Rally for an R18 rating in melbourne.

[Slash Dementia]

Not having an 18+ game rating is very stupid.
I'd like to go, but I don't live anywhere near Melbourne. I'd need a plane ticket.

Best of luck to you all.

 

[Adzma]

I'm fairly certain I'll be free on that day so I'll come along. I don't normally like to protest because it rarely changes anything but this is an issue I'm quite passionate about. I wish ratings were state regulated though, it would mean Victorians would have an R18 rating and we could just leave the rest of the country behind. That'd work for me.

 

[bcponpcp27]

If I lived in Australia, I would attend. Good for you guys! I wish you the best of luck trying to make the ratings board see the sense behind your argument.

 

[Lurks]

If I wanted to be picky, I would say that only proves he's popular is his seat, not the whole of SA.

With all due respect we have only your word for that.

I would also say his seat is also an area where a high percentage of people traditionally vote Labour so most of the people voting for him are voting for the party not the person. Such is the way of our political system.

Hrm well, it's my experience that personality/individual politics plays a greater role in Australian politics than many other countries. The fact it's a labor stronghold is undeniable but that's largely because labor covers the conservative christian value base on the whole.

I didn't say South Australia wasn't conservative, we can be. The whole country is conservative. Have you not seen what the federal government has been like in the last 10, 15 years?

Actually, I been abroad for 15 years, returning only last year. I can tell you straight up that Australia today is a much more liberal place than it was when I left in 1992. The trend is liberal progressive it's just that it's moved faster in other states. In such a way it pretty much mirrors what was seen in the US. The deep south / South Australia comparison was a bit overcooked but it's not a completely invalid example of what's going on.

What I meant is that, from my point of view anyway, he's not particularly popular with the public. He is certainly not widely mentioned in the public as a good politician in our government. But he does hold power in a popular government and so is not going anywhere soon.

What politician is particularly popular or widely mentioned as a good politician? Obviously since you live in South Australia you'd better placed to judge how he's regarded there but the way you first posted kind of indicated to me like Atkinson was some aberration. I don't think he is, he's just the very public face of highly conservative subset of society and one which in our case unfortunately holds the rest of us to ransom.

I mean no disrespect, obviously we're all on the side here. I just don't think it's particularly useful to make statements about how popular the guy is which might lead to underestimating the level of public support he evidently has.

What's the view in the SA papers about the 18 gaming issue?

 

[Adzma]

People, there's no need to argue about this, we're all friends here. The fact is Atkinson has the majority vote in South Australia. You must remember that we gamers only make up a small portion of the voting public. I would go so far as to say there is no chance he will be voted out, but there is always a possiblity when it comes to politics. The fact is, it doesn't matter why he's popular, he just is and we need to accept that.

 

[Tireseas_v1legacy]

From your friends in America, where we too have very stupid people who try to ban "inaproperiate" video games (though the ESRB only gives the AO rating to titles that really deserve it), you have our support and backing if need be.

Also, if you feel like changing that whole "psychotic moron" policy, we could, hypothetically, supply you with weapons that really should be banned here.

 

[Alluminn]

I stopped caring as soon as I read "THEIR is a void"

 

[lostclause]

Good luck Ozzie gamers.

 

[Scunner]

Snipped for length

Your points are valid and if I'm coming off abrasive or objectionist, I certainly don't mean to. I also was not trying to make an arguement over how popular Micheal Atkison is or isn't, mearly trying to state that while he holds a position of power for the state, it is not with large vocal support.

Certainly, he holds his seat with a strong margin and will not be voted out any time soon. The only way I see him going is for the gonverment to be voted out, which is also not going to happen anytime. We have an election happening in March and, as has been pointed out above, I'd bet half the state would not know the Opposition leaders name (Isabelle Redmond in case anyone is wondering). The only other way I see us getting the 18 rating we want is to try and put pressure on the federal government to force the issue and maybe work around the states somehow. I had heard there was a way they were doing this but it's stalled because of a change in ministers.

As for your question

What's the view in the SA papers about the 18 gaming issue?

Well, it's not really an issue that gets featured much. I'm not sure how it is for the other states, but not a lot of actions on the topic get picked up much. There have been a couple of articles recently, one on about Modern Warfare 2 and a family group (of which I hadn't really heard of) asking the federal government for it to be banned because of it's terrorist scene. This was not particularly biased one way or the other. It had some comments from the family group but also presented some from Acitivison and a support of the 18+ rating issue. There was another about a game developer from Melbourne setting up a political party to place a person to run against Micheal Atkinson to try and bring the issue to light. This article was pretty much the same as the first. It had some comments from the guy about why he's setting up the party and the usual comments from Micheal Atkinson about why he's against a 18 rating. It didn't really lean one way or the other, which I suppose is what a good newspaper article is supposed to do. I would certainly like to see a few more articles with greater explaination of the reasons for an 18+ rating though.

Edit: Oh, if you want more information on that party, you could start at http://www.gamers4croydon.org/ which is the website for the party.

 

[Jekken6]

I'd go, but i have school. Even though i'm a teenager, i still support the 18+ rating for games. Good luck, guys!

 

[latenightapplepie]

Yeah, I'll probably be there.

 

[scotth266]

Would totally go, if not for living on the other side of the ocean.

Aussie Escapists with transportation, unite! Your American brethren stand behind you in spirit!

 

[Dys]

Nooo. Don't do that. If you guys start getting sane laws then who will we laugh at? Mocking the american legal system just gets old after a while.

Don't worry, there's still germanys censorship laws.

I think this clashes with a Same-Sex Marriage rally I have to be at.
But otherwise, I'd be there.

Ah yes, I think I've heard about that, well, the dates now changed so hopefully you (as well as the working public) can make it

I stopped caring as soon as I read "THEIR is a void"

I'd love to say I appreciate your input, but it's at best a trivial mistake and hardly worth bitching about. Next time try to at least contribute something or keep it to yourself.

 

[Kramerica]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/528.157183