It is truly a dark time for Australian gamers

[Wandering Hands]

Very few members here are from Australia, so let me fill you in. This guy named John Howard ran out country for about a decade. By the end of it, in 2007, we were right fucking sick of him. The 2007 election had Kevin Rudd of the Labor Party opposing Howard and his Liberal Party and Rudd was our white knight - the man to lead us out of darkness and begin Australia anew.

Well every single Labor voter was wrong. Rudd's Cabinet includes Communications Minister Stephen Conroy. Yes, the man who wants to censor internet in a free nation.

You're all aware of how Australia doesn't have a rating beyond MA15+. Any game that cannot be considered suitable for 15 year olds is banned. If that wasn't bad enough, Stephen Conroy's somehow constitutional Internet filter has a new target in its sights.

Online games.

So far, this has only applied to local bricks-and-mortar stores selling physical copies of games, but a spokesman for Senator Conroy confirmed that under the filtering plan, it will be extended to downloadable games, flash-based web games and sites which sell physical copies of games that do not meet the MA15+ standard.


This means that even Australians who are aged above 15 and want to obtain the adult-level games online will be unable to do so. . It will undoubtedly raise the ire of gamers, the average age of which is 30 in Australia, according to research commissioned by the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia.


[...]


Senator Conroy's spokesman said the filter would cover "computer games such as web-based flash games and downloadable games, if a complaint is received and the content is determined by ACMA to be Refused Classification". All games that exceed MA15+ are deemed to be RC.


The filtering could also block "the importation of physical copies of computer games sold over the internet which have been classified RC", the spokesman said.
Online stores such as Amazon could have sections of their business blocked to Australian users simply for selling a game that is "banned" in Australia - the refusal of classification simply means that a game cannot be sold in the country, not that it cannot be shipped to, owned in and played in the country.

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/games/web-filters-to-censor-video-games-20090625-cxrx.html



I'm getting fucking sick of certain fascists fucking the shit up for the rest of us.

[Henry]

This is sick! Thank God that i don't live in Australia...

[Subba]

I think this applies here. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law)

[Daemon]

Yay! You gotta love Conroy, and Atkinson, ...and Family First too probably. :wtf:

Conroy for his Filter that everyone opposes and knows won't do shit anyway (except posibly slow down the internet), and Atkinson for vetoing 18+.

And yeah - they claim they'll ban things only after receiving complaints and reviewing a site, but if it's anything like TV ad complaints then it'll only take 1.

Yet that same government department is the one promising to bring Aussie internet access up to a standard approaching 1st world 21st century levels.

...I guess if things don't improve by the next election, and the libs don't have a better offer, we'll have to vote for independents ..or the greens ... or the sex party :blink:

[Wandering Hands]

Yet that same government department is the one promising to bring Aussie internet access up to a standard approaching 1st world 21st century levels.

And it will take 8 fucking years.

or the sex party :blink:

I was planning to anyway. <3

[Azure Presul]

I'd hate to live there, are they thinking video games encourage violence or something like that. Jesus Fucking Christ.

[JinKisaragi]

And I thought Europe was bad for gaming.

I do wonder why politics are so against gaming though, considering explicit violent movies are perfectly okay... Unless those are getting banned too in Australia too.

[Whiplash]

But who will protect us from the Queensland dentists if we get rid of Conroy?

[Wandering Hands]

Bogansland will just have to learn to fend for itself.

They can use cane toads.

[Sadistic]

What the damned hell? I should damned move out of the damned country.
Though I don't know if this'll effect me. :aldo:

That guy's a fcuking as$hole.

[Thunder]

Emigrate to Neo Zealand.

[Kitmitsu]

I knew most of that but I didn't know you were limited to games suitable for 15 year olds. Is this the same guy who attempted to ban porn? Anyway, revolt.

[bebestorm]

Wow thats some serious bullshit... I feel for you guys.

[Wandering Hands]

Is this the same guy who attempted to ban porn? Anyway, revolt.

His mandatory ISP-level filtering plan - which is what this is a part of - is meant to filter out "objectionable content". "Objectionable content" is essentially defined in this case as "content we don't want the kiddies to see before they turn 18, despite the fact that sex education is mandatory and they're going to see penises and vaginas and the birthing of a child anyway" and covers porn.

But why it's a bad idea and it's a good thing that they don't have enough votes in the Senate to pass it is an entirely different topic.

[epona_d]

This is quite aggravating, i was hoping that the rudd government would be more in touch than the howard government. But i suppose it could be worse; We could have had Howard in for this term....

Also pls don't flame me for my political opinion i really dont know enough and the workforce im in has very specific politics.

[Whiplash]

But why it's a bad idea and it's a good thing that they don't have enough votes in the Senate to pass it is an entirely different topic.

*coughcoughdoubledissolutioncoughHACK*

[Aurelia]

This is a dark time indeed! How can they deny you from porn and games suited for people over 15 years of age?! I say revolt! You're going to turn into China at this rate!

[Wandering Hands]

We already trade extensively with them. We want to be just like our commie pals.

Looks like Red Rooster had it right. It does, in fact, have to be red.

[Aurelia]

How come you don't want to be like Mother England? At least she pretends you're not fapping to porn and playing violent videogames.

[Wandering Hands]

Mother England has become too liberal. The Libs aren't in power any more, it's Labor. As in, laborious attempts to make us hate them much sooner than we ever hated Howard.





Incidentally, the Liberals aren't even liberal, they're right-wing conservatives. :aldo:

[Aurelia]

See what happens when Mother England lets you out of the basement to become an adult? You shack up with some psycho lover China, and change your ways just to be like him.

[Whiplash]

We're total power sluts. When England was the big boy in the world, we were on our knees desperate to pleasure it. Then the USA came out of its awkward puberty and we were all over it. Now China's coming to the party and we want their money inside us sooo baaaad.

[Aurelia]

Shameless whores, but I envy your ways of romancing China. USA sucks at it. Sometimes we're close to getting laid, but then we say what we really think of China and screw things up. Also China sucks at romancing us too, except their cheap labor... except their cheap labor is covered in lead.

[Dystopia]

Massive increase in network traffic for "Thepiratebay.org" due to, ahem, recent..."activities" in Australia

[epona_d]

We should try to get the Chasers to fix this problem now that they are back on the air, they even got a woman into the melbourne club lol.

[copelandmaster]

Don't worry, Mother England may be enjoying her retirement and wants nothing to do with the drug habits of her family, but Cousin America is in town on bail and might be able to hook u up wid dat shit.......for a price:shifty::halo:

[Cactus Girl]

This made me hum the theme song to Team America: World Police. lul

[meteor]

Back to ridin kangaroes shuyu?:wacky:
Maybe you can play games with them:awesome:

[S-r-ex]

GAC - "Gamers Against Conroy" (or whoever you believe is to blame)

Everybody bring tents, necessary food and equipment, a couple of generators for power, your gaming machines and your most violent games, meet up outside his office and stay there and game on until he has made an official apology and declared the introduction of an 18+ rating. Also, bring toy guns and shoot him metaphorically whenever he goes by to show how affected you have become by violent games.

Suggested gaming list
Doom
Halo
Fallout 3
GTA
God of War
Half-Life
Counter Strike
Leisure Suit Larry
(you get the idea)

[Daemon]

Conroy controls the internets, but its the chief lawyer-peoples, the Attorneys general who are responsible for the 18+ games business. The problem is only one of them doesn't want 18+, and they need 100% for a motion to pass.

There was an attempt at a rally outside parliament about this a while back, but it consisted of a retailer calling for people to dress up as video game characters and protest. 30 year old cosplayers were never going to be taken seriously by anyone though, and I think it fell through without actually happening.

[Whiplash]

^Evidence that common sense is not dead in Australia, except amongst our politicians.

[Kitmitsu]

AHAHAHA! They're banning Second Life. Destructioid put it perfectly:

Incredibly unnerving stuff, and truly a sad, sad way for a supposedly developed nation to behave. This is the kind of nonsense I'd expect from people who are yet to discover electricity. Australia, the rest of the world is disappointed in you.
Except Germany, who remains strangely impressed.

[meteor]

AHAHAHA! They're banning Second Life. Destructioid put it perfectly:

Yay !
Was about time that bitch got shut down somewhere.

[Azure Presul]

(Except Germany, who remains strangely impressed.)
Lol, that made my day.

[Whiplash]

Good to see the government challenging perceptions of Australia as a backwater.

[Garland]

Strike three, Rudd!
One: Gaming/ internet restrictions. No one wants restrictions except for a minority who are clearly inept tools who want the block on adult entertainment so they can hope to have a better chance of supressing their sexual tendencies.
Two: Ute-gate. What a way to avoid doing your job. And look, you even made it fancy by adding half the name of an American scandal! Now that's originality.
Three: "Fair shake of the sauce bottle, mate."
Shake on this you tosser! I can't show you what exactly "this" is since you've blocked it, but hopefully you catch my drift.
Those on top of Stephen Fielding going to America and joining the "Global Warming isn't happening" cult, er, "scientific debate", I think I should move after uni. I hear Uganda's really progressing.

[Whiplash]

To be fair, number two is actually an indication of our low journalism standards, seeing as it was the newspapers who came up with it. I'd replace it with taking "decisive action" on Aboriginal mortality rates while Gillard simultaneously tells us that patience will be required.

Actually, just give him out for overusing that phrase in general. It's almost as bad as "working families".

Or the debt. That works too.


Oh and if goes to an early election I'll never ever forgive him. Fucker trying to make me vote more frequently, serve your bloody term.

[Sabin]

After that stellar gameplay presentation at E3, we learned two things about God of War III: 1. it's gonna kick your teeth in with its gritty greatness, and 2. the extreme level of violence and controversial material is obvious.
This won't be a problem for the North American game market, but Australia has always been more strict about video game content, and this has SCEA worried. According to GamePolitics (http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/07/10/developers-fear-australian-ban-over-god-war-iii-violence) citing Digital Life, we are reminded that Australia doesn't have a R18+ rating for games; the highest rating available is MA15+. If the game is deemed unsuitable for anyone under the age of 15, it won't get rated and subsequently, won't be released to store shelves. GoWIII art director Sean Cunningham talks about the subject:

"There is (concern). We try to push the boundaries a little bit. (But) we’ve had meetings and discussions and internally we all have a good gauge on what’s 'too far'. You throw something past [content rating boards] and they might say 'Absolutely not! You could not do that!' and we’re all like: 'Aww, c’mon, that was a great idea!' There have been a couple of those...
Also visually, everyone’s really excited. The disembowelment of the centaur, ripping Helios’s head off, the reaction from the floor has been amazing. Everybody in the studio is very happy..."

Yeah, well, we're happy too but that doesn't mean it'll fly with the Aussie rating board. However, we're fairly certain that if the worst does happen, SCEA will simply edit the game and offer that version to gamers Down Under. It kinda sucks, but we'd find it surprising if they simply agreed to not release God of War III in Australia. It's just too big of a region to ignore.


If they change stuff just to get it released in Australia someone is going to die.

[Wandering Hands]

We changed Fallout 3, we can do it again. The Classification Board will make sure that Kratos prances around shooting rainbows out his eyes and enemies will bleed shiny stars. <3

[meteor]

And its called God Of The Rainbows .
Nice.

[Sabin]

Shut your dirty little whore mouths!

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rzJHDdHabLw/SZ1jvzCXJkI/AAAAAAAABus/Z832YgxnFXw/s400/crying+baby.jpg

[Donflamingo]

Well, that sucks donkey balls :ohmy: Glad I don't live in Australia. Where did all the good & cool assassins go to?! Where did they go, where DID they go?