go public. In a recent stateline interview he stated he was willing to reason as to why the introduction of an R18+ would be beneficial. So I have compiled a report on why Australia needs an R18+ for games and sent it to him. I encourage all of you to do the same.
doubleDizz
Friday, January 30, 2009 at 4:54 PMDoes this guy have a pre-determined Term of Service or something? Or does he get to ruin everything for everyone until he retires?
You sir, are useless. Useless!
doubleDizz
Friday, January 30, 2009 at 4:57 PMSorry, forget to ask the obvious question:
Can they release it WITHOUT him?
I mean seriously, everyone I know who makes a living working for someone else, has some kind of predetermined amount of time to get their job done. In my workplace they’re called SLA’s. You know, turnaround times.
Techinically, as this guy works for the government (right?), he works for us. Couldn’t this possibly be outside his SLA/Turnaround time. If so, can we please fire him? =D
Marlor
Friday, January 30, 2009 at 5:03 PMOK, that’s it.
Time to kick South Australia out of the Commonwealth.
Pax Bisonica
Friday, January 30, 2009 at 5:06 PMThis is the kind of impish, indignant child like behaviour one would have associated with a certain U.S. lawyer. We can only hope that a similar fate awaits this buffoon. It is really backward thinking when you deny an adults only rating to the industry in some vain hope of protecting the youth, only to put adults only games in the hands of 15 year olds. Advance Australia fair…
dartmerc
Friday, January 30, 2009 at 5:23 PMJon Doe, I assume you’ve only tuned into this debate recently; civil methods are not effective against this man. He has said numerous times that he’ll take any information on board regarding positive/negative of 18+ for games, I guess saying things like that make him sound unbias.
mikezombie777
Friday, January 30, 2009 at 7:59 PMIf one man can censor even discussion of the issue, there is something well and truly wrong with the system. Seriously, what gives this dickhead the right to CENSOR DISCUSSION of the issue? This is bullshit. The situation couldn’t be any more disrespectful to the fundamentals of democracy. It’s time the Governor General stepped in and gave Atkinson the boot because this is a blatant case of abuse of power. Especially when he has openly admitted that his position is based on his OWN PERSONAL VIEWS and not that of the people he supposedly represents.
It’s not just about video games anymore or an R rating. This guy needs to be dismissed from his position because he CANNOT be reasoned with. No matter how much evidence is presented to him invalidating his fallacious arguments he stubbornly continues perpetuate his rubbish. On top of this, him and Mike Rann have turned South Australia into a police state and absolutely fucked the local economy right up the corn hole. Thank CHRIST I don’t live in his state.
DONAR
Friday, January 30, 2009 at 9:00 PM…..DOUCHE!!!!
Sorry. I’d Hulk out and trash SA if it helped, but without some serious funding into gamma radiation research, that’s the best I can do for now.
Rowr
Friday, January 30, 2009 at 11:45 PMIm done with it.I’m not reading these anymore.
I hope karma bitchslaps this man into the dust.
James Ward
Saturday, January 31, 2009 at 12:23 AMThe nice thing about Australian law is that even with self-righteous, self-motivated delusionists in power like certain Attourney-Generals, we are still permitted to read these papers with this little thing called the *freedom of information act.*
If you really want to read it, you can get it by writing to the appropriate department, citing the act, and the reasons for your interest. Unless it’s of danger to national security, they have absolutely no grounds to keep it from you, and will provide it on request.
Atkinson’s refusal to release his own comments on this paper does nothing more than stonewall general access, but it will not stop private inquiry.
Sage
Saturday, January 31, 2009 at 12:45 AMI agree with the general gist here – this is ridiculously undemocratic. One man having the power to prevent the progression of legislation? Unanymity is a wondrous thing, but also very rare. Luckily most of our system doesn’t operate this way…
Anyone versed in laws of our nation please come forward and let us know if there is some way we can extract/extradite/exile this self-righteous fool of a man.
k69
Saturday, January 31, 2009 at 2:24 AMHave you ever seen one of these papers?
They are fucking MAMOTH. They are like full textbooks.
Would you want to write that shit? Give the man a break.
Shaoken
Saturday, January 31, 2009 at 1:07 PMTo: k69
You’re an idiot. Atkinson has flat out said he’s rejecting the R rating for video games and when they first announced this paper he refused to particpate, effectively censoring the conversation of censorship.
This man doesn’t deserve a break. He’s an undemocratic . He’s Jack Thompson with power.
boc
Saturday, January 31, 2009 at 5:26 PMThis man has stated that his own children played adult games and that he disliked the impact of them playing such games.
What I read from that is that he resents these games because he feels he’s failed as a parent. So he chooses to use his position of power to curtail any further failings of him as a parental figure.
Rather than admit his own failings, instead he projects these failings onto the wider community. That way he can claim he is fighting for the good of the community.
Everyone else sees him for what he is though. A sad, sad man.