Michael Atkinson's Successor Will Push for R18+ Ratings

[Trivun]

Arrrggghhhh, I'm torn here. On the one hand, I'm glad that someone who we can agree with on the matter of the R18+ rating has come along, and I support him for that. But on the other hand, I can't help but think "we've gone from one extreme to another". There are so many games that would fit perfectly between the ratings Australia already has, and R18+, assuming the MA15+ was taken away. I think the compromise he's come up with is a good way of doing things, and on the whole I'm inclined to support this guy, but nevertheless, scrapping MA15+ is not a good move. As a UK citizen I've had to live my life under the British ratings system, and can honestly say the way we do things, including a 15 rating, is a good thing. This new guy needs to have a look over here and take a leaf from our book, before he talks more about scrapping an MA15+ rating in Oz.

 

[Radelaide]

Doesn't matter. The new Victorian AG is anti-R18+ so a unanimous vote looks as unlikely as ever. Good thing the Federal Government has given the idiots until June to get the ball rolling on introducing R18+ or face having any say in the national classification scheme taken away from them.

If they AG's can't agree on this, Brendan O'Conner is going to put it in anyway.

Also, removing the MA rating will be a simmiliar to the situation we're in at the moment. Games will either be edited to satisfy a M15 rating, or rated to an R18 level. Don't remove anything, just edit the current credentials that games have to satisfy. Fffffff. Someone elect me King of Australia and I'll get this shit done right.

 

[Adzma]

In December 2010 he mused [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/106156-Aussie-Minister-Proposes-Ditching-MA15-Game-Ratings] on the idea of bringing in the R18+ rating but scrapping MA15+ in order to more clearly delineate what is and isn't appropriate for children, and now he's ready to make the position official at the June meeting of Attorneys General.

Sorry Andy, it's actually in July.

This is a terrible option. If MA15+ gets dumped for R18+, as Rau is proposing, then overnight Mass Effect becomes only legal to buy if you are aged 18 and over.

Let's not forget however that ME is rated 18 by PEGI. Now I agree that Mass Effect doesn't deserve an R18, but if there's one thing we've learned over the years it's that the ACB bends the rules to push games into MA15 where possible. It's likely they'll do the same with with the M rating.

However it's far too early to celebrate, many rumours suggest that Rau actually wants to simply rebrand MA as R, meaning that our classification system wouldn't actually change. We'd still end up with bannings and censorship like Germany.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

However it's far too early to celebrate, many rumours suggest that Rau actually wants to simply rebrand MA as R

Nah, that stems from dickhead journos not understanding his initial stance of getting rid of MA15+ when R18+ is introduced which would mean that many MA15+ games would get R18+s when reviewed.

 

[Porygon-2000]

get the feeling that nothing is allowed in australia.

now and then a show about the australian bordercontrol is shown on TV.. and i generally feel that the borderrules here in europe are hard enough, but after watching a couple of episodes about how it is in Australia i dont feel tempted to come for a visit.

theres nothing but speculation to support that violent videogames are harmful, atleast not to the minds of adults over 18+..

If it is so bad you should ban alcohol and smoking cigarettes as well, seeing as those are just as easy if not easier to get hold of for a minor

Actually we're fairly cool down here with other stuff. I'll admit, our customs are anal sometimes, but it's mostly just to protect the local environment (think the bullfrogs in that simpsons episode).

Well, at the very least things are moving forward with this thing, however slowly. Here's hoping it happens on the date with no more whinging pollies.

 

[Double A]

Good for Oz, I hope they get a 18+ rating. Most of the reasoning the opponents have is so idiotic I want to hit my head against the wall.

Wow. A politician who remembers that compromising is the best way to get things done. And one who also understands all the fact and how the real world works. After he's done in Australia, do you think we here in the U.S. can have him?

No, you can't. In a few years, with any luck, he'll be Premier of South Australia... Not that he's great but he's the best of a piss poor bunch of options.

What about a clone of him?

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

The best is the Federal Government will just introduce it themselves to shut us up if the AG's don't decide.

 

[uguito-93]

Arghh my excitement of having one more non-idiot in parliament is beginning to melt away. honestly seeing as how i am finally 18 myself i would have no problem with the MA15+ rating getting abolished but i cant help but feel that there might be a massive backlash. fingers crossed that this will FINALLY get resolved

 

[Adzma]

However it's far too early to celebrate, many rumours suggest that Rau actually wants to simply rebrand MA as R

Nah, that stems from dickhead journos not understanding his initial stance of getting rid of MA15+ when R18+ is introduced which would mean that many MA15+ games would get R18+s when reviewed.

Hmm fair enough I guess. Well at any rate here's hoping the ACB still bend the rules somewhat if we do get the rating since otherwise games like Mortal Kombat "With violence which exceeds strong in impact" will still get RC.

 

[johnzaku]

After he's done in Australia, do you think we here in the U.S. can have him?

pretty pleeeeaaaaase?

 

[Spadge]

No, no, no.

Spoiler: Australian Classification, for those who don't know

G - General Viewing (Appropriate for all
PG - Parental Guidence recommended
M - (Material intended for a) Mature audience. This rating carries no legal restriction.
MA15+ - As M, except that a person under the age of 15 is prohibited from purchasing such material, and cannot see such a film in cinema unless accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.
R18+ - Restricted Material. People under the age of 18 cannot be admitted into a cinema or sold material carrying this rating.
X18+ - Pornographic [possibly other highly sensitive (not sure)] material. Can only be sold from the ACT or NT, although they can be exported interstate. Otherwise identical to R18+

Rau has suggest making such a large gap between the two ratings of M and R will make parents "Better Informed". Such a statement is practically on par with religion (my apologies to religious people, if I am indirectly attacking religious organisations and church structures, I am not attacking the faithful who are part of such organisations), where Rau is asking parents to take, on faith, the classifications board's opinion on what violence constitutes an M rating and what may constitute an R rating. Stripping the intermediate rating reduces the information parents have avaliable to them to make an informed choice; because "informed" by a board of conservative censors is not really "informed at all". I would be fan of ditching the MA15+ rating only if most games currently rated MA15+ got reclassified as M, with additional information on what you will find in such a game - in which case, extend it to film as well.

There is also a financial aspect here, as one of the previous posters pointed out. An R18+ rating, in the future, may also require such material to be held under-the-counter, or in plain packaging. Currently, R18+ films typically perform worse than MA15+ films, which in turn perform worse than the unrestricted M rated films. If South Australia turns all of their MA15+ games into R rated games, what do you think will happen to sales figures? There are real peoples jobs attached to such a political decision, when these games can easily be purchased interstate or overseas.

As for parenting, if a parent in South Australia sees that a game is rated MA everywhere else in Australia, but R in SA, what are they going to think of the games' content? That it's appropriate for 15-17 year olds, AND BUY IT ANYWAY.

 

[Tax_Document]

Greaaattt... Now I can't get any good games...

Cause I'm 16.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

As for parenting, if a parent in South Australia sees that a game is rated MA everywhere else in Australia, but R in SA

Except that ACB classifications are nation wide. If the SA State government tried to exercise it's own classifications it would kick off a BIG jurisdictional pissing contest... and if you wanna know how that will end, ask someone who used to work for a state Health Department.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

However it's far too early to celebrate, many rumours suggest that Rau actually wants to simply rebrand MA as R

Nah, that stems from dickhead journos not understanding his initial stance of getting rid of MA15+ when R18+ is introduced which would mean that many MA15+ games would get R18+s when reviewed.

Hmm fair enough I guess. Well at any rate here's hoping the ACB still bend the rules somewhat if we do get the rating since otherwise games like Mortal Kombat "With violence which exceeds strong in impact" will still get RC.

Since we don't know what the criteria for R18+ will be no one can say either way.

 

[gyroscopeboy]

This seems pretty fair...as long as it gets the ball rolling.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Good for Oz, I hope they get a 18+ rating. Most of the reasoning the opponents have is so idiotic I want to hit my head against the wall.

Wow. A politician who remembers that compromising is the best way to get things done. And one who also understands all the fact and how the real world works. After he's done in Australia, do you think we here in the U.S. can have him?

No, you can't. In a few years, with any luck, he'll be Premier of South Australia... Not that he's great but he's the best of a piss poor bunch of options.

What about a clone of him?

He's Australian Labor Party (no, I don't know why they don't have a 'u' in Labor like they should) which, by American political standards, makes him a Radical Socialist.

 

[CargoHold]

I like the idea of this. I work at EB Games and so so so many mums are buying their 6/7 year olds Black Ops and the like.
"Just so you know, this game is rated MA15+ for strong violence. Is that okay?"
"Oh I know, but he plays games like that all the time."

I'm all for an R18+ rating, but parents don't understand how violent some games they buy their young kids are. It's not just a bit of shooting, I don't think any kiddies under 12 should be playing games with graphic torture in them. I truly believe an R18+ rating (and no MA15+) would get the message across. Sorry to the mature 16/17 year olds, though. You can get someone else to buy them for you though.

 

[Ashen^]

That's a pretty stupid idea. There are so many games which would fit in-between PG and M, like Halo. Perhaps it's just because I live here, but in my opinion Europe does it best with the PEGI system (although I prefer BBFC ratings as 15 seems more reasonable than 16 for many games).

M is 15 in Australia. MA15+ only exists because film distributors bitched up a storm about losing a lot of cash because of a lot of popular US Action films were getting slapped with R18+s.

Thats bull, M is not restricted to 15+.
http://www.classification.gov.au/www/cob/classification.nsf/Page/ClassificationMarkings_ClassificationMarkingsonFilmandComputerGames_ClassificationMarkingsonFilmandComputerGames

As a side note what do you propose happens to the games that don't fit an R18+ rating but also do not fit an M rating?
Oh wait they solved that problem by creating a middle ground, the MA15+ rating.
The current problem is that they stretch the boundaries of what can and should be included in the MA15+ rating. All they need to do is add the R18+ and put what does not currently fit the MA15+ into the R18+.
Perfect example is Mortal Kombat 9, doesn't fit MA15+ would fit R18+. On the other hand a game like Vanquish wouldn't fit R18+ but fits fine in MA15+

 

[brendonnelly]

I believe there is an M 15+ rating in films, but not video games.

 

[Some_weirdGuy]

This is a terrible option. If MA15+ gets dumped for R18+, as Rau is proposing, then overnight Mass Effect becomes only legal to buy if you are aged 18 and over.

and the problem with this is....?

I mean, oh no! little kids won't be able to sneak out and buy the game without permission from their parents!
Cause thats the only thing its restricting.
Its not a law against who can play the game, just who can buy the game, so if an underage wants it they just have to get their parents to go in and pick it up.

truly terrible indeed...