R18+. It happened, finally. Back when I was editing Kotaku Australia full-time, I penned a number of pieces on the subject. In 2008, it seemed like such as uphill battle, so to see it become reality four years later is actually amazing to me. Now that it’s here, the Australian Christian Lobby, one of R18+’s main opponents, reckons that the restrictions on sex and violence for R18+ should be the same as the current MA15+.
Speaking with The Age, ACL managing director Jim Wallace stated that for R18+ “to work”, its limits on sex and violence would have to match that of the lower rating:
“I expect the new [R18+] classification to be described no differently to MA15+,” said the managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby, Jim Wallace.
“If [R18+] is described in looser terms, or is less demanding than the existing MA15+ — which is already letting [in] things that shouldn’t have been there — then it’s not going to work. We already know that some of the games that are sold in Australia are unacceptable and should never have slipped in under the old rating.”
Personally, I don’t have an issue with a broader look at the ratings now that we have (well, will soon have) R18+. Heck, one of my arguments back in 2008 was that the inadequacies of MA15+ worked both ways. But the idea that the limits on sex and violence in R18+ should be the same as MA15+ defeats the purpose of the new rating.
Take for instance Left 4 Dead 2 and Soldier of Fortune: Payback, both of which were refused classification due to decapitaton and dismemberment. If the restrictions on violence stayed the same, even with R18+ these games would have been RC’d.
Fortunately, Ron Curry, head of the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association, does not share Wallace’s opinion:
“We clearly wouldn’t agree with that,” he said. “There’s no evidence to suggest … that the content that currently sits there [at MA15+] should only be suitable for adults.”
R18+ still has a little way to go and even when it is adopted by the states, I doubt it’s an issue that will magically vanish. Games will still be able to be refused classification, though I can’t imagine what would now land in that category…
Game on over sex and violence [The Age]
No, Christians
we will have full blood guts entrails decapitations and sex while doing it
and you WILL like it
^THIS +1
Dont know what thier problem is, thier bible is full of that stuff, as well as incest, hate crimes, slavery etc. (and those were things commintted by "God's chosen people" the Israelites. ) But so many "Christians" dont even know about these facts. It's no wonder their opinions hold no credibility and there is outrage when such ignorance is given any kind of weight. It boggles the mind.
I've taken the liberty of writing to the ACL, asking for a list of Christian assemblies, groups etc that endorse the ACL as their representatives for governments. You know... just making sure that there's some actual base for their claim that they represent Christian interests.
There quite a number of Christians around that are denouncing the ACL, so I'm curious as to who has provided them a mandate to represent Christianity at high levels of government.
christian denouncing anything is a bit of a joke. like they have any credibility. they can denounce all they want but they are still Christians and that is the ACL, both worship mythical beings.
religion is obscelete and so are their views of the world, they don't matter anymore and the quicker we can get rid of it the better. Ever since the invention of glass (telescopes), christianity has been on a downward spiral, consistantly disproven by science at every turn, yet they are still here? what an idiotic world we live in.
what the fuck does a christian lobby have to do with video games? they should mind their own business, video gamers dont comment on how they should run their cult. fucking slaves to a dusty old book of fairytales
Agree strongly.
Agree.
The ACL has been a breeding ground for lunatics for as long as I can remember. Thank crap they don't represent the views of normal people. I find it best to write them off, or ignore them as the insanos they are.
Religion is just faith and belief, I don't see why a majority has to be affected by others beliefs... Just because you care about something doesn't mean I have to. Believe in what you want, just don't push your beliefs into my world unless you are ready for a rebutle
Christian, Gamer and now on their mailing list. I want to point out that for a "christian" organization they sure do like to avoid use of the bible. I'll do my bit to influence them by providing biblical commentary on their opinions from a gamer's perspective. Not much more I can do here.
As I said to them (just wrote an email), gamer's are hostile enough to the gospel without ill-informed and unbalanced opinions like this being published.
Was wondering when these guys were gonna jump in with their 2 cents...
Well obviously the restrictions are going to be slightly looser with a new R18+ rating. Pretty much how the proposed guidelines were, well......proposed - is how they should be. I hope they don't change too much. And as for the ACL's opinion on keeping the R18+ guidelines the same as MA15+, even for them, that's just freaking stupid. It really shows their lack of knowledge on the debate....well, more-so now.
uggggggh
Australian Christian Lobby need to go away. I can't be gay without them interfering and I can't play video games without them interfering. I am glad they don't have any power these days, it's just all words but the media should not broadcast their views. It's the 21st century and their message is outdated.
And here it goes , yet another argument revolving around religion. As always religion in general is good for nothing.
This thread was the funniest thing I've read in ages.
The ACL are a hate group and should be treated as such.
ACL = Above Common Logic
Here, let me fix that for you
ACL = Absence (of) Common Logic
(as in "less than" not "loftier than")
See? doesnt that look better? :D
he ment "loftier than". as in, they are to good to learn "science" and as such, don't know common logic.
:]
Religious groups of any sort should have nothing whatsoever to do with entertainment, politics, or business. Sadly, they are prominent in all these fields and making a mess of things. ACL shouldn't be a presence on the political stage, and should have even less to do with rating entertainment.
On a side note:
Everyone who complained about christians being lumped into some kind of shit-gravy of anti-christian sentiment; do something to change that, or else the loudest, busiest people in your collective will represent you as a whole. Also any christian saying that we should do our history about the religion, should be reading better books. The history of christianity is chock full of despicable (or entirely fabricated) acts, worse than reading a book about the rise of the mafia.
Same thing happens to all "we are the right one" type religions that dictate life. Your average person most likely views the muslim faith with disdain due to the actions of the loudest and busiest people in it's collective.
It would probably do you good to check the original definition of "Religion" and find that it therefore already plays a part in all human activity, whether or not it should be or if one considers themselves a 'believer' or not.
Also why should any Christians find it necessary to defend themselves in the face of obvious minority publicity, to waste the collective effort and time that cannot be gotten back in a world where general secular values do not allow it? I'm sure we all have time create our own lobbies and action groups when we are already swamped with the same work and life responsibilities as non-religious folk. Not to mention that so many of the people here should be using the very same common-sense they claim to have to KNOW that the ACL does not represent the entirety of Christianity.
Why should we read "better" books? What's better is subjective, and yes everybody who wants to be historically accurate should research the history, as it after all, it doesn't change. In fact I'd say that those who do not do the history on someone else's religion is as inaccurate as religious fanatics who don't do the history recorded by scientific institution. Reading about the rise of the Mafia could easily have the same effect to a person, historically accurate or not.
What you say about the Muslim faith is correct, the perception of their religion is poor. In my opinion the best voice for them to let the world know they aren't all the same will be a from a woman with her hair flowing in the wind.
religion |riˈlijən| noun
the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, esp. a personal God or gods:
Ohohoho, you're so funny proving to me that there are multiple dictionaries. I did say ORIGINAL DEFINITION. What religion means, not what religion is. Of course the original definition is obscure and I concede that we would find different meanings and possibly disagree, this is what I was going for:
something of overwhelming importance to a person: "football is his religion"
Some may say that "video games" is our religion here.
its like anime and manga being labelled paedophiles , its ludacris
Luda has nothing to do with this. He's too busy doing fast and furious sequels.
Seriously though, does this mean Mortal Kombat 9 will finally get released?
Also, great atheist vs. religion flame war everyone, good job
ur watching the wrong kind of Anime. try "grave of the fireflies" by Hotaru no haka.
If they want no different than MA15+ then what would they class as MA15+ or would they just split stuff up saying "that deserves to be 18+ that 15+" etc... Morons.
Y'all niggas postin' in a troll thread.
Hah!
As a Christian myself I can understand peoples frustration at this, however the hate being spewed all over this thread isn't really justified and kinda hurtful to be honest.
I definitely disagree with Jim's idea to limit violence to an MA15+ rating , but in my opinion graphic sexual content of an R18+ nature has no place in videogames. If you want that kind of content there's plenty of porn in other formats.
Games are meant to be fun and capture your imagination, not your sexual desire. (Unless you get turned on by like Princess Peach or something, in which case...ew)
If don't like them don't play them jim I mean Crispus.
If you wouldn't like this style of game don't play them. HOW does it affect you?
If Jim Wallace can't differentiate between a game and reality then don't be a burden on those of us who can. I bet Jim would like all R rated movies banned too. Inface how about Jim goes and preachers his bullshit nonsense to his easily missled and easily influenced unfortunate followers and let us people who can play a game and forget about its fictitious contents just have our games. Jim you don't have to interfere with everyone.
Without everyone getting overly personal and insulting the crap out of each other over faith, I ask, as seeing Mr Wallace on TV talking about the gay marriage debate on prime time tv and all the time he showed up on tv during the r rating debate, I simply ask WHY DOES THIS GUY KEEP GETTING TV AIR TIME?
damn iv run out of popcorn.....
:-P
Dont get it...wouldnt christians be happy with an r18+ rating if it prevents minors from accessing high impact content?
His reasoning is weird anyway cos ma15 games have clearly already been deemed suitable for minors,
Does he think games we already have are unnacceptable? Is that what hes saying?
That's a good point actually. I think the problerm this guy has is with any technology invented after the late 1600's. He's a loon, logic doesn't work here.
A true Adult classifcation would kill their ability to play the "Won't somebody think of the children?!" card, so keeping the current levels with a new paint-job would let them still feel in control.
Well, this Christian is happy with an R18+ rating. Although, I do believe that minors will get their hands on these games anyway, regardless of the rating laws, or any other laws, for that matter.
You've got to remember, the ACL doesn't actually represent the viewpoint of all Christians. I suspect they don't even represent the majority, although I don't have proof of that. Hell (figuratively speaking), I'm not even sure how the ACL came to be. I certainly didn't vote for them, or have any knowledge of their existence before this whole R18+ issue.
So they couldn't defeat the R18+ so they want to see it become useless.
The ACL has to accept they're not everyone's parent. I'm an adult and I despise the idea of these idiots trying to dictate my life. Don't like video games? Don't want your kids to play them? Well, don't buy them games.
Religion has no place in video games or any other entertainment medium. Religious opinion is just that, an opinion. Keep it to yourself.
Well, if I had to play Dante's Inferno without the religious aspect, it would have been a lesser experience. Although, removing religion from The Passion of Christ probably would have improved it. Can't have made it any worse.
Just sayin' that religion has a place. Try to keep an open mind about it. Yeah, yeah, I know. Many religious people are closed minded. Try to be a little better than those guys.
People that try to argue with Christians on this thread (or anywhere) are idiots and wasting their time. Still, they're nowhere near as stupid as the Christians of course. :)
I don't want to live on this planet any more... because some/most of the comments here disappoint me.
you won't be missed