Legal Niches

NoR18Games Website Launched

By pete_gallagher

By way of a post on the Australian Conservative blog we are led to an Australian website that advocates against the addition of an R18+ videogame ratings category.

Blog author Andrew Hazelton is also the editor of the website in question: www.nor18games.com.au. The blog post notes that '…the last thing Australian needs is extremely violent and explicit games feeding into youth and adults minds.'

Once on the NoR18Games the website, the campaign against R18+ continues:

Although R18+ DVDs are already available, computer games involve the player in an interactive role where they become the character doing the killing, raping, beating or sexual activity.  An example of a currently banned game that would be allowed into Australia is a Japanese creation where the player is encouraged to gang rape and beat young women. Other games involve 'first person' playing where the player takes the role of torturing or mutilating people.

The R18+ Discussion Paper provides views from both sides of the R18+ debate, to which NoR18Games adds, 'once you start 'discussing' a topic you open up the way for the law to be changed!'

The NoR18Games website may also be affiliated with the Australian Christian Lobby, which has also come out against R18+. While great pains appear to have been taken to bury links with any organization, the 'Find Out More' section of the site contains link redirectors that go through the ACL website.

NoR18Games urges its visitors to submit their own responses to the Discussion Paper against adding the rating category, offers a slew of propaganda to download and also features a petition that willing subjects can use to gather signatures.

Thanks Ryan!

Full post as published by GamePolitics.com on February 16, 2010 (boomark / email).