How could it come to this in a modern

thriving democracy like Australia ?

“Average Australian gamer is now 30 years old”

One single man can over-rule 91% of the Australian public.

by dkpatriarch:

©2008 David Hilton

I have always seen myself as a not-so-gracefully ageing fairly casual but consistent gamer.  I’m in my late thirties with a family but still enjoy my gaming.

Many of my equally aged friends think me stuck in some kind of ‘child’ time-warp for owning all the ‘this-gen’ consoles.  I thought most gamers were Gen Y twenty-somethings and I was the exception, but I was wrong.  How ignorant then are those who think gaming is still mainly for kids?

The fact is that the average age for the Australian gamer is now 30 years old, according to a new study by Bond University, Queensland.  Yet we live in the dark ages where, while film is rated with R-ratings for content inappropriate for younger viewers, games are not.

From America to Great Britain to Europe & New Zealand,

sadly Australia stands alone.

The highest a game can be rated here is MA15+ and that means games with mature content are either forced into the MA15+ category when they should be under an adult-only rating, or they are banned outright.  Banned games then have to be changed by game-makers before they can be sold in Australia.  Games like the banned Dark Sector for 360 (which was far less violent than so many games I’ve played) often never show up because we are such a small market in the big scheme of things.

One man and a whole lot of ignorance holds us back from the R18+ rating: South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson.  He can do this, despite the fact that a whopping 91% of the study’s respondents (both gamers and non-gamers) were in support of an R18+ rating for games.

Wendy is able to deal perfectly with son on WoW

Relevant Links:

• Microsoft’s Efforts in helping parents to set up a PACT with their kids

• Microsoft’s Family Support Guide:

• Microsoft’s Australian Family Support Guide:

• Wendy Harmer speaks out re succesfully monitoring her son on WoW

This is because Australia’s content classification system can only be amended if unanimously accepted from all state and territory attorney-generals.   Mr. Atkinson has consistently vetoed such a bill, believing that once the R18+ games are let in, youngsters will get these games one way or another.

The problem with his reasoning is that youngsters already can get these games.  Firstly, they are able to get these games because many of the MA15+ games should actually be R18+ and parents seeing a game like Perfect Dark (with its cartoony look) will think Dead Space (a violent horror game) is likely to be the same because they are both MA15+. Yet Dead Space is rated 18 in the UK.

An R18+ rating would give more scope for those rating the games to be more accurate with their classification.  They would have more room to move, instead of either ban or don’t ban and stick a MA15+ label on.  As it stands, most games that are banned are very controversial choices as to if they are worse than permitted games or not.

Secondly, banning games encourages the illegal practice of modding consoles so that pirated copies of games available both from private sellers or online can be bought ‘underground’ by minors.  PC gamers don’t even have to worry about modding anything…they can just download any pirated or even legitimate (but illegal in Australia) game from the internet.

Thirdly, imported copies of games which can be purchased by underaged gamers or by an adult for them is easy enough in the age of Ebay and overseas online sellers.  Sure it may be illegal to import, but how many will get caught?

If Mr. Atkinson is really worried about “tech-savvy” youngsters, he should already be worried by these facts.  Youngsters are often attracted to the rebelliousness of getting something illicit.  If they want the game, they still can get it.

Ron Curry CEO of IEAA:

“We’re one of the only developed countries yet to adopt an R18+ classification,” says IEAA’s CEO Ron Curry. “With the average age of gamers being 30, it makes no sense to censor games to a point where they are only appropriate for a 15 year old. Such censorship would not be acceptable in television, at the cinema or in print, so why apply it unfairly to another entertainment medium?”

While an adult only-rating won’t stop kids wanting these games, what it brings to the table is an increased awareness for parents about the content of the game. Take Dead Space: right now a 15 year old can go up to a K-Mart counter and buy it.

Overseas it is rated 18.  If that were the same here, by law K-mart couldn’t sell it to him.  A game clearly marked 18+ would stand out to any consciencous parent and they would know what they were doing if they bought it or allowed their child to play it.

And that is where this all leads.  Parents have to police their own kids’ gaming, just like parents have to police their kids’ internet use.  Do we ban the internet because kids are “tech-savy” and can find porn or worse?  No, we don’t.

Do parents need to be aware of the danger of their child consuming inappropriate content?  Yes.  An R18+ rating creates this awareness in the whole of the society.

If a parent lets their 15 year old play Dead Space they have made that choice, the same as a parent who doesn’t police what chat rooms or internet behaviour their child is up to. Ignorance is not bliss in the modern world.

Sure the child may still ‘sneak’ it in as he can now anyway with his imported copy, but because there would be a rating system in Australia that is clear with information readily available both in stores and from the Classification Board, the more game-ignorant parents would have no excuse not to know that there are adult games and that gaming isn’t just for kids.

Isn’t Mr. Atkinson basically saying he doesn’t trust parents to look after their children if the R18+ is introduced?  That parents won’t understand and be victims of their “tech-savvy” children?  I say they are more likely to be victims the way things are now.

This issue has also hit parliament with Alex Hawke, the MP for the Sydney seat of Mitchell, also calling for change.

He said: “Games—video games in particular—have advanced in the last 30 years. They are full of complex concepts and adult themes, and there really is very little to differentiate them from films. Of course, under the Classification (Publications, Films And Computer Games) Act 1995, there is a lack of consistency in the ratings that are applied across these media. It is the case that there are four classifications for video games and six classifications for films. I think it is a sensible proposition that, if it is good enough for television that we assess that some films are not able to be rated as MA15+ and require a higher rating of R18+, then that ought to be the case for video games.”

Contrasting with Mr. Atkinson’s attitude he also asserts that “it is important to note that from all of the representations I have received from the parents in my electorate, they understand that this rating system is no substitute for responsible parenting and parents taking an interest in their children. In fact, I find these parents to be the most responsible, because they, in spite of the lack of classification, ensure that all of the material that their children watch in these video games is suitable. But, in a complex and diverse world, with technological advances, this will be an important aid to parents.”

In the end, the only true way to protect children is for parents to take responsibility and be aware.  Censoring games that adults have a legitimate right to play just isn’t effective.  I’ve never seen any evidence that it is.  Especially because kids are so “tech-savvy”.

Sure there may be some games that should be banned if they are in really poor taste, the same as any adult entertainment, but that’s why we have a Classification Board.

The truth is that gaming is no longer just the hobby of kids, but is statistically proven to be more an adult pastime.

Besides, in a democracy shouldn’t 91% of people have a stronger say than one?

Related site to follow up for more info.

©2008 David Hilton

Filed under: Console gaming, Editorial, Industry News, Parental Gaming, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 News Tagged: | Australian game ratings, Dead Space, Doom III, OLFC adult ratings, R18+, Shellshcok 2