A New Jersey lawmaker by the name of Linda Stender is proposing a ban on publicly playable video games rated Mature or Adults Only, citing “the correlation between violent video games and violent behavior.”

There’s just one small problem, as Kotaku points out: publicly playable games such as arcade machines and pinball machines don’t actually get rated by the ESRB, meaning that the games Stender is proposing to legislate, for the most part, don’t actually exist — outside of the occasional LAN party scenario.

The news follows reports from January that Massachusetts’ Department of Transportation was pulling light-gun games like Time Crisis from rest stops, following complaints by parents that they were inappropriate in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings last year.

“Children today are exposed to violent images more than ever. Violent video games can desensitize children to violence and give them a warped version of reality where violence and death have no consequences outside their TV screens,” said Stender in her press release. “This bill hopes to minimize this exposure, which if prolonged and coupled with other factors can have a devastating effect.”

Source: Kotaku

Although we are all about games here games.on.net we are also the gaming portal for an ISP (Australia’s best, naturally) and so we’re pretty interested in the state of broadband in the country.

Today, Opposition leader Tony Abbott and shadow communications minister Malcolm Turnbull revealed the Coalition’s broadband plan, which calls for the current rollout to be halted and to be restarted from the beginning using Fibre to the Node (FTTN) technology.

FTTN technology is of course different from the current Fibre to the Home technology which is being rolled out across Australia, as it involves setting up optic fibre to many new ‘nodes’ (comparable to telephone exchanges) around Australia which would then deliver the data from there to the home through the traditional copper network.

Tony Abbott is being quoted today as saying he is “absolutely confident that 25Mbps is going to be more than enough for the average household”. While I can’t speak for the average household, I’d certainly rather the 100Mbps download speeds that the current NBN plan is offering, thankyou very much Tony.

What are your thoughts on the matter?

Source: Liberal Party of Australia

Democratic US Senator Dianne Feinstein last week raised the possibility that the Senate could or should step in to legislate the amount of violence in gaming.

In San Francisco last Wednesday, Feinstein was discussing how to respond to the the Sandy Hook shooting with legislation, and claimed that games provide “a very negative role for young people, and the industry ought to take note of that.”

“If Sandy Hook doesn’t do it, if the knowledge of these video games this young man played doesn’t, then maybe we have to proceed, but that is in the future,” she continued.

In the same interview Feinstein also claimed that the NRA had attempted to intimidate politicians by threatening to sponsor their opponents heavily in future elections if they were to push for bans on assault weapons or high-capacity ammunition magazines.

Source: Associated Press via Games Industry

If you’d like to watch Apple, Microsoft and Adobe squirm before a committee on IT Pricing in Australia, then today is your lucky day! There just happens to be one going on right now, and it’ll be going right until 2:30 PM today.

Apple is on the stand as we speak, and currently answering (or rather, dodging) questions about how much tax they pay in Australia, and how it relates to their sales figures (which are apparently about 3% of global sales). Apple has come under fire recently for using voodoo magic to pay far, far less tax in Australia than it should.

You can click here to watch the live stream — scroll to the bottom and click on “House of Representatives Standing Committee, Infrastructure and Communications (Information technology pricing)” to launch the viewer.

If you’d prefer liveblogging coverage, Gizmodo is covering the event with their customary enthusiasm.

Source: Thanks, toasty88!

You’re sick of the Australia Tax, I’m sick of the Australia Tax, we’re all sick of the Australia Tax. Now, we’re finally going to get some answers!

Major tech players Apple, Microsoft and Adobe have been served with a summons (I refuse to even type the word ‘summonsed’) to appear before the committee handling the IT price inquiry on March 22 in Canberra. Having refused to appear before the inquiry committee on request, they now face legal ramifications if they don’t send representatives to explain themselves in front of Parliament.

Ed Husic, Australia’s most vocal opponent of the IT pricing discrepancy is pleased to hear the groups will be held accountable but says the government shouldn’t have needed to step in.

“These firms should have cooperated and been prepared to be more open and transparent about their pricing approaches,” he said. “Adobe, Apple and Microsoft are just a few firms that have continually defied the public’s call for answers and refused to appear before the IT Pricing Inquiry.”

“While television and computer prices fell 14 per cent according the to the latest Consumer Price Index Figures, there’s still a long way to go – with some estimates suggesting that Australian prices are up to 60 per cent higher than the US.”

“Given the widespread use of IT across businesses and the community, the prices paid for hardware and software can have a major commercial and economic impact. Getting downward movement on IT prices and easing the bite of price discrimination should be an important micro-economic priority – so I’m looking forward to hearing from these firms about their pricing approaches.”

Source: Kotaku AU

North Korea’s successful launch of a space-capable rocket recently and their threat to carry out further tests targeting the US has apparently inspired the creation of their new propaganda video — one which isn’t above taking footage from Modern Warfare 3 in order to show the United States under attack.

The video, spotted on Liveleak, shows a young man sleeping and dreaming of a glorious new age of North Korean space flight. The space shuttle circles the globe several times, zooming in on a joyous and newly re-united Korea, before flipping to images of New York City being blown up.

The scene in question is taken directly from a similar scene in Modern Warfare 3, and is superimposed over with text that allegedly reads “Somewhere in the United States, black clouds of smoke are billowing. It seems that the nest of wickedness is ablaze with the fire started by itself.” Take a look below.

Source: Liveleak via Kotaku

In the current debate around gun control in the United States, video games have somehow managed to be called up as the bad guy by a variety of people who perhaps like guns just a little too much, but political activist, author and failed Presidential candidate Ralph Nader has gone a step further and literally referred to video games as “electronic child molesters”.

Speaking at the annual Busboys and Poets Peace Ball, Nader used his speech to attack President Obama’s inauguration and then to launch a blistering tirade against violence in entertainment.

“We are in the peak of [violence in entertainment],” Nader claimed. “Television program violence? Unbelievable. Video game violence? Unprecedented. I’m not saying he (Obama) wants to censor this, I think he should sensitize people that they should protect their children family by family from these kinds of electronic child molesters.”

I was going to close out with something witty, but what can you say? Let’s just all sit here and look a little bit terrified. I know that’s what I’ll be doing.

Source: Gameranx

Yesterday, in the New York Times, our former Prime Minister John Howard brought gaming back into the gun control debate, arguing that America needs tougher gun laws…

“Certainly, shortcomings in treating mental illness and the harmful influence of violent video games and movies may have played a role.

“But nothing trumps easy access to a gun. It is easier to kill 10 people with a gun than with a knife.”

…but also “violent video games”. Really, Johnny could have easily made his otherwise decent point without raising the spectre of violent gaming. So here, we’ll compare the documented effects of three influences on violent crime—video games, gun control laws, and policing. Then we’ll ask “So why are games relevant to murder, anyway?”

Games reduce crime overall

First, games can lead to players becoming more aggressive. Some lab tests find that—for male gamers at least—violent games reduce the brain’s sensitivity to violence. Violence, arguably then, becomes a more acceptable response to everyday situations.

However, whether this gaming rage actually leads to more crime is not so clear. For most players, the increased aggression disappears quickly. For fully half the gaming population—females—games haven’t even been found to cause increased aggression. And for those gamers who might get truly unhinged from a game just enough to go beat someone up in real life, gaming keeps these people indoors. Although far from confirmed, this indoor diversion effect has been argued to lead to lower violent crimes overall.

As such, games don’t deserve the blame. Neither do movies, which have also been proposed to reduce crime due to locking people away indoors for hours at a time. Censoring or restricting media may just divert people with already-violent tendencies into actual crimes.

Gun control laws might reduce crime… eventually

On the other side of the debate is whether gun control laws reduce crime. As Howard noted, Australia has had a big reduction in gun-related crime since the bans enacted in the late 90s. Since 1996, there has not been a single mass-homicide involving guns, and the numbers of gun-related suicides and homicides have halved.

However, this is a distinctly Australian phenomenon. Many studies find that gun control in America does not work—that the laws have no correlation whatsoever with reduced crime rates. And this is one reason why video games get the blame—gun control is far from proven.

The problems are twofold. First, America is extremely diverse with a huge number of states, cities, and towns. If one state tries to control guns, and a neighbouring state does not, then guns just come in across the border.

Second, America already has tens of millions of guns in circulation. This leads to the quite real problem of gun control laws simply turning criminals to a ready black market.

While America’s most recent moves to control guns may bear fruit in the future, it will be a long, long time before an impact is felt. While this isn’t an excuse for lax gun control, it is worth bearing in mind when people say “gun control is not the answer”. Realistically, gun control might not have any appreciable short term effect.

However, there is a far better short-term solution than simply throwing our hands in the air, or commissioning yet another study into violent video games.

Better policing is proven to reduce gun crime

The biggest proven influence on what reduces gun crime is, unsurprisingly, policing. While gun bans do not necessarily work, policing that targets gun-crime does.

New York City saw a substantial reduction in its homicide rate in the 1990’s—a decrease of 73%. Of all the factors that could have possible contributed to this, the most significant was the increased arrest rate for murders. Between 1990 and 1999, New York City hired more police, and had a greater focus on making arrests for actual crimes, rather than the vague “War On Drugs”. NYC’s success in this regard is well documented.

This is supported by the experiences of other American cities which have seen police focus on actively reducing violent gun crime. Baltimore City is an example, which once had one of the highest violent crime rates in America. After a period of refocusing police efforts on reducing violent gun crime, making arrests for gun crime, and confiscating illegal guns from the black market, Baltimore has seen a substantial reduction in firearms injuries, homicides, and suicides.

Why are games relevant to gun control?

If we can believe the actual, documented results achieved by different crime-control measures, then:

1. Video games have no appreciable effect on crime, other than a possible small reduction gained from keeping people indoors.
2. Gun control laws have an effect on crime, but have significant challenges to implementation.
3. Policing has the greatest proven reduction on gun crime.

Why then, are games often mentioned in the same breath as gun control, yet policing is not?

The answer is that it is much easier to shift blame than do what works. Both gun control and better policing requires a substantial investment into police resources. Both will also threaten the underlying gun culture. This is a culture that sees putting on a gun in the morning as a normal thing—like pants—and a culture that sees easy access to guns as a God given right. Even shutting down the black market becomes problematic, since doing so would require some harsh measures to stop the trade of guns between private people.

Yet despite these challenges and culture shocks, if America really wants to reduce gun violence, they’re going to have to bite the bullet and do what’s been proven to work—long term gun control and better policing. Video games shouldn’t even be in the same conversation.

How would you deal with violent video games ruining your country? Tax ‘em, of course! Such is the bill proposed by Republican Diane Franklin of Camdenton, Missouri, who is arguing that all games which have “received a rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board of Teen, Mature, or Adult Only” be subject to a special violent games tax.

The proposed bill (PDF) imposes a 1% sales tax that will go towards “new and additional funding for treatment of mental health conditions associated with exposure to violent video games”. As PC Gamer points out, games such as The Sims 3, StarCraft 2, Tropico 4 and EVE Online would all be classed as ‘violent video games’ under this broad definition.

News outlet KSDK is reporting that similar legislation in Oklahoma and New Mexico has failed, so it’s likely that this one will receive the same treatment.

The future is now — Australia is finally set to receive its first R18+ rating, and the upcoming Wii U title Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge is set to be the first one to receive the sticker.

The game has already been released and classified as MA15+ in Australia, but this re-release includes additional content and fixes specifically for the Wii U as well as incorporating DLC released for other platforms.

A media release (PDF) from the Classification Board claims that “Under the Guidelines for the Classification of Computer Games, R 18+ computer games will have a high impact and it is for this reason that these games are not suitable for under 18s.”

“Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge contains violence that is high in impact because of its frequency, high definition graphics, and emphasis on blood effects.”

We’ve all heard the joke(?) about TV being a better parent than some of our actual parents. New research shows, however, that playing video games is an even better parent than TV! Well, specifically that gaming is better for them than watching TV. This story was featured on the ABC News and the clip is linked below, but I’ll give you the highlights anyway.

Research found that playing video games helped boost self-esteem and mental development as well as physical activity levels. The lady anchor seems kind of pissed at the prospect, but the research seems sound! The government currently recommends children spend no longer than an hour a day in front of a screen. According to Dr Daniel Johnson of the Queensland University of Technology though, the right child playing the right game could spend 3 or 4 hours playing and still be considered a healthy amount.

The ABC won’t let me embed their video, but check it out here for more details on this new research.

Source: ABC News

A small town in Connecticut is planning a collection drive to allow parents and families to return violent video games to a community group, where they will be snapped and incinerated.

The town of Southington, about 30 miles away from the site of the recent school shootings in Newtown, is holding the event which is being organised by SouthingtonSOS, a collection of community representatives from organisations such as the YMCA, the Chamber of Commerce, the fire department, local government and others.

The press release about the event explains that “The group’s action is not intended to be construed as statement declaring that violent video games were the cause of the shocking violence in Newtown on December 14th.”

“Rather, SouthingtonSOS is saying is that there is ample evidence that violent video games, along with violent media of all kinds, including TV and Movies portraying story after story showing a continuous stream of violence and killing, has contributed to increasing aggressiveness, fear, anxiety and is desensitizing our children to acts of violence including bullying. Social and political commentators, as well as elected officials including the president, are attributing violent crime to many factors including inadequate gun control laws, a culture of violence and a recreational culture of violence.”

Southington’s Video Game Return Program will kick off on January 12.

Source: Polygon (thanks, PalZer0)

January 1st marked the first day of the new, much-campaigned-for, long-awaited R18+ legislation for computer and video games in Australia. Under the new legislation, the Classification Board is now free to classify games up to an R18+ level, although it’s likely that we won’t see our first R18+ rated game for some months to come.

Queensland remains the only Australian state or territory yet to pass the R18+ legislation, although this is expected to be resolved shortly. This does mean that Queenslanders will be unable to purchase any R18+ rated games until this matter is concluded — although it is widely believed that no games will be rated R18+ and released before the legislation is passed.

Gamers hoping that already-classified games will be re-rated to R18+ are unfortunately in for disappointment: there’s a mandatory two-year period before a game can be re-classified. Games like Left 4 Dead 2 which were released in 2009 could potentially be re-rated, assuming that Valve were willing to stump up the costs.

The IGEA’s Ron Curry, speaking to Gamespot, expressed cautious optimism. “We are weary though of how the revised guidelines will be interpreted and if we are really getting an R18+ category, or just a movement of MA15+ into higher level of classification,” he said.

“Initially, we expect the Classification Board to be a little cautious in how they apply the new guidelines, so we may need to wait some time to see how the dust settles on this.”

Brace yourself for another fresh wave of blame-shifting: the NRA’s executive vice president Wayne LaPierre has used a press conference overnight to blame games, music and TV for corrupting the youth of America and inciting them to violence.

“There exists in this country a callous, corrupt, and corrupting shadow industry that sells, and sows, violence against its own people,” claimed LaPierre. “Through vicious, violent video games with names like Bulletstorm, Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat, and Splatterhouse. And here’s one: it’s called Kindergarten Killers. It’s been online for 10 years. How come my research department could find it and all of yours either couldn’t or didn’t want anyone to know you had found it?”

For those playing along at home who’ve never heard of Kindergarten Killers, that’s because it’s a crude Flash game made by an 18-year-old UK dude from ten years ago. And nobody ever played it, because… see above.

But LaPierre isn’t finished yet.

“Then there’s the blood-soaked slasher films like American Psycho and Natural Born Killers that are aired like propaganda loops on Splatterdays and every day, and a thousand music videos that portray life as a joke and murder as a way of life. And then they have the nerve to call it entertainment,” said LaPierre. “But is that what it really is? Isn’t fantasizing about killing people as a way to get your kicks really the filthiest form of pornography?”

LaPierre then referred to the media as “silent enablers” and “co-conspirators” who “demonise” lawful gun owners and “fill the national debate with misinformation and dishonest thinking”. TV, newspapers, and even sites like this one are “caught up in a race to the bottom” and in fact competing with other media outlets “shock, violate, and offend every standard of civilized society.” Mmm.

I don’t even really have words for this sort of thing anymore. When the man behind the National Rifle Association thinks it’s music and video games which encourage and enable shooting in schools, and that the solution is to put more guns in schools, there’s just nothing to say. Let’s all just go back to sleep.

Source: Gamespot AU (thanks, PalZer0

Senator Jay Rockefeller from West Virginia has proposed a bill to US Congress that would ask the National Academy of Sciences to examine the impact of violent games on children, in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings on December 14 that left 20 children and six adults dead.

“This week, we are all focused on protecting our children. At times like this, we need to take a comprehensive look at all the ways we can keep our kids safe,” claims the Senator on his site. “I have long expressed concern about the impact of the violent content our kids see and interact with every day.”

“Recent court decisions demonstrate that some people still do not get it. They believe that violent video games are no more dangerous to young minds than classic literature or Saturday morning cartoons,” he added. “Parents, pediatricians, and psychologists know better. These court decisions show we need to do more and explore ways Congress can lay additional groundwork on this issue. This report will be a critical resource in this process. I call on my colleagues to join to me in passing this important legislation quickly.”

“Major corporations, including the video game industry, make billions on marketing and selling violent content to children. They have a responsibility to protect our children. If they do not, you can count on the Congress to take a more aggressive role.”

Asking a national science body to review the findings probably won’t get the answer that the Senator is looking for, but we won’t know for a while — even presuming this bill passes. It’s disheartening to see the elder generation continue to look for scapegoats when there are so many other factors that more substantially contribute to the rates of violent crimes — like, for example, the fact that anybody can buy, own and carry automatic weapons.

Just sayin’.

Source: Gamespot

Did you see My Year Without Sex? No? C’mon, it was shown at the Adelaide Film Festival. Funded by Screen Australia?

No, of course you didn’t. It was a complete commercial flop.

On the other hand, you might have seen Saw. I didn’t—too squeamish. But it’s a successful film franchise that was denied Australian funding. So it was made in LA.

Last week, the Federal Government announced the launch of a 20 million grant fund for Australian game developers. The guidelines for who gets these grants will be written by Screen Australia. Fortunately, Screen Australia has recognised that it mightn’t know a lot about funding successful games, and so has reached out to the games industry for input. So today, let’s look at how these grants should be awarded.

Cultural relevance?

The games grants are meant to be part of the Government’s new National Culture Strategy. This raises some questions about how the grants will be awarded, because the film industry has been shackled to Australian ‘culture’ for decades. This is dictated by law—the Screen Australia Act says film funding is to:

“Ensure the development of a diverse range of Australian programs that deal with matters of national interest or importance to Australians, or that illustrate or interpret aspects of Australia or the life and activities of Australian people.”

Which explains My Year Without Sex. And also explains why most Australian films have a distinctly ‘Australian’ theme to them, instead of genres like science fiction or horror. It’s like the Government is funding war propaganda.

Is cultural relevance appropriate for games? Well, many successful games are about American soldiers saving the President, after all. I predict enthusiastic funding for games where you play Australian soldiers badass enough to save the Prime Minister.

Full disclosure?

Rhode Island is currently suing the pants off 38 Studios for the $75 million they allegedly scammed to try and make their failed Kingdoms of Amalur-themed, Copernicus MMO.

Closer to home, the Western Australian Government gave Chicago-based Interzone Studios $500,000 to develop their Interzone Futebol MMO. In a sordid tale that’s been documented well before, Interzone fled the country and ended up owing staggering amounts, to their employees in unpaid wages and to the Australian Taxation Office in unpaid tax.

Both these cases are similar in that the developers were allegedly hoping for new money to materialise out of thin air. The lawsuit against 38 Studios claims that the company knew it did not have the money to complete Copernicus, but lied and said they did anyway. Interzone somehow managed to dodge its financial obligations for years, waiting for… I don’t know. Maybe a lottery win.

It would be a shame if these cases made it harder for more honest developers to gain funding, as avoiding the problems is really quite easy. All developers need to do is give full disclosure about their proper financial position, and for the Government to investigate seriously before giving any grants.

Innovation?

The National Culture Strategy defines Australian culture as innovation. Simon Crean remarked that he’d like to see the fund be “rewarding of something that’s innovative, something that’s new, that sort of excellence criteria”. In other words, something like Fruit Ninja (which he also raved about).

Unfortunately, innovation is difficult. Games have huge up-front costs. By the time they hit market, thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars have already been spent. Unproven IPs have no real way to predict that they’ll recoup their costs, and publishers are wary of this, favouring established series instead. It’s why I’ve got to agree with Tobes—Mass Effect 4 will go ahead with the familiar Shepard (and hopefully Kelly).

This creates a problem for a fund based on innovation, as it might not match up to what publishers want. While it’s fantastic to promote innovation, the grants won’t build the industry if the games are commercial flops.

Not just games?

The best way to address this problem is to be truly innovative with what games are—go beyond entertainment to look at new markets. Currently, the Australian games industry is locked into phone games and contract work. We all know that AAA titles don’t get made here anymore, unless they’re licensed ports.

But the choice isn’t just between AAA titles and phone games. Earlier this month, a British psychologist proposed that games could help treat Alzheimer’s disease, by testing and exercising motor skills, attention, and memory. Currently, no games exist to do this, and yet the cost of treating Alzheimer’s in America alone is expected to hit a trillion dollars by 2050.

Another example is a game called Re-Mission. Made in 2005, it’s still being used to help young cancer patients understand the point of taking medication. It’s still being used because no competitors exist. The next indie hit won’t necessarily be another Minecraft, but rather a game that addresses real world issues.

When the games grants were announced, Melbourne talkback radio host Neil Mitchell described the grants as “Welfare for nerds”, and games in general as “go out and shoot people type games”. As Tony Reed, CEO of the Games Industry of Australia responded, we need to debunk that dated stereotype. The best way to do that will be for the Australian Interactive Games Fund to take the full range of gaming opportunities seriously.

Oh dear. I’m going to have trouble being the unbiased reporter on this one. As you all have no doubt heard, Arts Minister Simon Crean announced that the games industry in Australia would be getting a $20 million cash injection over the next 3 years, which is, of course, very exciting and welcome news.

Today, Mr. Crean sat down with 3AW’s Neil Mitchell to discuss the introduction of the fund, among other things. During  the interview Mitchell called the new fund “welfare for nerds” and referred to video games in general as “go out and shoot people type games”, proving his complete ignorance of the subject matter and somehow completely missing the economic and cultural impact the fund would have.

I’m trying to keep a level head here, but it really shows how society at large just does not get video games. Even as the “are video games art?” debate rages on — but whether yes or no, video games are not just some sort of kill simulators, and not just for ill-raised children.

Speaking with Kotaku yesterday, CEO of the Games Developers’ Association of Australia put it best when he said, “There are those perceptions,” said Tony Reed, “that games are toys — but we’re so much than that.” He went on to say that debunking these illusions is part of the industry’s responsibility, and that the dated perceptions of the mass media were a large part of the problem.

“Whenever games hit the news it’s bad news. So it was a long educational process about what games are, what their audience is and how they play — and certainly the commercial side of things, the economic benefit. It was really important to communicate that.”

Source: Kotaku AU

In a very welcome move this morning, Arts Minister Simon Crean today announced that $20 million of government funding would be injected into the Australian game development scene over the next three years. The money will be part of the creation of the new Australian Interactive Games Fund, which will deliver $5 million per year until 2013, where it will jump to $10 million in 2014–15.

“‘The gaming sector is in many ways the natural extension of film,” said Minister Crean. “On Tuesday I visited the Fox Studios set of The Wolverine in Sydney which as a franchise has been adapted on almost every gaming platform. The sector is a major employer and local start-up companies like Melbourne-based Voxel Agents have seen their Train Conductor series downloaded more than five mllion times. More established companies like Brisbane’s Halfbrick Studios had their game Fruit Ninja downloaded 300 million times.”

“Australians are significant consumers of interactive games spending some $1.5 billion last year in retail sales and with ninety two per cent of households owning a device for games.”

Source: Press Release

Only five years after it was promised and after five years of non-stop campaigning against it, the Australian Government has finally agreed that their proposed mandatory internet filter is, in fact, an awful idea and should be scrapped.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has a cunning alternative plan: ISP’s have now been issued with Interpol’s “Worst Of The Internet” database, and are required to block access to that. “We’ve reached agreement with all of the telco service providers that they will block the worst of the worst – the child abuse pornography material that’s available on the public internet,” said Senator Conroy to the ABC.

The list covers about 1,400 websites, but the ACL is claiming it doesn’t go far enough with managing director and well-known troll Jim Wallace claiming the government was breaking its election promise. “Having ISPs block only illegal child abuse material does not meet the government’s cyber safety election commitment to mandatory ISP filtering of ‘refused classification’ material,” he claimed. Meanwhile the Internet Industry Association has welcomed the plan, as has the Opposition and the Greens, both of whom had strongly opposed the filter proposal for its ineffective nature.

Source: ABC News (thanks, Luke, Tom)

Queensland has become the latest state to join the R18+ revolution, with legislation for the change to the game classification system now being tabled in Queensland Parliament last night.

“The introduction of the R18+ classification will give parents clear and unambiguous guidance about what material is unsuitable for their children, claimed Queensland Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie, “hence protecting them from being exposed to material that may harm them.”

“It will also give adult gamers the right to make informed choices about what they want to see and hear in a computer game.”

The Northern Territory was the only Australian government left without R18+ legislation on the table, but reports today indicate they have literally only just tabled their proposed legislation today. NSW and the ACT have already passed theirs, while WA, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania are currently in the process. Roll on, January 1!

Thankyou James for pointing out that I used the old Queensland government logo!

Source: Kotaku AU

Today is the day the long-awaited IT Pricing Inquiry handed down its findings to Parliament, and those findings were clear: we are being screwed.

IT companies are “reluctant” to discuss their pricing, “even after direct request”, reported Paul Neville, Deputy Chair on the Inquiry’s Committee.

“We’re not going to accept that and we expect a better level of commitment from the industry.”

The Committee has the power of subpoena to compel companies to explain themselves, and Neville expressed his belief that they would be exercising it in the near future. Describing artificially-inflated AU prices and geoblocking as “unacceptable”, Neville claims it was time to take a firm stand on pricing disparity. Hopefully we’ll see some results — or at least some spectacular court drama — sooner rather than later.

Source: Kotaku AU (thanks, PalZer0)

With the new R18+ rating coming in next year, a lot of people are asking if games previously refused classification will be reconsidered for this new rating. It seems the official word on that is, ‘No, not ever, not on your life, you violent teenagers, you.’

But that isn’t stopping NSW MP Greg Donnelly from suggesting that he will be reviewing other titles — at least 50, apparently — that have been on shelves for months, for reclassification to R18+ from MA15+. “Steps will be taken to look at what are colloquially referred to as the 50 video and computer games — at least 50 — that it is believed in one way or another have been shoe-horned into the MA 15+ category and should now be rated at the higher classification,” Donnelly has stated.

While the shoehorning of R-rated material into an MA rating was one of the main reasons behind the R18+ lobby, it does seem a little unfair that games that have been classified and on shelves for months can obtain a new classification, while adults across Australia who missed out on one game or another as it was refused classification, still miss out.

What do you think? Do you think this is a reasonable step to protect children? Or do you think games that are already classified should be stuck with the rating they were given? Or do you think it’s fine, but should go both ways, so games refused classification get a second chance? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: Kotaku Australia (Thanks, Palzer0)

According to the CEO of the Game Developers’ Association of Australia, Antony Reed, the Federal Government will soon begin offering financial incentives to game developers to develop their games in Australia. There aren’t a lot of details at this point, but it has been confirmed as definitely being A Thing.

This years budget is less than previous years, offering a total of AUD $500,000 across two programs, ‘Screen Development’ and ‘Screen Marketing’. We will keep you updated as we learn more about the incentive program.

Source: MCV Pacific

As a long-time, born-and-bred Western Australian, I think I’ve earned the right to be frustrated with this state’s backwards decisions on most things.

For example, while the rest of Australia is right now luxuriating in an extra hour of sunshine, Western Australia is freaking out about “tampering with the natural order of things” and muttering nasty things about young people these days. Case in point: Western Australia has now decided the proposed R18+ legislation is looking a bit dodgy, and that a committee should examine it for, I don’t know, moral indecency or whatever.

A call for public submissions to the committee is now open, with the committee chaired by a panel of two Liberal MP’s, a Greens MP and a Labor MP. The report is due by November 6, so if you — like me — think this is all a bit dumb, please send a polite but strongly worded letter to the committee via the contact methods on this page.

Source: Kotaku AU