Atkinson to Appeal Modern Warfare 2 Rating in Australia

[Bretty]

This was old news 8(

Read about this a few weeks ago? Maybe last week.

 

[Generic_Dave]

Okay, I know this will kind of support his point about games and violence...but if the games community can get together to fly Gabe Newell to Oz, surely we can all trump up a few bucks and put a hit on this guy? ;-)

But seriously...he's got no clue as to what's going on...if only he was like a regular politician whose deranged ravings has no effect on gaming in general. I feel so sorry for our Australian brethren...moment of silence...(..........)

 

[Vierran]

This is ridiculous, he doesn't even understand what he is talking about anymore, there is an election in 4 months, i am thinking of moving to Croydon just so i can run against him.

 

[Vierran]

Can I get this guy in a Debate? like an actual broadcasted debate? Give me 10 minutes and I'll destroy his credibility and make him out to be incompetent for his position.

No you can't, because he vetoed the last debate at the last minute, he won't even sit down to discuss the possibility he is wrong.

EDIT: sorry for the double post, Atkinson just pisses me off.

 

[rees263]

"I worry about any game that encourages gamers to perpetrate extreme violence and cruelty on screen, but this game [Modern Warfare 2] allows players to be virtual terrorists and gain points by massacring civilians,"

Points?

Points?!

FUCKING "POINTS"?!

This is one of my favourite ever posts, and not just because it's exactly what went through the mind of everyone who read this article.

I'm not too sure about classification of games in general to be honest. I think here in Europe the PEGI ratings are generally pretty good. I might think that a few games are off, but then again I don't seem to be much affected by game content at all. I could play Little Big Planet one minute and Bioshock the next without thinking "wow, that's a lot of violence".

It also strikes me as stupid how games can receive such different ratings around the world (not that anyone pays attention to ratings, but still). For example, MW2 is 15+ in Aus, 17+ in US and 18+ in Europe (supposedly the most relaxed of the 3?)

You forgot the BBFC which I think rated MW2 an 18, the BBFC are pretty relaxed when it comes to most things, however with the whole Terrorism thing I wasn't expecting a smooth reaction, to me I didn't think nothing on it, I know as a person who creates CG Models that I'm just shooting at coded polygons. I've seen far worse in movies any how but as some one said politicians don't seem to have any sort of common sense.

Doesn't the BBFC just copy PEGI's rating (or close enough)?

Actually I'm a little confused - my oldest games have an ELSPA rating, but the newer ones seem to have a 50-50 split between PEGI and BBFC (I live in the UK and none of them are imports). It seems all of the 18 ratings (and a few others) are BBFC - maybe that's a legal thing for the UK.

 

[SilverKyo]

Atkinson to Appeal Modern Warfare 2 Rating in Australia

In order for the appeal to go forward, Atkinson must request that Australia's Federal Minister for Home Affairs apply for a review of the rating to the Classification Review Board, "an independent statutory body that meets and views the material, hears any submissions from interested parties, and makes a fresh classification decision." It's unclear how long the process will take or how likely it is to succeed; the Classification Board said that government officials get the same treatment as any other "person aggrieved" who appeals a rating.

Permalink

Soo.... does that mean actual GAMERS can submit their opinion and tell them what's going on? Becuase the people reviewing it sure won't have a clue; not with people like Atkinson trolling about.

 

[The Eupho Guy_v1legacy]

I know we can't vote him into office, but it's obvious he isn't doing or doesn't know his job. Can we demand his job be abolished... what is his job? What does he DO!?

So far he's demonstrated nothing but arrogance, ignorance and a desire to mislead the public.

If I did such a thing in my job I'd not only lose my job, I'd be thrown into jail!

What is his job? He is the Attorney-General of South Australia. Also, good luck trying to oust him from his position/seat, as he has a very safe seat (it would require about a 27% swing against him in the seat of Croydon for him to lose his seat and he has the backing of at least on of the faction heads of the South Australian Labor party, so he won't be thrown out any time soon.

 

[Ocelot GT]

I know we can't vote him into office, but it's obvious he isn't doing or doesn't know his job. Can we demand his job be abolished... what is his job? What does he DO!?

So far he's demonstrated nothing but arrogance, ignorance and a desire to mislead the public.

If I did such a thing in my job I'd not only lose my job, I'd be thrown into jail!

What is his job? He is the Attorney-General of South Australia. Also, good luck trying to oust him from his position/seat, as he has a very safe seat (it would require about a 27% swing against him in the seat of Croydon for him to lose his seat and he has the backing of at least on of the faction heads of the South Australian Labor party, so he won't be thrown out any time soon.

Unless we can prove he had sexual relations with a sheep and is unfit for the job...


Let the photoshopping begin!

 

[Aesir23]

Ok, I may not live in Australia but I'm hoping some kidnaps Atkinson, binds him, gags him and tosses him into a ravine somewhere. (no bodily harm, just tosses him into a ravine and leaves him there for a few days)

 

[Gather]

Unrelated, maybe, but I currently own Risen and I live in Australia; gogo GamersGate!

Actually, if the game was ever banned would you be able to buy it from the online stores, skipping over the limitations?

 

[Zenode]

So they allow people to drive at 16 and smoke and drink at 18 yet this silly bugger won't let people over 18 purchase R18+ games

 

[Sovvolf]

Doesn't the BBFC just copy PEGI's rating (or close enough)?

Actually I'm a little confused - my oldest games have an ELSPA rating, but the newer ones seem to have a 50-50 split between PEGI and BBFC (I live in the UK and none of them are imports). It seems all of the 18 ratings (and a few others) are BBFC - maybe that's a legal thing for the UK.

Not all that often, the BBFC is a more lenient then PEGI a game that may gain a 15 rating with the BBFC may gain an 17+ or 18+ rating with the PEGI, however the PEGI is only a recommend here and it's the BBFC that counts legally. I think the ELSPA is the older version of PEGI... but I can't be too sure.

 

[Sovvolf]

I know we can't vote him into office, but it's obvious he isn't doing or doesn't know his job. Can we demand his job be abolished... what is his job? What does he DO!?

So far he's demonstrated nothing but arrogance, ignorance and a desire to mislead the public.

If I did such a thing in my job I'd not only lose my job, I'd be thrown into jail!

What is his job? He is the Attorney-General of South Australia. Also, good luck trying to oust him from his position/seat, as he has a very safe seat (it would require about a 27% swing against him in the seat of Croydon for him to lose his seat and he has the backing of at least on of the faction heads of the South Australian Labor party, so he won't be thrown out any time soon.

Unless we can prove he had sexual relations with a sheep and is unfit for the job...


Let the photoshopping begin!

Why not go all Tyler Durden on him

We wait you tables, we mow your lawn, we clean your house, we run your computers.... DO NOT FUCK WITH US!!!.

 

[Lullabye]

Has this Michael Akitson ever butted heads with Yahtzee? cause thats a debate i would love to hear.
honestly, I live in Canada, one of the most peaceful countires in the world, and i was able to buy M17+ rated games when i was 13. People here are real understanding, and know that a homicidal game character doesn't necessarily mean a homicidal child. I feel so sorry for you Aussies.

 

[CD-R]

Someone should mail him a copy of the game so he actually plays it.

Expecting game designers to be responsible by not glorifying terrorism will always lead to disappointment.

How many mainstream games glorify terrorism? No, seriously. Does anyone know? I'm actually curious.

Freedom Fighters
Uprising
Just Cause

Problem is, you always play from their point of view, so they're called Freedom Fighters.

Also, how the hell would you glorify terrorism (This is to Atkinson, not Amnestic)?! Terrorism is a form of violent political activism. To glorify terrorism would mean the game would have to sit down with the player, run through the entire history of this faction or sect, explain why their cause is just, AND get them pumped up enough to willingly take it into the real world?

Shooting something does not constitute terrorism, and that's the ONLY bit the game shows you

Red Faction Guerrila
Counter Strike
Final Fantasy VII (In the begining anyway)

Theres actually quite a few.

 

[Cyberjester]

Despite Atkinson's assertions, however, it's not evidence of collusion with the gaming industry but rather of the arbitrary, borderline random, nature of the system.

What do you mean borderline random? It's completely and utterly without pattern. In Fallout 3 you can blast a persons head or limbs off to humans. But if you do it to zombies it's banned? GTA IV made it past the censors fine, but Marc Eko's Getting Up Under Pressure is banned "because it encourages graphiti". So taking a baseball bat to an old lady then strafing a police station is fine, but a bit of spray paint is way out of bounds.. In F.E.A.R. you can blast heads off, you get a nice slo-mo of bullets entering and exiting a persons head, etc, etc, etc. The ratings system in Aus is completely random. They'll let one game through, then ban another that does the same thing.

It's possibly the worst part about the system. At least if they were consistent, developers would have something to aim for.

 

[Cyberjester]

I feel so sorry for you Aussies.

lol. How to tell your country sucks, when you start getting condolences from complete randoms.

 

[Biosophilogical]

"I worry about any game that encourages gamers to perpetrate extreme violence and cruelty on screen, but this game [Modern Warfare 2] allows players to be virtual terrorists and gain points by massacring civilians,"

Points?

Points?!

FUCKING "POINTS"?!

ok thats it im gonna fucking kill the bastard!!!!!!1

But ... wouldn't that support his idea that gaming leads to violence. Just so you don't misinterpret that, I would like to see him taken care of (whether through death or by getting sacked) as much as anyone else on this site. I just think that maybe you should trick someone who hates video games into saying that, as that way he can't blame it on games.

OT: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA etc. He took his sweet time!!! Now everybody already has a copy!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA etc. *catches breath after fit of hysterical laughing*

That article made my day/night, that is truly epicly fail. I hope he does get it R18+ rated, but only after it has sold one copy to every person in the country (with 5 year warranties (just in case)), just so that we can all laugh at his epic failure even more. And when we start breaking copies/whatever, it gets bumped back down, just so that his entire plan and all the effort that went into it becomes redundant.