+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted January 20, 2010 Subscriber² Share Posted January 20, 2010 South Australian Attorney General Michael Atkinson has said that despite the possibility of an 18+ rating becoming a reality thanks to a recent discussion paper, he does not plan on changing his stance on the matter anytime soon. At least, not until gamers start to "behave in a civil fashion". The discussion paper on the ratings matter will receive loads of positive response he says, only because it will be gamers weighing in on the contents, not the public. Apparently, he feels the omission of images from mature games doesn't level the playing field for his cause, as the public cannot see the filth these products are selling. "I don't think the discussion paper presents a fair and balanced view of the issue without pictures of the games that would be rated R18+," he told Gamespot (via GamePolitics). "I think the majority of the population are unfamiliar with these games and without images, they won't be able to imagine them in their mind's eye. "They'll have no idea how violent or sexually depraved they are, and what kind of torture, drug use, and blood spatter they include". Because this stance on mature games, according to Atkinson, he has received a number of death threats. "It's unlikely I'll change my stance anytime soon, considering the last death threat I received was pushed under my door at 2.00am, presumably by someone who doesn't like my stance on R18+," he revealed. "It was like something out of a Hollywood film?letters cut from magazine headlines arranged together on a page. "I receive abusive emails from anonymous senders on a daily basis. "I'll consider changing my mind about all this when the gaming community decide to behave in a civil fashion and apologize for the threats to me and my family. But I don't plan to back down from the fight. "I started my mission and I plan to finish it". However, not all Australian politicians agree with Atkinson's idea of censoring or the banning of content. Australia's Interactive Games and Entertainment Association CEO Ron Curry, for one, does not believe that it's the government's place to "dictate what the population can and cannot interact with". Source: http://www.vg247.com/2010/01/19/australia-...start-behaving/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spookie Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 "I'll consider changing my mind about all this when the gaming community decide to behave in a civil fashion and apologize for the threats to me and my family. But I don't plan to back down from the fight.""I started my mission and I plan to finish it" I can't be the only person imagining him donning a Master Chief suit and running in to the sunset? On topic: What a grade-A bellend. Still the people giving him threats are no better but I'm sure we've all seen the pond life on Gametrailers! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xerxes Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 Australia's Interactive Games and Entertainment Association CEO Ron Curry, for one, does not believe that it's the government's place to "dictate what the population can and cannot interact with".This guy has nailed it right there, if only Atkinson would understand. Atkinson seems to act like adding a R18+ for games affects him personally, I understand (and even respect) he doesn't like the games that would come under the R18+ banner but banning them for a whole country just because he personally don't them is very extreme and why not many in the goverment support his stance. Asking the gaming community to appologise and act nice, even with the lure of him backing down, will change nothing if anything the threats will get worse...he just doesn't get it I think. That is my 2 cents, take with a grain of salt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slammers Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 he had a heart attack earlier today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowl Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 he had a heart attack earlier today Serious? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LightIdea Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 It annoys me, but I just import. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Decryptor Veteran Posted January 20, 2010 Veteran Share Posted January 20, 2010 The thing is, he's just making it up. It's been civil since the beginning, but people are getting annoyed at him and doing stupid things because he refuses to listen to anybody on the matter. He has his mind made up and he's sticking with it, regardless of what the general public want or how they behave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Anarkii Subscriber² Posted January 21, 2010 Subscriber² Share Posted January 21, 2010 South Australian Attorney-General says he's not threatened by Gamers4Croydon in the upcoming state election; accuses gamer group of employing "dirty tricks". It's no secret that South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson is frequently challenged by gamers about his anti-R18+ rating for video games in Australia stance. But far from the angry letters and emails the Attorney-General is used to receiving, a group of gamers have decided to tackle him in a new arena: the political sphere. Michael Atkinson. Atkinson is now being challenged on his home turf by a new political party dedicated to seeing R18+ introduced. Gamers4Croydon, a 650-strong party set up by campaigner David Doe in September last year, is planning to run its own candidate against Atkinson in the seat of Croydon in the upcoming South Australian election. Atkinson has held the seat of Croydon for the past 20 years--it is the Labor Party's second safest electorate in the state. According to the mission statement on its website, Gamers4Croydon's driving reason for existence is to "exert pressure on the Attorney-General for South Australia, Michael Atkinson, as he is currently the only Attorney-General voting 'no' against the introduction of an R18+ classification rating for video games in Australia." Speaking to GameSpot AU this week, Atkinson--who has previously maintained that he is not the only Attorney-General opposing an R18+ for games--said he wasn't threatened by Gamers4Croydon's presence. "It's 60 days until the election and they [Gamers4Croydon] don't even have a candidate yet," Atkinson said. "Their website is full of memorabilia but not much else. This electorate has some 24,000 people to talk to and convince. Personally, I see no evidence of local support for their party." Support or not, Atkinson is already lobbing criticism at Gamers4Croydon. He believes the party is made up of gamers who will fail to act in a civil fashion. "I assume the Gamers4Croydon campaign will involve criminal activities and dirty tricks, which is what I've come to expect from gamers," he said. "Regardless, I think they will struggle to get even 1 percent of the votes, and their campaign will actually discredit the public campaign in support for R18+ rather than enhance its chances. They [Gamers4Croydon] might do better leading up to the election, but at this stage they?re not doing anything. What's more, David Doe has to stop taking pleasure in people abusing me." Atkinson said that the presence of a new challenging party has inspired him to begin his electioneering earlier. "Their [Gamers4Croydon] presence has good effect on me. I?ve been door-knocking hundreds of homes around Croydon and I find I'm doing everything more thoroughly and earlier than I normally would. But that's not to say I'm not treating this seriously; I?m out there working on the basis that this is a real contest," he said. Speaking to GameSpot AU in response to Atkinson's comments, Gamers4Croydon leader David Doe said the party has several candidates, but refused to reveal any other details at this stage. Doe said there is an undercurrent of anti-Atkinson sentiment in Croydon. "Yes, he?s been in this seat for 20 years," Doe said. "But from what I've seen so far, and the people I've talked to, there's a fair undercurrent of anti-Atkinson sentiment. The guy is hugely experienced and for this reason we can't get him out of parliament. Gamers4Croydon are going to try and run the best campaign we can and see what happens." But with less than two months to go until the election, Gamers4Croydon has only just registered as a political party. What's more, the party continues to remain tight-lipped about its upcoming campaign plans--its strategy to date has been to speak to people in the community and gauge their opinion on issues like R18+ for games. "We haven't spoken to everybody yet, but hopefully we?ll get the chance to speak to most people in Croydon. Right now we're focusing on letting people know there?s an election coming up. We?re definitely going to get busier," he said. "It's going to be a long and protracted battle. We can?t afford television or radio advertisements, so we'll stick to meeting people in the electorate and raising awareness on the issues. We?ll just keep asking questions and give people the opportunity to make their own choice." Doe labelled Atkinson's comments about Gamers4Croydon employing "dirty tricks" in its campaign as ridiculous. Doe is adamant that his party will have no trouble in securing more than 1 percent of the vote, and is confident that Gamers4Croydon will get a seat in parliament. To nab a seat in the lower house, the party will need 13,000 votes in the electorate of Croydon; for the upper house, it'll need at least one in 12 people in South Australia to vote for the party. "I'm confident this will happen," Doe said. "As for Atkinson, it's not surprising he'd say something like that. It's a completely ridiculous statement. This is a serious issue and we're running a serious campaign. We don't need to use dirty tricks. What's more, I know the party is picking up momentum because more and more people have heard about us when we approach them. The more I speak to people, the more people are aware of our aims." These aims are varied. Gamers4Croydon, despite its name, is not focused solely on the R18+ issue. In fact, its dozen or so policies revolve around things like starting a retro-fitting program to have rainwater tanks installed on all existing homes where practicable; introducing an Independent Commission Against Corruption; banning all political advertising with public funds; making it illegal for politicians to lie about matters of public importance; creating the world's largest solar electricity farm; and opposing mandatory internet filtering. According to Doe, these policies were not an afterthought to the R18+ issue. "The R18+ issue is catalyst, sure, but all the other things are policies we believe in deeply and we look forward to trying to enact them," he said. Sauce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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