R18+ Opponent Accuses Gamers of Using Propaganda in Rating Debate

[Callate]

I think when your own argument posits on the delightfully vague "mounting evidence" claim you lose the right to complain too bitterly about "propaganda".

It's increasingly clear that the majority of the people in Australia who care enough about this issue to speak out want an R18+ rating.

 

[JakobBloch]

Is it just me or does her use of the phrases "propaganda" and "pro-gaming lobby" make us sound far more organized and, far better funded then we are?

It kindqa reads like, PR-consultants spent a month making up a complex campaign with talking points and all that.

I must say i never got my memo if that is the case.

 

[OldAccount]

Sooooooo... propaganda is defined as what exactly? An argument that this particular woman doesn't agree with?

 

[OldAccount]

"Gamers may rant and rave (and they do if anyone dares oppose them)," she said. "But let's take the ALRC opportunity to review the options properly, not respond to propaganda."

We're sorry. We didn't realize we weren't allowed to defend our position.

 

[the.chad]

Maybe she's right... there will be a sudden rush of violent and sadistic games that will flood the australian gaming market.

Now let's take a look at how many games of been RC'ed from memory:

Mortal Kombat
Alien vs Predator, oh no sorry, they re-thought that one and said it was fine (maybe because they refused to create an edited version?)
L4D2

OMG, THE END OF THE WORLD IS NY!!!!!

 

[link6616]

and yes god of war remained un changed for the MA15 rating...

What's most annoying abut most of these debates that follow the "this will allow worse games to get onto shelves" is that there isn't much worse. left for Dead 2s altered form if going to be traumatizing for anyone who plays it if they were going to be traumatized by the original. Gods of war 3 is actually pretty brutal... But Sony is a big publisher, so the AU just let it slide...

what I would like to see, is all the mainstream publishers just ignoring our lovely aus till we get an R18 rating, the impact it would cause to workplaces would be huge, forcing Australia to act quickly. Yes, it's taking hundreds of jobs but... It'd be effective I hope

 

[VGC USpartan VS]

This Biggins lady can shut up for all I care. She's just hurting Australia.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

"Given that it's practically impossible for even the most conscientious of parents to keep their children away from exposure to portable R18+ items like DVDs and games"

You could do your job as parents, as the ratings board in every other country in the world is doing.

And wasn't it Mr. Atkinson that said "it's quite possible for adults to find games that will challenge them without having to resort to "depraved sex, gore and cruelty.""
"It does not follow that a game is more interesting to an adult simply because it contains extreme violence, explicit sexual material or highly offensive language. Indeed, with all the effort and money that goes into game development, coupled with the effects and graphics now available, there is no need to introduce these extreme elements. I am baffled and worried about why proponents of R18+ games are putting up their hands and saying, 'Give us more cruel sex and extreme violence!'"

You've seen the kind of material that R18+ gamers are circulating. I don't know who sends me this filthy material, but I get my electoral office email spammed. About two o' clock in the morning, I got a threatening note from a gamer shoved under my door. I feel that my family and I are more at risk from gamers than we are from the outlaw motorcycle gangs who also hate me. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98346-Atkinson-Gamers-Are-More-Threatening-Than-Bikers]

"With so much money and time going into game development, I do not believe that a gamer is bored with a game only because it does not include extreme sex, violence or illegal acts. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/84959-Fallout-3-In-Australia-The-Real-Skinny]

Their vote is hardly likely to hinge on the "right" to score gamer points on the computer screen by running down and killing pedestrians on the pavement, raping a mother and her two daughters, blowing oneself up in a market, cutting people in half with large calibre shells, injecting drugs to win an athletics event or killing a prostitute to recover the fee one just paid her (Welcome to the world of R18+ computer games).
Those of my constituents who are refugees have been subjected to the practical instead of the virtual suffering that R18+ nerds seek to inflict for their gratification on the computer screen.

Propaganda? Sure seems like it. Funny how he "retired" before he could be challenged by the majority of his constituents that were tired of being called "R18+ nerds".

Funnier that the Government are still dragging over their feet over what the people, in their VAST majority, have asked for.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

You know your right, everyone should just give up as a parent and have there computers stream 24 hour porn, they are going to be exposed to it anyways so why bother.

At the very least you should take your kid to a strip club or something. I mean, it might as well be a bonding experience right?

Depending on where you took them, it might also be a bondage experience.

 

[gyroscopeboy]

if you don't want your kids playing shit, DONT BUY A FUCKING TV!

 

[Jumplion]

As someone else has taken her argument and deconstructed it, I just want to focus on this one statement that interested me the mots.

Biggins contended that rather than decrease children's exposure to violent content by limiting it to games intended for adults, it would simply allow for videogames with more extreme content. "Using the classification criteria for films," she wrote. "R18+ games would have no restrictions on themes ... Given that it's practically impossible for even the most conscientious of parents to keep their children away from exposure to portable R18+ items like DVDs and games, how can it be possibly claimed that this would be better for children?"

I hate to break it to you, Biggins, but nobody cares about Australia.

This is a fallacy of some kind, I'm sure of it. Maybe a Non Sequitir? If an R18+ rating is introduced, this does not mean that games will all of a sudden become increasingly violent or that developers will somehow want to make their games more violent. If the games become more violent it is because the game would be how it is like in the rest of the goddamn world, I.E. uncensored. Mortal Kombat won't become "more violent" in the Australian release, it'll just be the same amount of violence as the rest of the world will be getting.

Also, as blanksmyname stated, she presents the double standard where she believes that children will somehow (and in all honesty, most likely) obtain R18+ rated games, yet she has no problems, even though she acknowledges, that kids can get into R rated movies and doesn't make a fuss about that rating.

C'mon, Australia, toughen up! You're home of the Crocodile Dundee, the Crocodile Hunter, the Croc Shoes, Shrimp on the barbie, kangaroos, Saxton Hale! Toughen up, throw that spoon away, and grab a real man's knife!

 

[Dark Knifer]

No, they'll just end up in 15+ or just pirate them. I'm sure game developers would be thrilled with that prospect...

 

[uguito-93]

it just feels like there's always someone who continues to mount an over zealous defense against games without noticing the glaring contradictions in their arguments. oh well i might not be able to pick up mortal kombat from my local store but at least it isnt illegal to import it...yet

with all this crap going on with our rating system im just glad publishers haven't decided to not bother trying to release violent games here altogether

 

[Save us.A7X]

Soo this person's entire arguement is, 'but if we make R18+, children will get to play violent games!'...*looks at the 18+*...*facepalms*

 

[Sylocat]

I think the main reason parents want all media to be suitable for children is that they're using the TV as a low-cost substitute for a babysitter, and think it's everyone else's job to raise their kids for them.

 

[Lenvoran]

I will now quote one of the Parental Controls from the Microsoft site for the...
Xbox:
"?Restrict which games can be played based on their ratings under the rating classification for your region."

Annnd... Playstation 3:
"By setting a parental control level on a PS3? system, you can restrict playback of games that exceed the set level."

Even the Wii:
"You can adjust the "Highest Game Rating Allowed" to be played on the Wii console. This setting is based on the Entertainment Software Rating Board ("ESRB") game rating categories. Please note that Parental Controls settings do not affect Nintendo GameCube Game Discs. "

These are direct quotes from their sites, and are established settings. Know anything about what you buy and you can manage whatever you want on your console. PCs have the issue of the Internet, but whatever.

You can control everything about the maximum rating on your console. Get over it oh public.

 

[Sir Prize]

Three words for this lady:
Pot. Kettel. Black.

Those against 18 and above games use propaganda as well, hell MOST groups and alike use it so why complain about this one. And WHY should others have restricted content because parents can't take care of their own bloody spawn?

Yes this may sound mean and such but come on, if a kid can get their hands on a game their not supposed to have, then there are two groups that can be blamed:
Parents or Cashers, and I think that it's mostly down to the former, condisering that in most of my local game store you need proof of age for a game rated 18, and sometimes sixteen.