Somebody Think Of The Children

Q&A video game discussion: The clueless are out in force

There’s no rating system for video games in Australia. Not my words — they belong to Q&A host Tony Jones. He’s sometimes referred to as a journalist, but in this case obviously not the type who does research.

We all know there is a very strict ratings system for games in Australia. It’s the bloody reason we are having this debate. That slipped past the heavyweights on last night’s Q&A panel though in favour of a giant stream of bullshit:

- Heather Riddout said people who played GTA turned into car-jackers (just not her sons)

- Baraby Joyce managed to somehow go from discussing games to rape and snuff films in a heartbeat

- and Nick Xenophon just wants to ban, ban, ban! Possibly even BAN!

Thanks to the awesome NoCensorshipAus channel on YouTube, you can watch the clip below.

Despite the misinformation spread by the panelists, an adult video game classification will not bring extreme violence and sex to our screens. Just like the R18+ for films, they’ll still need to be classified but now they’d be restricted to adults.

This is about taking a step out of the dark ages and understanding that censorship is not the answer to protecting anyone, especially our children. It’s about giving adult Australian’s the right to purchase video games that can be played as close as New Zealand. It’s time to grow up.

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