IEAA to fight for R18+ games rating in 2008
January 26, 2008 – 11:13 am
Introducing an R18+ rating for games is a priority for Ron Curry, the newly appointed CEO of the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia. In an interview with The Age, Ron said that the association has not yet had the opportunity to meet with the Rudd Government to discuss the issue, but stressed the real blockade was at a State level:
…The new government doesn’t change the legislation that says each of the states and territories must agree unanimously on an R18+ classification before the federal government get involved. That hasn’t changed, so we need to continue talking to the state and territory governments. South Australia is a major challenge.
You can read the full interview here.
In March this year SCAG (Standing Committee of Attorneys-General) will meet, but it’s unknown whether game classification will be high or even on the agenda.
When the R18+ rating was called for in 2002 at SCAG, SA Attorney-General Michael Atkinson said the risks of an R18+ rating outweighed the benefits and that his role was to be cautious on behalf of children.
You can read brief SCAG reports from previous years online.
The average age of Aussie gamers has risen to 28 years old.
2 Responses to “IEAA to fight for R18+ games rating in 2008”
Until people stop seeing video games as childrens toys and start seeing them as a form of entertainment, that like movies, are targetted towards a variety of audiences, we will probably not see a move towards an R18+ rating.
A major issue with moving the general concensus towards this view is the prevalence of violent games which lack involving story lines or strong basis’s for the violence in those games.
So long as the random shoot ‘em up which any fool can play exists, games will continued to be viewed as childrens toys.
But when games begin to resemble cinematic endeavours or the work of great writers, we will probably see them more widely accept as adult entertain and therefore get our R18+ rating.
Alternatively, we could just wait for the old farts to die.
By Michael T on Mar 21, 2008
A newspaper poll on this issue today appears to have been hijacked by the right - http://blogs.theage.com.au/screenplay/archives//009002.html
By Kermit on Mar 25, 2008