Australia's Game Rating Overhaul Delayed Again

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Australia's Game Rating Overhaul Delayed Again


Australia's march to an R18+ videogame rating has run into yet another delay thanks to state elections in New South Wales which have made it impossible for a vote on the issue to take place.

I don't believe in fate, but sometimes I wonder. Like, for instance, when I look at Australia's struggle to bring in an R18+ rating for videogames. It just makes sense, right? And yet at this point I'm beginning to wonder if even an act of God would be enough to make it happen.

It looked like progress might be made at the last meeting of the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General [SCAG], held in December 2010, but in spite of overwhelming public support for a mature videogame rating the AGs voted not to create the rating, but to begin drafting the preliminary guidelines [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/106067-R18-for-Australia-Still-a-No-Go] under which it could be created. In other words, they dodged.

The deadline was set for the next SCAG meeting on March 4, at which time the wheels of progress would presumably turn a little further. But once again the process has been delayed, this time due to state elections in New South Wales which will keep Attorney General John Hatzistergos from attending. Any changes to Australia's game rating system requires unanimous assent from all AGs and Hatzistergos' absence means that won't be possible.

Even if he did attend, it wouldn't matter; because of the election, the New South Wales government will be in a "caretaker period," which the NSW Premier's office said means that "no significant new decisions or initiatives, appointments, or contractual undertakings" should be made.

So tough noogies, Australia, but keep your chin up. Someday, your time will come.

Source: GameSpot AU [http://www.gamespot.com/news/6299099.html]


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Ziadaine_v1legacy

Flamboyant Homosexual
Apr 11, 2009
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I just know we're going to get either a dumbed down version of Duke Nukem Forever or it wont be allowed because its def' going to be rated R 18+.

Stupid NSW...
 

theriddlen

New member
Apr 6, 2010
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This is ridiculous.

I'm not even Australian or anything, but i feel kinda sad these mustache-growing kangaroo-boxing men (not that Polish politicians are better, but at least they are stuck in 20th century, so it'll take them some time to realize that games exist).
 

Actual

New member
Jun 24, 2008
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SCAG? They named their law making committee after heroin? Awesome.

Why would it require unanimous support from the attorney generals? Wouldn't that make it almost impossible to pass any new laws? Unless there's only 3 of them and 2 can bully the third into agreeing. Hooray for my ignorance!
 

Undead Dragon King

Evil Spacefaring Mantis
Apr 25, 2008
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It's all Michael Atkinson's fault, obviously. The man is a freaking sorceror, I tell ya. Even out of office, he can still delay the rise of his arch-nemesis: The R-18 rating!
 

wasalp

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Dec 22, 2008
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Actual said:
SCAG? They named their law making committee after heroin? Awesome.

Why would it require unanimous support from the attorney generals? Wouldn't that make it almost impossible to pass any new laws? Unless there's only 3 of them and 2 can bully the third into agreeing. Hooray for my ignorance!
no, it is stupid to make it a unanimous decision, I believe it was donne on purpose so that it would have very little chance to pass.
 

KeyMaster45

Gone Gonzo
Jun 16, 2008
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Okay guys, I think we all know what time it is.


Elections be damned, if I have to be at school every morning by 8am regardless of an ongoing case of the flu then those old bastards in Australia's AG board can't skip cause of some election they knew damn well about months in advance.
 

octafish

New member
Apr 23, 2010
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Hatzistergos won't be there at the next meeting, the New South Wales Liberal Party could appear on prime time television all collectively fucking farmyard animals and they would still win this election. So, how does Greg Smith feel about an R rating for games? That is the question we have to ask now. Him being a born-again Christian doesn't bode well. We may yet not see any sense from SCAG.
 

The Random One

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May 29, 2008
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OK, I don't take politicians in high regard, but I can't believe they happened to schedule a meeting for a time when one of the FIVE people who had to be there couldn't show. Did this state election come out of nowhere? Was a general attorney killed or something?
 

bookboy

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Mar 16, 2009
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Hmmm... this reminds me, does anyone remember the Supreme court of the U.S.A. Case of California Vs. the Videogame industry? what's going on with that right now? are we winning? losing? has it been delayed or did I just completely miss the news that the trial is over?
 

Cid Silverwing

Paladin of The Light
Jul 27, 2008
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Australia has for the longest time been the Christian of the gaming countries, and still will be, from the looks of it.
 

Triforceformer

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Jun 16, 2009
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Ziadaine said:
I just know we're going to get either a dumbed down version of Duke Nukem Forever or it wont be allowed because its def' going to be rated R 18+.

Stupid NSW...
http://gbxforums.gearboxsoftware.com/showthread.php?t=117556

I know, I was surprised as well.
 

Bob the frantic

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Sep 5, 2009
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Triforceformer said:
Ziadaine said:
I just know we're going to get either a dumbed down version of Duke Nukem Forever or it wont be allowed because its def' going to be rated R 18+.

Stupid NSW...
http://gbxforums.gearboxsoftware.com/showthread.php?t=117556

I know, I was surprised as well.
Duke Nukem Forever is MA15+, but Left 4 Dead 2 is heavily censored? Well this is just proof that something is definitely wrong in my country. I think it's time to leave.
 

Taddy

New member
Jan 28, 2010
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Triforceformer said:
Ziadaine said:
I just know we're going to get either a dumbed down version of Duke Nukem Forever or it wont be allowed because its def' going to be rated R 18+.

Stupid NSW...
http://gbxforums.gearboxsoftware.com/showthread.php?t=117556

I know, I was surprised as well.
Yeah this made no sense to me at all, apparently Bulletstorm got through with no edits or cuts as well. Not sure though.