Tag Archives: ron curry

Game sales hit a record $2.05 billion in Australia last year, up 4 percent compared to 2008.

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During an interview with an ABC news outlet in Australia, Attorney General Michael Atkinson stated that an adult videogame rating for the country is only wanted by “very zealous gamers” trying to “impose their will” on society.

His comment was in response to the recent rating given to Aliens vs. Predator – a game that Rebellion refuses to edit just to appease censors.

“This is a question of a small number of very zealous gamers trying to impose their will on society, and I think harm society,” he told ABC. “It’s the public interest versus the small vested interest. I accept that 98%, 99% of gamers will tell the difference between fantasy and reality, but the 1% to 2% could go on to be motivated by these games to commit horrible acts of violence.

“You don’t need to be playing a game in which you impale, decapitate and dismember people.”

Yes. Yes we do, Michael.

In response, Australia’s Interactive Games and Entertainment Association CEO Ron Curry countered Atkinson’s remarks, stating that the man has no right to dictate what the population can and cannot interact with.

“It doesn’t seem democratic that a single attorney general should be able to dictate what the vast Australian population can interact with,” he remarked. “The government trusts us to be adults with films, but they only want us to be children with games.”

More through GamePolitcis.

In the wake of yet another refused classification in Australia, this time for Silent Hill: Homecoming, Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia head Ron Curry has said that the country’s lack of an 18 rating system “makes no sense” and complained that such restrictions would never be applied to other media.

“With the average age of gamers being 28,” he said in an interview with Aussie-Nintendo, “it makes no sense to censor games to a point where they are only appropriate for a 15 year old. Such censorship would not be acceptable on television, at the cinema or in print, so why apply it unfairly to another entertainment medium?”

And before you give a baffled “no shit, Ron,” and wonder why on earth Australia insists on being the laughing stock of the games ratings world, bear in mind he’s up against people like the Australian Industry Group’s Heather Ridout.

“Grand Theft Auto was one of the more famous games and seemed to turn everyone into a car thief,” Ridout said. “Violent games… violence, it breeds violence.”

Like, seriously.

More through the link. Thanks, GoNintendo.