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-Acaroid
Member

1 year ago

While all votes have yet to be counted, and Mike Rann has yet to claim victory, as of this writing the numbers suggest that the South Australian state government has been returned to power. Likewise, controversial SA Attorney General Michael Atkinson has held on to his seat of Croydon, with 64.5 percent of the votes, after preferences.

South Australian voters did express some dissatisfaction with the status quo, however. Labor suffered from a -7.3% swing across the state, and Atkinson copped a swing of -14.3%. 3.7% of Croydon voters considered Gamers4Croydon candidate Kat Nicholson MP material, putting her ahead of both the Democrat and Family First candidates in the electorate -- though a tad behind Atkinson with 52.8% of the primary vote.

It was a similar story in the upper house. The Gamers4Croydon candidate for the Legislative Council, Chris Prior, was excluded on the 34th count of the votes, his preferences mostly going to The Greens. The 6,034 primary votes won by G4C didn't come close to securing a seat, though the fledgling party did outshine The Nationals, One Nation, and the Shooters Party.

While they didn't win any seats, the members of Gamers4Croydon appear to be in high spirits, with a post on the G4C Twitter slamming Atkinson's now infamous remark that fewer than 1 in 100 Croydon residents would vote for them: "I've got your 1% right here!"

While controversial South Australian MP Michael Atkinson has held on to the seat of Croydon, he has now announced that he's stepping down from his role as Attorney General, and will retire to the back bench.

What's more, when 2014 rolls around, he won't be contesting the seat -- his current term will be his last.

With Atkinson's departure, there is now a real possibility that we could get a R18+ rating for games in the not-too-distant future

[Link to games.on.net]

It is ok, I wouldn't talk to me either...

-Tyson
Senior Member

1 year ago

Thanks for this post. Ive been wondering what was going on with all this political stuff in SA. especially regarding Atkinson.
This is great news but I would have rathered he was actually voted out. Lets just hope the new attorney general isnt even worse.

-Acaroid
Member

1 year ago

Yeah, that is what i am worried about, what happens if they put in an even bigger crack pot

His seat was really rather safe, if would taken a miracle for him to be voted out, but such a large shift I think was message enough, which is why i think he may have stepped down.

either way he is no longer has the power to stop the R18+ as much as he had in the past, so it can give us some hope.

It is ok, I wouldn't talk to me either...

+Steve Martin
Moderator

1 year ago

Damnit, I wanted to b the one to announce this bit of good news

Nothing's certain however, but as you say, it is a glimmer of hope. As well as the problem of the replacement there's also the problem of all the other AGs around Australia agreeing to it.

[Link to www.3dprevis.com]
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-Acaroid
Member

1 year ago

Well last time it was on the books it was only really Mr Atkinson that kicked up a stink, because I think it needed a unanimous vote or something, so he basically screwed it up for everyone.

Oh well, ill just pirate my R18+ games until that time comes

It is ok, I wouldn't talk to me either...

+Steve Martin
Moderator

1 year ago

Yeh, he was definatedly the most opposed to it, letd hope no-one else decides to step in and keep blocking it.

[Link to www.3dprevis.com]
2nd Place: Absurd Plants Challenge

-Tyson
Senior Member

1 year ago

Yeah, I did read somewhere that he actively refused to be a part of some group of people voting on the R rating because he "could tell they had all already made up their minds" (theres democracy for you) I also read somewhere that the next gathering of AGs is on the 29th of April but the R rating isnt necessarily on the agenda for discussion. I really can't fathom how they come up with a system that would give one man so much power. shouldnt a vote come down to a majority.

+Steve Martin
Moderator

1 year ago

Yeh, it's a bit stupid really. The a similar thing happened in the overall vote. The Liberals got a higher % of the vote but it looks like Labor's going to be returned to power.

[Link to www.3dprevis.com]
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-Acaroid
Member

1 year ago

Just a note for everyone,

New SA Attorney-General is John Rau, a supporter or the R18+ classification for games!!!

YAY

It is ok, I wouldn't talk to me either...

+Jamie
Admin

1 year ago

That is what I was waiting for

PARTY!

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+Steve Martin
Moderator

1 year ago

That's really good news. It'll be interesting to see what happens next, but so far it's looking pretty good.

[Link to www.3dprevis.com]
2nd Place: Absurd Plants Challenge

+Steve Martin
Moderator

1 year ago

This is bad news:

[Link to www.adelaidenow.com.au]

Why can't they just let people be? Always sticking their noses in where it's not wanted. To the ACL: Get your own house in order with regard to child protection before you tell other people how to "protect" theirs.

[Link to www.3dprevis.com]
2nd Place: Absurd Plants Challenge

-Acaroid
Member

1 year ago

OMG I hate Australians media, it is so one sided on most topics...

Like all things we will just have to wait and see what is going to happen... man these people are so stupid.

It is ok, I wouldn't talk to me either...

-Tyson
Senior Member

1 year ago

the funny thing is I bet if we were still under 15 we would be kind of relieved we could still buy games like GTA 4 and fallout 3.

+Steve Martin
Moderator

1 year ago

Yeh true, the argument against an R18 classification is stupid. People panic and think that all the kids are going to start playing all these violent or sexual videogames but the truth is, most of these games that should have an R18 classification have gone through as MA15+. In which case anyone can buy it as longas they're accompanied by an adult. What shits me is these parent saying "I don't want my kids exposed to violence and sex in games! Lets ban them all!" What sort of a crappy parent lets their kid go near anything rated R18?

[Link to www.3dprevis.com]
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-Acaroid
Member

1 year ago

And if you look at the games that have been banned, very few of them are violence or sex that they are banned for, it is mostly drug use. So all the sex and violence is getting through anyway.... stupid people and their stupid arguments.

It is ok, I wouldn't talk to me either...

-Tyson
Senior Member

1 year ago

exactly, the example that comes to mind is in fallout 3 which had something like morphine changed to medX (or therabouts) but left the intense decapitations intact and more importantly the very adult story elements like when I rescued a young girl from mutants who were going to skin her and her brother alive only to be faced a few hours later with the moral choice of turning her over to the slavers at paradise falls where god knows what depravity awaited her. I was so affected by that I just had to positively massacre every last one of those slavers. seriously that game should have been rated R. All I can say is that Im glad these "lobbyists" dont have the actual rating board on the payrole can you imagine how dull fallout would have been without that "heavyness" I mean I'm not into violence, I want to be the good guy, save the kids from mutants, make sure everyone survives etc but heavy stuff is part of reality and it hits an emotional chord with all of us, its not wrong to want to experience heavy mature things if your mature enough to not be emotionally wounded by seeing it.

+Steve Martin
Moderator

1 year ago

There's also the airport bit in MW2 which probably should have been R18 as well as Alien V Predator which was reffused classification initially and then let through as Ma15 without any changes for some reason. Clearly the current system is doing a fantastic job. The really violent games still get through and we end up with watered down crap like L4D 2. Everybody loses.

[Link to www.3dprevis.com]
2nd Place: Absurd Plants Challenge

-Tyson
Senior Member

1 year ago

Yeah, on the flip side of this though I do think that games developers need to at least try and make the adult content have a purpose. I really think the infamous level in MW2 was just unnecessary. clearly a successful attempt to generate sales through controversy. Im all for R18 content if its something that hits a chord, makes you think etc. take heavy rain. there are some scenes in that game that just linger in your head and would probably affect younger audiences pretty heavily. but it was just such a great experience, without that intense stuff it wouldnt have had the same impact ie: *spoiler* the bit where you accept a drink from some doctor guy and wake up tied to his make shift operating table in the basement and either die by screwdriver or fight back and drill the crazy bastard to death through his chest. needless to say it was an exciting and scary moment and I wouldnt want my kids to play that but I enjoyed it and enjoyed the feeling of the creeps afterwards that you get from a good horror film. I dont know. I think that game would probably be 15+ even if there was an R rating.

-Jasikk
Member

1 year ago

well from a salespersons point of view its a case of your damned if you do your damned if you dont. kids come in with their grandparents/aunties/clueless mothers and want to buy gta or god of war or whatever is grossly innapropriate for a 10-14 year old and becuase of the ma15 thing i cannot refuse a sale, even if the so-called guardian has no idea of the content or thinks 'he sees worse on the news'. sometimes i even feel morally torn between doing my job and doing what i think is right, but really its not my position to be a babysitter or parent. but if something goes wrong people are the first to point the finger at the big retailers for selling this stuff when its clearly labelled and classified as adult content. so for this reason i think that the r18 laws are a good idea, meaning that it makes my job a whole lot easier and idiot parents can keep being blinded by their kid playing ridiculously sexualised and/or violent content. and for those that seem to think that the big organisations somehow profit (from what i've read on forums about anti-eb games sentiments) from this move, well actually we wont. itl cost a fuckload in remarketing, rebranding and re educating customers, not only that but it will cost in sales all those kids we sell the games to that aren't supposed to be playing them in the first place. really i think its a step in the right direction. having said that though, although i love a healthy dose of zombie death action, itd be nice to see more games that weave in more actual content and cerebral matter rather than blood guts drugs and sex, like the bioshock games. but thats just me. thought id pitch in with a different point of view

[Link to jasminekurda.carbonmade.com]

-Tyson
Senior Member

1 year ago

I guess working in a games store would give you a unique perspective on the issue. Sometimes when I'm browsing EB games Ive over heard some pretty funny conversations between parents and sales staff, some parents are just completely uninformed about it. Its almost as if because games are seen as being for kids or geeky loads of people intentionally close their eyes and fain ignorance. Most people would see being knowledgeable about movies as kind of hip and culturally aware. Some people havent realised the medium has really started to mature into a valid form of entertainment for intelligent adults. In a conversation today regarding boxing (the sport as opposed to a game) I mentioned something about UFC kickboxing being really violent and that Id gleaned that information from playing the UFC 2009 demo. to which they all kind of scoffed and said "oh, yeah right, you know that because you played the GAME, I'm not into all that street fighter 2 bullshit" So this guy conveniently skips back in time 19 years to show he REALLY doesnt know anything about games (because that would be embarrassing) Seriously games arent what they used to be. UFC 2010 is so realistic you can punch someone's head until they bleed and then the blood will be transferred between players when they wrestle. quite disgusting really, not for kids, so after that rambling tale,

yet another reason for the R rating

-Acaroid
Member

1 year ago

Oh happy days! While the new South Australian Attorney-General John Rau indicated earlier in the week that he pesently has "no preconceptions" for or against an R18+ rating scheme for videogames, it has just been announced by the Federal Attorney-General's Department that the possibility of the introduction of an R18+ ratings scheme is on the agenda for discussion at the next Standing Committee of Attorneys-General meeting on May 7.

"The Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department is currently collating views from the approximately 60,000 public submissions received in response to the discussion paper "Should the Australian National Classification Scheme include an R18+ Classification Category for Computer Games?"

Keep in mind that this is no guarantee an R18+ rating will emerge from this as it will require the approval from all Attorney-Generals in each jurisdiction around Australia and at this stage Mr Rau has stated he "can neither support nor wisely argue against a position if I am not aware of the relevant factors". Regardless, the Attorney-Generals meet only one time a year to discuss matters and the fact that it is on the agenda is a positive in its own right. Should it be declined once again, at least now we might have some fresh reasoning and discussion on why it shouldn't be passed.

Stay tuned for more info in coming weeks. We will post the results of this meeting as soon as they are announced.

[Link to games.on.net]

It is ok, I wouldn't talk to me either...

-Tyson
Senior Member

1 year ago

Well that is good news. At this stage I'm almost passed caring about the rating. All I want is to know that Atkinson is having a bad night sleep knowing his children will be able to con their uncle Sam into buying them rape games next christmas.

+Jamie
Admin

1 year ago

Personally I think this entire issue is just another example of the lack of divide between church and state. Censorship in any form always comes down to a moral debate and since morality is entirely subjective censorship should be left up the the individual. If you do not want to be exposed to certain material then do not purchase it. However there is still the issue of children being exposed to content which is not age appropriate. The only way to solve this problem is by educating parents so that they can make informed choices when buying games for their children. However since the majority of gamers are legal adults I think this point is being blown out of proportion to support the personal agenda of the Attorney General and I feel that this is the real problem.

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