Remember my article on John Rau outright saying his state in Australia is getting an R-18 rating for games? Well he’s down one major supporter in getting it across the southern nation. One of the open proponents of the R-18 rating, David Bartlett, has officially resigned from his position as Attorney-General for Tasmania.
Bartlett is one of the strongest supporters of an R-18 rating for videogames in Australia. He claims that for the past two or three weeks, he has questioned his passion and commitment required for his goals. This means that one of the strongest supporters of R-18 gaming is out of the picture and has very little political influence, if any.
Bartlett says that the R-18 rating would draw a broad line between entertainment for kids and entertainment for adults. A statement shared equally by John Rau. He also claimed it was about parents having the ability to make clear decisions in the games they buy for their children.
It’s a shame for them to lose someone who supports the R-18 rating. Allowing R-18 movies and such but not games is completely backwards and a huge double standard. Well, here’s hoping whoever takes over his job shows his own level of support for it.
I believe that regional censorship does nothing but drive down sales, make companies reconsider doing business in a region, and increase the rate of piracy for that specific game. I’m sure most of us would fire up a torrenting program if we wound up stuck with a heavily-censored game.
