Australian Christian Lobby argues against R18+ rating
We've been following this story for quite some time now. Australia is currently debating a new R18+ rating, which would allow more mature games to be released in the country uncensored. The established maximum rating of MA 15+ has been a pain for both the gamers and those producing the games. Now there's a paper that citizens can weigh in on and retailer EB Games is the latest to support the new, more mature classification. Caught up? Good.
In addition to the roadblock of the Australian Attorney General, it would seem the R18+ rating now has another hurdle to overcome: The Australian Christian Lobby and its head, Jim Wallace. In an interview with GameSpot, Wallace equates violent video games to his time spent in the SAS, comparing soldiers' use of simulation exercises and routines as a way to break their "natural reluctance" to kill an enemy. By making these games more lifelike, he thinks the average citizen will be less hesitant to perform these violent acts outside the confines of their television screens and computer monitors, something he says isn't "in the individual's interest, and it's not in the community's interest."
Wallace also had some choice words for the ongoing public feedback phase of the proposed R18+ rating. He says "the only people who are going to be into this are the games people" -- y'know, the people affected by all of this.
[Via Game Politics]
