Why EveryonePlays has a different message

[James]

EveryonePlays: Why EveryonePlays has a different message by James

PALGN Feature: ...and why it matters.

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[IISpacebreakII]

One of the best articles ever put forward about the topic. It would be a huge injustice if PALGN was the only site that could see this article, is their any way that this can reach the eyes of the people that need to see it most?

(Other than us signing up to unrelated sites and spamming ofcourse XD, though in this case I so would if needs be)

Great article James

[Spanca]

Nice article James. It really articulates that point (which I think is the strongest argument) very well.

I considered myself to be more informed about this issue than your average Joe, but I never knew that it was over 1400 games in the US, and nearly 600 in Europe that were restricted to 17-18+ gamers that are classed as 'suitable' for 15 year olds in Australia. I'd like to see Mr Atkinson and others who share his position to explain how it is appropriate that these games are available for 15 year olds here but considered inappropriate in the rest of the Western world.
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[James]

Glad you like it.

It's actually an edited version of my submission to the classification review. Feel free to repost it in full elsewhere.

[RooRage]

Brilliant article James!

I've got to say that personally over the last few months my attitude has changed as to why I wanted an R18+ rating.

Originally, I would rant and rave that I was being denied uber-gory zombie smashing and why the hell should I be denied that when I am an adult???

But with more reading and contemplation (and possibly the birth of my first son), I have swayed to the "won't somebody think of the children" side of things.

And you make it GLARINGLY obvious that the Oz system is broken when you post those kind of numbers in Australia vs the USA as to how many games fall into which categories.
That's a truly astounding figure.... and honest food for thought as to what our youth is being exposed to....

I'll say it again --> Great work!
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https://www.nepchin.com.au/Enter.aspx?ref=M000000045

XBL: Roo Rage

[RooRage]

[James]

[grim-one]

A very well written and argued article James, but I was surprised you didn't have a graphic showing the approximate translation of ESRB rated titles to our current G-MA/banned system. A comparison to the NZ system which does incorporate the R18+ category could also be good.
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Steam:grim_one | PSN/Live:najakh | Flickr

[pom013]

Very convincing point and most likely to be the most successful one we will see. If even half of the submissions to the classification review are this good, we are in with a real chance.

Is there anyway to get this (either as is or in another revised form) into the mainstream media as a follow up to the telegraphs feature on Sunday? Maybe into the letters to the editor? It might be worthwhile reaching out to that audience to get some opinionated types taking notice

[ZeroX03]

I must say. Epic article!!!
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b+2,1 mindgames

[fupoisme]

A well written and well presented article James; hopefully this is able to get the message through to some people still unsure about the situation.
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PSWii60

[Mullet87]

Here's what they really need to do, remove the MA15+ rating altogether.

Introduce an R18+ rating, shift the old classification guidelines from the MA15+ rating to the new R18+ rating and don't introduce any new guidelines specifically for R18+ games.

That way, games that were sneaking in as MA15+ will now be classified R18+ and games that would have been refused classification, would still be.

Oh wait, the real objective of having an R18+ rating is so we can buy the violent games locally instead of having to import. My bad.

I hope Michael Atkinson doesn't read this comment then!

[Dreamcazman]

James, you hit the nail on the head! This article should be shoved under Michael Atkinson's nose and see what he has to say about it. After all he keeps preaching that it's all about protecting the children...

[Gtpod]

That makes so much sense, I'm amazed it's not already been adopted. When clear thinking like this isn't being picked up by government, it just goes to show how important this campaign really is.
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[Jeremy]

I hope James doesn't mind me saying this, but this article is also a response to a mixed reaction that we've received. Hopefully now that readers have a better understanding of what we're on about here, that they're much more willing to join in the cause

And just to add a point that I've raised earlier, could you imagine if the devastation on the Australian gaming retail industry if the Classification Board got really tough and banned ALL 570 of the adult titles released since 2003? Between EB and GAME, there are around 500 stores across Australia. For argument's sake, lets say there are around 10 staff per store - meaning that there are 5000 Australian jobs at stake. And that's not including admin staff in back offices...

In my opinion, the points raised in the article and the retail argument are two that have been grossly underused in general. It's all good and well to say "We're adults so we should have a choice" (for all it's truth), but a more altruistic approach might just be what we need.
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[Karai Pantsu]

Nice work James, very succinct! Like Spanca I was unaware of the numbers behind the argument - it really puts the whole matter into a different perspective, changed from the 'this way of operating is unacceptable, games are misrated' to 'this way of operating is unacceptable, something needs to change before even more high impact titles are stuffed into MA15+ clothing'.

I wonder, could this perhaps be distributed as reading material to be placed alongside those in-store petitions?
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[Benc82]

Good article and this has also been my number 1 reason when I discuss the matter. Games like GTA4 shouldnt be MA rated.


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XBL/PSN/Steam: BenC82

[Cyph]

A well written and explained article, thank you James. This subject matter needs, and is slowly gaining, more mainstream attention. We are meant to be a mature and democratic society, and thus should have the liberties to make our own decisions on what we (and our children) play.

[Infested Jibbs]

Ugh, it's nearly as bad as when the irc crew (aka the special friends) used that spastic avatar of theirs as some sort of inside joke / elitist badge



The first comment, spacebreaks, i thought was from James, but then i thought it odd when he started to congratulate himself at the end of his post.
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[Roland]

James - echoing people's reaction to your article. A piece of literary excellence. We could have a tag line for PALGN - "where journalism begins". The case study for newly enrolled students would be your article.
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[notsofat]

Hammering in the 'protecting children thing' might be the most effective way to get the message across to the public but don't you find it disgusting the Australian public responds to nothing else, and that we have to stoop to their level, and focus primarily on 'protecting the children'.

Its such a bloody disgrace because you know what, democratic freedoms are a lot more important that the g*dda*n children!!!

[christicehurst]

Great article. It illustrates what needs to be done.
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[battlegrub]

Dissenting opinion here. I'm actually finding the "protecting the children" thing a bit hard to swallow. Technically I agree with the argument itself, but making this the core argument is inviting skepticism.

Firstly, most gamers want an R18+ rating system for clearly non-altruistic reasons, and it might backfire if this message of "protecting the children" is perceived by the neutral observer as dishonest.

Secondly, if the primary concern is the protection of children, then the solution is perhaps not an R18+ rating, but rather stricter enforcement of the existing MA15+ rating.

Again I'm in favour of an R18+ rating but this argument might not help the cause.

[Jeremy]

^You'd be surprised actually. Most of the non-gamers that I've spoken to about this, are actually very receptive to the argument that we've laid out here.

It's gamers that we seem to have a hard time accepting it... And I can guarantee that the vast majority of the gamers who don't (or don't want to get) are not parents...
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[pom013]

It's not fair for either side to say that gamers just want more violence. In my opinion, violence in video games is comparble to swearing in comedy. Sometimes it is contextually appropriate and adds to the experience, other times it is needless and used only to mask poor quality or a lack of substance.