R18+ for Games

There seems to be a lot of discussion surrounding whether or not Australia should have a R18+ rating for games. By discussion I mean all the gaming community (not including the likes that only play games like "The Sims") demanding that the Governments of Australia allow R18+ as a classification and the Governments of Australia saying "No".

Anyway, I decided to do a little spiel about it.

I personally would never play a game rated R18+. Not because I think they are evil and should be burnt in hell but because I just don't like to see that much violence. I do however think it is rather stupid having an R18+ rating for movies and not for games. I mean by the time that there are highly graphic images on the screen, what difference does it make who is in control of the "actor". 

Sure there has been "research" done that apparently prove that video games make people violent. Though any research done would need to account for the fact that the type of person who plays violent video games is also likely to watch violent movies. Which none of them do. 

Yes, a gamer who has recently played a video game and is full of adrenaline is more likely to do and say things that are a little rash, though the same is true for a sports people. We don't say a particular sport is evil because a brawl occurred between players mid game. We say the players let their emotions get the better of them and it is the players themselves who are fault not the game.

The only benefit of not having an R18+ rating for games is that is does give people the ability to play games with the violence toned down. Most games do allow you to remove blood but I am yet to see a game where you can actually decrease the level of violence to a desired level. 

If the R18+ rating was approved for games it would be nice to see the government also forcing game companies offer the same game at lower ratings along side its higher rating counterpart, obviously where appropriate.  (The same would also be nice for movies.) This would allow for people to choose how violent they want their games instead of the government choosing for them. It would also allow parents to "protect" their kid's, from high levels of violence, but still gives them the freedom to play the games they want to play.

It would be nice to see Government actually use some creativity when dealing with issues, instead of just taking an absolutist view on an issue

Cwize1

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