Talking to the radio show National Interest, the Attorney-general of South-Australia, Michael Atkinson has stated that he will be appealing the Office of Film and Literature Classification’s (OFLC) decision to allow Modern Warfare 2 to be sold under the 15+ rating in Australia.
The game has caused controversy already due to a scene which enables players to take part in “terrorist” activities. These actions according to Atkinson “allow players to be virtual terrorists and gain points by massacring civilians”.
If he succeeds in his appeal the game could be pulled from the shelves all together, something which has happened before. Atkinson also attacked the OFLC for letting games through the system which may be unsuitable for the 15+ rating, despite the numerous changes that are made to titles, including the recently launched Left 4 Dead 2 which was heavily edited for Australian release.
Speaking in a statement to GameSpot Atkinson said that:
This decision doesn’t surprise me. The Classification Board in Australia does everything to try and get games in under the radar. … I have no trust in the Classification Board to apply the guidelines sincerely and correctly.
Atkinson also express his (continued) disgust over the actions available to the player in the game, as well as the way the it “[glorifies] terrorism”. GameSpot spoke to the OFLC who stated that an independent body must review the game again and make a decision on whether or not it should be banned.
Atkinson has been a strong opponent of an R18+ rating in Australia, which would allow adults to purchase games, but still prevent children from accessing them. However, Atkinson has countered that argument with questions of why “proponents of R18+ games are putting up their hands and saying ‘Give us more cruel sex and extreme violence’”. Australia is the only Western nation that does not use the R18+ rating for videogames, while it still has the adult rating for television and movies. Atkinson has previously stated that the reason films have an R18+ classification is because:
Classification of electronic games is very different from the classification of film. In cinemas, the age of movie-goers can be regulated… Rising game and console sales make it clear that this is a growing area that needs careful regulation, even more so than cinemas and private D.V.D. hire and purchase. Access to electronic games, once in the home, cannot be policed and therefore the games are easily accessible to children.
Via: VG274
I fail to see how access to games in the home is any harder to police than access to DVDs in the home. Has he never heard of the age restriction settings parents can set on modern consoles?
@Grasslunatic: “Has he never heard of the age restriction settings parents can set on modern consoles?”
Absoloutly not.
Oh well, you can’t teach old dogs new tricks. It just sucks when video games gets all the blame for violence
im a huge fan of MW2 but even i need to admit it is un- necessarily gruesome. What we really need in australia is 18+ classification.