Australia Needs An R18+ Rating For Video Games

Hello again everyone. At this moment in time I am not very happy. Why, you might ask? Well, it's all because Australia doesn't have an R18+ rating for video games. Almost every other country in the world which allows video games across their borders has an R18+ rating..... except Australia. So, what exactly does this mean? Well, this means that many great games such as Dark Sector, Grand Theft Auto 4 and possibly even Resident Evil 5 will be banned for release here or stripped down so severely that what we receive is only a partial version of the actual game. All members of parliament believe that we should have this rating for video games. All that is, but Michael Atkinson (S.A state attorney general), and the member of parliament for my local area. It is for this very reason that I am not very happy at all. I mean we truly do see worse real life events in movies and or on the evening news than the things we see or do in make-believe/ fantasy video games. I remember being so shocked at the footage of the Twin Towers terrorist attacks, the Cronulla race riots, hostage decapitations & shootings, etc. all shown on our local televisions during daytime hours! The real punchline to this is that R18+ hardcore, realistic, violent action movies are freely available at most local supermarkets and video stores for purchase without I.D. and even X rated pornography is currently being sold in the city of Adelaide, South Australia, even though it is supposed to be banned for sale in this state (perhaps you should focus on the real dangers to our society Mr. Atkinson). Has Mr. Michael Atkinson actually played any of these banned games such as Dark Sector, or is he suffering from the "I don't play action video games (thus I must be morally right) mentality?" Does he believe that most games contain ultra realistic violence that causes players to de-evolve into mass murderers or x-rated nudity that causes young men to become future rapists etc., for if this is a part of his argument to ban these products I feel he is badly mistaken. University research has shown in past that this line of thought re video games and it's impacts upon those whom enjoy playing them is inaccurate and unfounded. Have you ever seen a naked character in video game polygonal form, for most are extremely unrealistic and cartoonish and are never likely to be able to compete with an real life x-rated video star! Similarly the violence depicted in most modern computer video games is usually very unrealistic (Dark Sector I am looking at you) and is much more realistically depicted in action movies and on television. I feel that if he were to actually experience these games first hand (and in depth, not just for five minutes) he would likely find that most modern games produced (at great expence to the publishers by the way) contain much more depth than simple violence (i.e. good story lines, moral choices which in the main are for good vs evil play, strategy requiring deep thought, etc.). I believe that adults in a democratic and free society should be able to purchase adult content video games in a well controlled manner (i.e. from specialist game stores requiring age identification). I have included a poll on the right side of the screen so that you can have your say and vote as to whether you think Australia should have an R18+ rating for games, so if you would like to have your opinion or share the same views as I do then please go right ahead and vote.