Tag Archives: Game Developers’ Association of Australia

Reaction to Risen being refused classification in Australia has caused the president of the Game Developers Association of Australia to describe the rating system as “awful”, “ridiculous” and “antiquated”.

“We are once again caught in this awful, ridiculous web of the antiquated classification system that we all have to endure,” Tom Crago stated in a radio interview. “Here in Australia the sooner that changes, the better; it is obviously a battle to ensure common sense prevails. We will get there eventually, but in the meantime as gamers in Australia we suffer, and to be honest we are embarrassed at how backward our government is.

“We are the butt of a lot of jokes. I travel; obviously a lot, talking to other developers and publishers and people cannot believe it that we still have this ridiculous system here in Australia, designed twenty or thirty years ago, and hasn’t changed since.”

Crago added that an R rating added to the mix would help matters, as all games must adhere to the requirements for an age 15 rating, further stating that “the law needs to evolve and move with the times”.

“The way I look at it, ultimately the war is won, we will get there in the end, and it’s just a case of counting the days until common sense prevails.”

Thanks, GI.biz.

Writing for ABC News, Game Developers’ Association of Australia head Tom Crago has called for Australia’s “unjustified and draconian censorship” of videogames to be called into check.

“The focus of this debate should be upon how the Australian classification system can best give adults the information they need to chose video game content for themselves and their children, without burdening our country with unjustified and draconian censorship to the amusement and pity of the rest of the world,” he said.

“We can start with the immediate implementation of an R18+ games rating.”

Currently, the maximum age rating a game can receive in Australia is 15, meaning many games are censored for release in the country. Fallout 3 was the last high profile title to fall foul of Australia’s regulations.

“On one hand Australia is an oasis of game development, with a thriving, highly skilled industry generating hundreds of millions of dollars of valuable export revenue,” added Crago.

“On the other hand Australia’s lack of an R18+ classification means that some of the world’s most important video games are effectively banned from appearing down under at all.”

More through the link. Good read, that.