Australian Christian Lobby Compares Games to SAS Training

[ben---neb]

What a worthless cause to campaign on. I'm Christian and enjoy training myself for the SAS via computer games. I think it's because I understand that videogames are not real. But hey, I'm just a gamer, it isn't like I'd know anything about games.

 

[DarkRyter]

That doesn't sound bad at all, in fact it sounds quite good.

Wouldn't you want your kids trained to do badass military stuff? Just in case? You never know when they'll have to fight the zombies/robots/aliens.

 

[Macgyvercas]

. Do you really think 15 year olds should be playing Fear 2 and AvP?

You'll be surprised how many of them still play em, anyway.

No doubt. But a better rating system would make it harder for younger audiences to get their hands on games targeted at an older demographic.

What would be a better rating system than we already have? If stores and parents enforced the rating system that is already in place, then we wouldn't be talking about this.

I know someone who lets their 5 year old play GTA. They actually buy them the game.

I have no doubt the current ratings are enforced, but Australia needs an R18+ rating so Aussie gamers can choose what games they want to play, assuming they meet the age requirement. And by not having an R18+ rating, they're missing out on potential moneymakers.

. Do you really think 15 year olds should be playing Fear 2 and AvP?

You'll be surprised how many of them still play em, anyway.

No doubt. But a better rating system would make it harder for younger audiences to get their hands on games targeted at an older demographic.

What about ID to buy R18+ games? Allow them, but have it so that when they hit 18, they have to show their driver's license and ID to get the game. A simple solution to a complex problem, right? Or is the problem much more deep rooted than that?

I think that if when they introduce an R18+ rating, you should have to show ID to purchase the game if it's rated R18+. If you don't meet the age requirement, you can't buy the game. What is the ACL and Atkinson not getting about this?

 

[Xanadu84]

Alright, lets go with this. Video games = SAS training. Training is a necessary evil for the SAS, desensitizing them to violence and all of that. The same effect as SAS training occurs in video games. People who play video games are a danger to society, because they have been trained to permit violence. By this logic, people who are in the SAS are ALSO a danger to society. Not only must they be banned for there violent, anti-social tendencies, but the average SAS is likely to be far more capable of doing damage then the average video game player. This means that an effort to deny SAS members the right to go see there families, visit there hometown, or live a normal life absolutely must take precedence before preventing video game violence, because those good, loyal SAS members are far more damaging to your country. Therefore, either your entire argument is faulty, or you yourself, Mr. Wallace, are a far greater danger to the public's well being then video games, and as long as you permit yourself to be in public places, endangering your fellow man by your presence, your accusations carry no weight.

I respect the position of a man who was in the SAS. But having that sort of bravery does absolutely nothing to improve your capacity as a social scientist or politician. If you respect the SAS and the training that comes with it, then why disrespect it with this sort of comparison?

 

[ottenni]

Funny he should say that the only people to partake would be gamers and the gaming industry. So thats a tiny majority is it? Or is the Australian gaming industry growing every year and i wonder if he knows how many people own a console in Australia. Because i don't know a family who doesn't own at least one.

 

[dietpeachsnapple]

So...

*blinks*

I am ready to kill people now?

Like a marine?

I...

*looks around*

Huh! Well... I am glad that I am now on par with the SAS. If, However, this is the equivalent, then I MUST say, Australia would do well to bolster their defenses. A stiff breeze could take out their armed forces right now.

 

[Mortons4ck]

That's strange.

In America, the Religious Right (for the most part) loves the military.

 

[MR T3D]

note to self:
update resume, add "SAS trained"
that'll be dope.

really, this only desensitizes people to the concept of killing, the vast majority of gamers wouldn't actually kill someone.
as much as they'd talk about it.

 

[Nalesnik]

I gotta admit, I do understand his perspective, and where he's coming from BUT personally I value creative freedom almost above everything, and if that includes "bad forms" of creativity, then so be it.

 

[maninahat]

They're just cranky because there aren't enough bible games, were you get to play out Samson's massacre of an entire army, or any scene from Revelations. Now there is something that is repetitiously violent - and to think of how many ordinary people are exposed to this violence?

 

[CloggedDonkey]

so, video games can turn me into a terrorist killing machine? time to buy every game that is rated M at gamestop.

but just do what you're supposed to do with people like this: hit the report button and ignore the troll.

EDIT:

They're just cranky because there aren't enough bible games

I would by "bible: the game" actually. as long as they kept it true to the book.

 

[Low Key]

I have no doubt the current ratings are enforced, but Australia needs an R18+ rating so Aussie gamers can choose what games they want to play, assuming they meet the age requirement. And by not having an R18+ rating, they're missing out on potential moneymakers.

I agree with you.

I think that if when they introduce an R18+ rating, you should have to show ID to purchase the game if it's rated R18+. If you don't meet the age requirement, you can't buy the game. What is the ACL and Atkinson not getting about this?

You guys didn't have to show IDs when purchasing 18+ games? Wow. I remember having to ask my dad to buy me a movie because I wasn't of age and didn't even have a drivers license yet. That was over 10 years ago. I guess instead of Atkinson trying to regulate the sales to minors, he just up and banned them? Harsh.

 

[AceDiamond]

Ok that is it.

I give up. Australia's government and its christians hate gamers.

This is just the extremist christian morons trying to force their ideas on the rest of the country. Not the first time this kind of thing has happened.

Organized religious groups..........just.........GRRRRR.

Australia is sounding more and more like what the US would be without freedom of speech/expression.

2001-2008 says hi and "why do you hate America?"

Seriously that's the feeling I get from people like Atkinson and this guy, they're trying to essentially "Fox News" and/or "Teabag" (I refuse to give that group a party designation) Australia's legislative process as well as the very foundations of democracy, turning it into, well...not democracy at all. The thing about democracy that most people fail to understand is that, in order for it to work perfectly, there has to be compromise otherwise it just becomes a dictatorship; and sometimes compromise means you have to lose sometimes. The problem being that Atkinson and his Fundamentalist Flunkies don't like losing or compromise and think that unless you share their vision you are either unimportant or just one videogame away from a killing spree. Nevermind the fact that with the number of gamers in the world if we all became violent criminals (as a result of games), overpopulation would cease to be a problem.

The other problem here is again similar to one happening in America. People are lying about the issues and nobody takes the liars seriously enough to make a concentrated effort to debunk them, and thus the lies replace the truth. This is pretty funny considering that the liars often like to accuse the other side of being the ones distorting the facts, which is one of those statements that makes me want to dope-slap a person. Granted it isn't as bad in this case because at least Australia got a consultation on the issue, but I worry that not enough voices will be raised in protest of this draconian censorship plan. And even those being raised will be discounted because they naturally have an interest in it. Of course the gaming industry and gamers are going to weigh in on this, this is their life and their hobby being threatened. After the events of the last 10 years or so, taking logic for granted is no longer an option.

 

[AmericanTed]

you think they'd want more recruits. guess not.

 

[Blatherscythe]

So they don't listen to us or anybody opposing them on the account that we are gamers. And yet people who play games and create them are the only ones being truly affected by this, way to be logical Austrialian government.

Also did that guy even play a game? Has anyone who bashes games ever played one?

 

[Solivagus]

I would totally agree with the idea that games are just like an SAS training regime, that is if the SAS trained only fat kids who just want to 'headshot noobs'. I can see it now, terrorist insurgents throwing down their weapons in defeat as a dozen obese kids in ill-fitting fatigues abseil through a skylight and call each other 'fags' before waddling to the nearest vending machine for a snack.

Look out Al Qaeda, they're coming. For you!

Freaking brilliant. I'm in tears, mate.

On topic, I thought he had a valid point (for about two seconds). Thing is, games are games. They're false worlds, sometimes based closely on the real world, with no real life consequences (save for poor health due to lack of physical activity, limited to no sex life, etc.) What groups like the ACL and people like Atkinson don't realise is that gamers know these worlds are false, even if the realisation is in the back of their minds. Acting violent in a game doesn't mean you're violent in your everyday life. Games are meant as an escape from everyday life.

 

[mechanixis]

Compare the ratio of violent to nonviolent gamers to the ratio of violent to nonviolent drinkers.

If you're pushing for unrealistic societal control, shouldn't you be pushing for alcohol prohibition?

 

[fletch_talon]

So gamers are being trained SAS style?
That's a group of people consisting of many thousands in Australia alone...

And you're refusing their requests?
Dude's got a death wish.

 

[Tdc2182]

Well, i dont agree, but that arguement has made more sense than most others