Michael Atkinson Once Again Dismisses Gamers
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
- Start date
Actually, that's completely wrong. Repeated studies conducted by US government agencies demonstrate conclusively that videogame ratings enjoy a significantly higher level of adherence than those for movies (theatrical showings and DVD releases alike) and music. In other words, it's far more likely that your average 12-year-old boy off the street will be able to buy and watch a copy of Saw IV than buy and play Mass Effect.Avykins said:
I don't see where the point is particular relevant to the matter at hand anyway, but which would you rather have your 12-year-old child doing?
I've been lurking on this site for what seems like an age, absolutely content to stick to my non-contributing ways, but I simply have to share this with you guys.
I live in South Australia, my brother's girlfriend's brother actually goes to school with this guys son and apparently he is known as a bit of a hardcore FPS player. I wonder how much he hates his dad.
EDIT: By school I mean technical college, he is over 18.
I live in South Australia, my brother's girlfriend's brother actually goes to school with this guys son and apparently he is known as a bit of a hardcore FPS player. I wonder how much he hates his dad.
EDIT: By school I mean technical college, he is over 18.
So I'm curious, does this guy do anything useful down under? I mean, does he have some mentally sound policy that actually helps you guys as a nation?
From here he sounds like the Australian Jack Thompson, but as everyone knows, ol' JT has become little more than a bad joke after being stripped of his lawyerly status.
From here he sounds like the Australian Jack Thompson, but as everyone knows, ol' JT has become little more than a bad joke after being stripped of his lawyerly status.
Because not being able to play L4D2 in its full capacity and the like are clear grounds to hate your own parents.Arthkan said:
I've read through this whole thread and I see a lot of people bashing Atkinson for being against the RA+18 rating. I don't think that calls for him to be shot with a predator drone or disemboweled as several people have suggested.
If people want Atkinson to be tossed out of office they have to commit to it. I am skeptical that a "gamer party" would be able to overthrow him on the one issue of not having a 18+ rating. If you want to get rid of a politician you have to offer yourself up as a better alternative to the people who vote for him. Perhaps if the entire population of the region where Atkinson has been elected were gamers then the pro-18+ rating would work. Since they aren't, then you have to combat Atkinson on a level that his constituents care about. That means saying and providing evidence you can fix whatever issues are confronting that particular segment of the country and proving you'll be a better politician than him.
Trying to get the rating is an issue for the country and one that the people of Atkinson's region might not care about. If you want to get rid of him you have to connect with the people who can vote in that region.
Yeah... wasn't really a serious comment, though I guess it's true that tone doesn't translate over text.Sir Hobbes said:
I actually agree with you, it's up to us to bring this change about; we can't force him to change his view. That doesn't mean, however, that we can't dislike (or hate, in some cases) him for his seemingly willful ignorance on the matter.
They can't stop 4 year olds picking up a 15 (technically) in the home either, so what's his point?
Dip shit. Isn't he the only guy in the entire thing that thinks this?
And out of interest, is it illegal for a person to play something rated higher than their age, or only illegal for a person to sell it to them? In Britain at least.
Because not being able to sell is fair enough, but it's really the parents choice when it comes down to it.
Dip shit. Isn't he the only guy in the entire thing that thinks this?
And out of interest, is it illegal for a person to play something rated higher than their age, or only illegal for a person to sell it to them? In Britain at least.
Because not being able to sell is fair enough, but it's really the parents choice when it comes down to it.
I love his contradictory argument. He makes this huge argument about how important it is to keep children (and even adults) away from what he sees as filth, then he ends it by saying his constituents don't care about it either way. Well, then, why are you taking such a righteous stance against it? Aren't you supposed to be doing what your constituents want? If they don't care one way or another, why are you buggering with it?
Clearly, Mr. Atkinson has a strong, mislead opinion of what us gamers want. We're not necessarily looking for "cruel sex and extreme violence". In fact, many of the things he considers R18+ are nothing compared to television standards. The Bioshock sex scene? That was little more than two people embracing with a fade to black, and yet he thinks it necessary to ban it. Well, sir, I wouldn't call that cruel sex, or even sex at all. The ESRB terms that "sexually suggestive", which gets it a Teen (13+) rating.
Adults aren't asking for cruel sex, extreme violence, blood, gore, or anything else. They are asking for the regulators to leave them alone. Let us decide what we want and what we are willing to accept; don't impose your tastes and beliefs on us. The government doesn't stop adults from watching porn, so why does it stop them from playing video games with even a hint of sex in them? (Not to say that we want porn in video games, just that porn is so much more sexual but is still acceptable for video.)
His argument about keeping the material away from children is weak too. He explicitly states parents aren't using the ratings properly -- is that a problem with the ratings or with the parents? Leave the parents responsible for that; don't take it into your own hands to make up for their lack of parenting. Also, many adults have porn, alcohol, tobacco, and other 18+ things around the house, but we don't worry about those getting to kids (who want them just as much as adults). Why are video games somehow different?
Because Michael Atkinson has this notion that video games are for children. He paints the adult gamers as "R18+ nerds", as if they are big kids who refuse to grow up. Well, sorry, but we are working, voting people, and we'll be lining up to cast our ballet.
Clearly, Mr. Atkinson has a strong, mislead opinion of what us gamers want. We're not necessarily looking for "cruel sex and extreme violence". In fact, many of the things he considers R18+ are nothing compared to television standards. The Bioshock sex scene? That was little more than two people embracing with a fade to black, and yet he thinks it necessary to ban it. Well, sir, I wouldn't call that cruel sex, or even sex at all. The ESRB terms that "sexually suggestive", which gets it a Teen (13+) rating.
Adults aren't asking for cruel sex, extreme violence, blood, gore, or anything else. They are asking for the regulators to leave them alone. Let us decide what we want and what we are willing to accept; don't impose your tastes and beliefs on us. The government doesn't stop adults from watching porn, so why does it stop them from playing video games with even a hint of sex in them? (Not to say that we want porn in video games, just that porn is so much more sexual but is still acceptable for video.)
His argument about keeping the material away from children is weak too. He explicitly states parents aren't using the ratings properly -- is that a problem with the ratings or with the parents? Leave the parents responsible for that; don't take it into your own hands to make up for their lack of parenting. Also, many adults have porn, alcohol, tobacco, and other 18+ things around the house, but we don't worry about those getting to kids (who want them just as much as adults). Why are video games somehow different?
Because Michael Atkinson has this notion that video games are for children. He paints the adult gamers as "R18+ nerds", as if they are big kids who refuse to grow up. Well, sorry, but we are working, voting people, and we'll be lining up to cast our ballet.
God Atkinson pisses me off so much, not because I out right disagree with what he's trying to do but because the way he's doing it is so illogical and even down right moronic to an extent. He just doesn't understand that not having an R rating is causing exactly what he's trying to prevent to happen because 9 out of 10 games that would be R are downgraded to MA and put in the hands of kids anyway.
I am an adult gamer and yes I don't need violence and sex in all my games to enjoy them but their are tonnes of games out there that would be lesser experiences without that kind of content. I mean what exactly would I be doing in God of War or Gears of War if the extreme violence was removed? They'd be boring pointless games since they both center around that kind of content. It adds 'flavour' to the gameplay experience. We could just be shooting boxes with paint ball guns but that would then be an entirely different kind of game and experience. Alot of gamers, in fact MOST gamers like violence in the medium, it sells well, markets well and allows us to experience interactive fantasy's we simply cant in the real world short of a straight jacket or prison sentence being involved.
Is Atkinson even aware that as the popularity of games has gone up the amount of real world violence has actually gone way down? In fact all forms of crime have gone down year after year as more and more people play games, except maybe digital piracy
He is an arrogant self righteous old fool, he has no idea how this industry or this medium works, he has no idea what people want and he definitely has no idea how to protect children from adult content. He needs to be removed from office ASAP.
I am an adult gamer and yes I don't need violence and sex in all my games to enjoy them but their are tonnes of games out there that would be lesser experiences without that kind of content. I mean what exactly would I be doing in God of War or Gears of War if the extreme violence was removed? They'd be boring pointless games since they both center around that kind of content. It adds 'flavour' to the gameplay experience. We could just be shooting boxes with paint ball guns but that would then be an entirely different kind of game and experience. Alot of gamers, in fact MOST gamers like violence in the medium, it sells well, markets well and allows us to experience interactive fantasy's we simply cant in the real world short of a straight jacket or prison sentence being involved.
Is Atkinson even aware that as the popularity of games has gone up the amount of real world violence has actually gone way down? In fact all forms of crime have gone down year after year as more and more people play games, except maybe digital piracy
He is an arrogant self righteous old fool, he has no idea how this industry or this medium works, he has no idea what people want and he definitely has no idea how to protect children from adult content. He needs to be removed from office ASAP.
Suggestion to everybody on this site:
Find out this fuckbend's e-mail and tell him EXACTLY how you feel.
As of writing, I haven't found it yet but if anybody does find it, kindly inform me.
Find out this fuckbend's e-mail and tell him EXACTLY how you feel.
As of writing, I haven't found it yet but if anybody does find it, kindly inform me.
So, in a nutshell, he's saying 'Parent's can't look after their children! Leave it to the state!'.
What an idiot.
On some parts he's right, as much as I hate to admit it, but he's going about tis all wrong.
Sure, games don't have to be 18+ to be challenging or entertaining, but to a lot of people, the 18+ games are more entertaining!
He thinks that by putting an R18+ rating on games, he'll stop children getting hold of them.
That, however, is wrong, children will still play them, children just won't buy them. In the mind of a Child, the games, films and music (Hell, even some books and Theatre) that is rated over their age, is instantly cool. You have to play it, or watch it, or listen t it to fit in.
That's actually a problem with lots of politicians; the countries they are in control of, our contries, are run by these old men and women who, in my opinion, have forgotten what it's like to be a child. They have forgotton what it's like to enjoy something restricted to you (For example, when I first had sex with my (Now ex) girlfriend, it was so exciting and exhilarating because it was forbidden from us), they can't remember what it was like to have to put up with Peer-Pressure. They can't even remember what it was like to enjoy playing with something new with your friends (IE, Modern Warfare 2).
What an idiot.
On some parts he's right, as much as I hate to admit it, but he's going about tis all wrong.
Sure, games don't have to be 18+ to be challenging or entertaining, but to a lot of people, the 18+ games are more entertaining!
He thinks that by putting an R18+ rating on games, he'll stop children getting hold of them.
That, however, is wrong, children will still play them, children just won't buy them. In the mind of a Child, the games, films and music (Hell, even some books and Theatre) that is rated over their age, is instantly cool. You have to play it, or watch it, or listen t it to fit in.
That's actually a problem with lots of politicians; the countries they are in control of, our contries, are run by these old men and women who, in my opinion, have forgotten what it's like to be a child. They have forgotton what it's like to enjoy something restricted to you (For example, when I first had sex with my (Now ex) girlfriend, it was so exciting and exhilarating because it was forbidden from us), they can't remember what it was like to have to put up with Peer-Pressure. They can't even remember what it was like to enjoy playing with something new with your friends (IE, Modern Warfare 2).
Atkinson is only in power because he has the backing of the states religious groups, they say jump and Atkinson says "How high?". Ironically it would take an act of God to remove this man from power.
