abc
News
9:00AM David Wildgoose | The fallout from last week’s axeing of Good Game host Junglist has continued. A post from Team Good Game appeared yesterday on the show’s own community forum, the first public statement from the ABC to address the reason behind Junglist’s removal. More »
Good Game Explains Why Junglist Was Axed
9:00AM David Wildgoose | The fallout from last week’s axeing of Good Game host Junglist has continued. A post from Team Good Game appeared yesterday on the show’s own community forum, the first public statement from the ABC to address the reason behind Junglist’s removal. More » 
News
3:00PM David Wildgoose | Buried in the excitement around Sony’s PS3 Slim unveiling on Wednesday was a little announcement around new video on demand content coming to the console. More »
Watch The ABC On Your PS3
3:00PM David Wildgoose | Buried in the excitement around Sony’s PS3 Slim unveiling on Wednesday was a little announcement around new video on demand content coming to the console. More »
News
Netflix ABC Deal Means More Lost, Grey’s Anatomy For 360 Owners
2:03AM Brian Crecente | You may have noticed that you can now watch the first five seasons of Lost on your Xbox 360 through Netflix. More »
News
11:00AM David Wildgoose | “Videogames, as a medium, have also reached a stage in their development where they are mature enough to tackle concepts far more meaningful than just shooting space aliens.” So says the brains behind the Serious Games initiative just launched by the ABC and Screen Australia. They’re calling for serious game design ideas, with the eventual competition winners receiving funding to development their idea into a playable game.
More »
ABC and Screen Australia Launch Serious Games Competition
11:00AM David Wildgoose | “Videogames, as a medium, have also reached a stage in their development where they are mature enough to tackle concepts far more meaningful than just shooting space aliens.” So says the brains behind the Serious Games initiative just launched by the ABC and Screen Australia. They’re calling for serious game design ideas, with the eventual competition winners receiving funding to development their idea into a playable game.
More » 
ABC apologises for poor Fallout 3 discussion on ‘Q&A’
11:29AM Seamus Byrne | Remember when we all watched with gaping maws at the ignorance of politicians and pundits on ABC1’s Q&A program? Remember when Daniel Silk wrote a substantial letter of complaint to the ABC about how poorly the discussion was handled? Well Daniel has had something of a result from his letter, which led to an assessment of the program and an apology and admission that some of the remarks made by Tony Jones could be “confusing and misleading”. A footnote has been added to the Q&A webpage for the particular program. It doesn’t fix what went wrong on the night, but a GG to Daniel for raising the alarm in an official capacity — and the Q&A team will probably be more careful to get things straight should gaming come up again in future.
The full reply letter to Daniel from the ABC after the jump. [Thanks to Daniel for sharing!] More »
News
10:30AM Logan Booker | I know many of you have tried to forget it ever happened, but try to recall that horrible Q&A panel on the ABC. Not wanting to leave the issue without some expert comment from the other side, GDAA prez and Tantalus CEO Tom Crago has offered his opinion on the ABC News website. In it, he criticises not only the panel, but the classification system and Michael Atkinson.
While Crago covers ground we’ve talked about before, he still makes a compelling argument, and provides something most of us cannot – the point of view of a developer. From the piece:
As game developers, we are trying to make games that provide entertainment to players of all ages. Video games are not going to turn your children into criminals. They are, in fact, the modern face of the entertainment industry, and something that we in Australia are very good at producing.
The focus of this debate should be upon how the Australian classification system can best give adults the information they need to chose video game content for themselves and their children, without burdening our country with unjustified and draconian censorship to the amusement and pity of the rest of the world.
I think the world alternates between pitying and mocking, but any attention is good attention, right?
Unlike a specialist blog such as Kotaku AU, the ABC site attracts a range of personalities. Even so, most of the comments to the piece are positive, though I couldn’t help but notice this rather, well, insane post: More »
GDAA Prez Tom Crago Weighs In On Classification, ABC Q&A Panel
10:30AM Logan Booker | I know many of you have tried to forget it ever happened, but try to recall that horrible Q&A panel on the ABC. Not wanting to leave the issue without some expert comment from the other side, GDAA prez and Tantalus CEO Tom Crago has offered his opinion on the ABC News website. In it, he criticises not only the panel, but the classification system and Michael Atkinson.
While Crago covers ground we’ve talked about before, he still makes a compelling argument, and provides something most of us cannot – the point of view of a developer. From the piece:
As game developers, we are trying to make games that provide entertainment to players of all ages. Video games are not going to turn your children into criminals. They are, in fact, the modern face of the entertainment industry, and something that we in Australia are very good at producing.
The focus of this debate should be upon how the Australian classification system can best give adults the information they need to chose video game content for themselves and their children, without burdening our country with unjustified and draconian censorship to the amusement and pity of the rest of the world.
I think the world alternates between pitying and mocking, but any attention is good attention, right?
Unlike a specialist blog such as Kotaku AU, the ABC site attracts a range of personalities. Even so, most of the comments to the piece are positive, though I couldn’t help but notice this rather, well, insane post: More » 
Watch How Misinformed Aussie Politicians Are About Video Games
12:30PM Logan Booker | The above snippet is taken from a relatively new ABC show called Q&A, which gives everyday people the chance to pose questions to politicians, journalists and the like. The latest episode saw the panel field a question about the lack of an R18+ rating for video games. The result… well, all I can say is wow. At this rate, we don’t stand a chance.
Thanks to Daniel Silk, who pointed me in the direction of the clip. Daniel also went to the trouble of putting together a letter to complain about the panel, which I’ve included after the jump.
If you’d like to read more information about games classification, I urge you to check these out:
Michael Atkinson, No R18+ For Games In Australia: Why It Hurts Children
R18 Classification & Video Games: What You Can Do
Why Michael Atkinson’s Opposal Of An R18+ Rating For Games Does Bugger All To Protect Kids, Promotes Crime
Q&A episode 10 [ABC TV] More » 
Listen To My Sexy Voice on ABC Radio Tomorrow
3:00PM Logan Booker | Okay. It’s not that sexy.
True, I sometimes force my voice to drop a few octaves for the ladies, but I usually end up coughing in their faces or spilling my apple martini on their shirts. Which is definitely not sexy.
But we won’t be talking about any of that. The main topic of conversation will be the review of an R18+ rating for video games and its opposers – though I’m sure we’ll cover other bits and pieces.
If you’d like to hear the irresistible timbre of vocals, tune in to 774 ABC Melbourne around 3:30PM AEDT. For those unable to pick up the station on their electronic frequency catcher, you can stream it from the ABC Radio Melbourne website. More » 
Expert Panel To Discuss Online Gaming, Gamers Welcome
1:30PM Logan Booker | On March 25, the Australia Interactive Media Industry Association will be hosting a panel at the Privilege Club in Sydney to discuss the evolution of online gaming and its implications on advertising and marketing. The panel will consist of various industry experts, including EA’s Mark Fordham and Janet Carr, producer of the ABC’s Good Game.
The AIMIA is after the opinions of gamers as well as insiders, so if you’re of the verbal persuasion, your presence will be appreciated.
From the looks of the release, the panel will also be discussing online gaming in general, including trends, technology and demographics, so if you’re not exactly thrilled by the thought of sales talk, there are other chunks of meaty information to sink your fangs into.
If you’re seriously thinking of paying the event a visit, hit up this link to give the AIMIA an idea of numbers.
Press release after the jump. More » 
