State cracks down on digital gore
South Australia’s Attorney-General does not believe video game restrictions are being applied strongly enough, and that delicate minds are being exposed to violent and sexual content.
John Rau has said he will write to the Federal Government and seek an inquiry into the classification board, after he noticed very little impact from the state’s introduction of R18+ and tightening of MA15+ rules for video games.
South Australian Attorney-General Mr Rau believes the new laws have not been rigorously applied, citing more than a dozen video games this year which have an MA15+ rating in Australia but higher age classifications in Europe and the United States.
“These particular games have been assessed as having intense violence, blood and gore, nudity and suggestive themes,” Mr Rau said.
Some of the games highlighted certainly make their intentions known in the title, suggesting parents should consider for themselves what might be contained in a game called ‘Killer is Dead’, ‘Alien Rage’, ‘God Mode’ or ‘The Walking Dead’.
“It is concerning to me, particularly as a parent, when I see that 13 games have been released in Australia as MA15+ whilst exactly the same game attracts up to an R18+ classification overseas,” said the Attorney-General.
Mr Rau is satisfied with the R18+ rating given to ‘Grand Theft Auto 5’, which will see its Australian release this week.