Wasn't sure which topic to put this in - mods, move at will.

Anyway, this morning Sunrise hosted a debate on whether or not R18+ rating should be introduced for video games
Gamers4Croydon taped the interview, here:
http://www.gamers4croydon.org/news/thesunrisespot
The guy who is for the rating is cool, calm, and collected; the guy against just quickly evades the questions he is asked and is completely ignorant.

If you cbf to watch all that, at least state your mind on:
http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/sunrise/poll_question.html?poll_id=50754 ,
the poll that Sunrise started as to whether an R18+ video game rating should be introduced. At the moment it's 93%for, 7%against. Lets make those numbers more extreme!

Matt

Haha won't be the first time sunrise has made an extreme poll.

Thank you for the awesome post Matt. It's time to get this topic rolling again.

I am for having an R 18+ rating, but I am interested in what the underage people on Spectrum think.

To be honest, would you ask a person who is 18 or older to buy you these games?
If that were the case, the rating would be useless.

That is the same with any 18+ stuff. Say kids ask me for alcohol. I would outright refuse. But there are people out there that are willing to go against the law and supply kids with alcohol. How would that be any different with an 18+ game?

Adults will be responsible for the 18+ rating, yet there are some that are not responsible at all.

However, responsible adults have a 100% right to get their hands on these video games, in my opinion.

Seeings as they are banning any content they dont want children to see on the interwebs next year i doubt they would let R18+ games through.

I just want the R18 rating so that all those banned games can come into the country and I can buy them through adults. Hypothetically.

"As you may be aware, the highest classification that a game can be given in Australia is MA15+, despite the existence of a higher R18+ rating for film and television. This has caused a situation that is allowing children aged 15 access to games containing the same themes and imagery as restricted 18+ films, as well as misinforming parents about the nature of the content in the game. In addition to this, it encourages illegal piracy and places unnecessary restrictions upon the freedom of choice that Australians should enjoy.

With the average age of a game player in Australia being 30 years old, and 88% of all Australian homes containing a device for playing computer or video games, it is important that the Classification System continues to be overhauled to meet the needs of the Australian public. The Interactive Australia 2009 Survey reported that 91% of people surveyed supported the introduction of an R18+ rating for video games, clearly showing that there is a strong desire for change in the system.

With the advance of technology and the internet, children are exposed to computer and video games at a younger age than ever before. The Censorship Minister, could act to accelerate the implementation of this proposal and help to ensure that adult themes and imagery are properly classified, and parents are properly informed about what their children are playing."


http://www.r18games.com.au/

pfft R18+? I signed that petition at RFLAN a couple of RF's ago

Yeah the R18+ rating should definitely be added for video games, whoever is against it is either very ignorant or naive, the fact that younger children will more easily be able to get their hands on R rated games makes no difference, that's not the government's responsibility, that's the parent's responsibility. Anyone who uses that argument is a hypocrite anyway when we have R rated movies.

Well anyone can get M -> MA15+ games these days such as 10 year old kids playing css *COUGH ANDREW COUGH*. The only thing that the 18+ ban is doing is preventing kids from getting their hands on the games, if it were introduced then they will still get their hands on 18+ games and be open to even worse games. I want 18+ games to come in but i dont want 12 year old kids screaming at me online because they are bad at the game.. id just rather not play it.

MA15+ games are not restricted, a 3 year old would be allowed to toddle up to the counter with money and buy them. R18+, on the other hand, would be restricted - just like alcohol, a legal ID would be required in order to purchase them. Obviously, this would be much harder to police on digital distribution systems such as Steam, but no one under the age of 18 can have a credit card, and no one under the age of 18's parents should let their kid buy stuff online without first checking to see what it is.

All in all, it's the responsibility of the parents to make sure that their immature children are not playing games intended for mature people.

Pearly wrote:MA15+ games are not restricted

Are you sure about that?

"MA15+ (Mature Accompanied) - The content is considered unsuitable for exhibition by persons under the age of 15. Persons under 15 may only legally purchase or exhibit MA15+ rated content under the supervision of an adult guardian. This is a legally restricted category."

The shop assistants just don't bother to enforce the MA15 rule.

I don't think they would sell it to a 3 year old though ^^

Yup, that's what I was implying. Maybe the toddler example was exaggerating, but they could buy an M game if they wanted. But anyone over the age of about 10 would have little to no trouble purchasing an MA15+ rated game.

That would be an interesting test to do.

When I bought video games from stores when I was under the age of 15 I was always asked if I was 15 years old, but I always had one of my parents with me, so I could get the game anyway, but yeah I suppose you're right Pearly. If I was 12/13 and I wanted to buy a game on my own, I could just tell them that I'm 15 with no proof and they would probably believe me and sell the game to me, but that being said. Selling a R rated video game would be like selling cigarettes or alcohol, people would have to show ID to get the game if they looked 25 years or younger. You're definitely right about MA15+ games not being restricted properly, but R rated games would be restricted a lot more heavily.

And we all know that a lot of parents would buy R rated video games for their children, but that is their choice, that isn't the concern of the government. Many parents let their children watch R rated movies and that is allowed into the country, so video games should be considered the same for the law to be fair and just. And people have used the argument that violent video games have a greater effect on people, especially children because its interactive, that may be true, but these video games won't be creating psychopathic killers, only a child's upbringing together with the games would give them that sort of perspective. If children are raised right, then whether or not they are allowed to play R rated video games, they wouldn't turn more violent because they would know that its just a game.

There was a massive study done recently in Australia on violent video games and real life aggression. They took hundreds of studies done on the topic and grouped them together to come up with conclusions. They actually found that playing violent video games increases the likelihood of aggressive behaviour and thoughts and decreases in empathy and helping others. The younger the gamer, the more these effects were found, so that's evidence to suggest that restricting some games to children is a good practise. Much of the results they found were causal, meaning that lots of game play has a direct effect on aggression.

But of course, Martin is right. Playing violent video games won't turn people into psychopathic killers. It increases aggression and desensitisation to real world violence but so does parenting styles (or lack of), trauma, violent movies and TV etc. It's unfair to say that GTA causes people to shoot up their schools. Video games are just one piece of the puzzle, albeit an important piece.

I strongly think that children shouldn't play games that require the player to use violence against other people to reach achievements - games like Red Dead Redemption, Man Hunt, God of War etc.

This is an interesting link though, a father let his son play GTA.