There is an online petition calling for the introduction of an R18+ rating for computer games in Queensland. The petition states simply:

Queensland residents draws to the attention of the House that the Classification of Computer Games and Images Act 1995 is currently out of step with the wishes of the electorate.

Your petitioners, therefore, request the House that it be amended to permit computer games to receive the R18+ classification when they have been refused classification under the Commonwealth Act.

This petition is available on the Queensland Parliament website, and is open to Queensland residents only. If you live in Queensland and support the introduction of an R18+ rating, you should make your voice heard.

It is unlikely that this petition will directly result in Queensland breaking from the rest of Australia to introduce an R18+ rating for games. It may, however, increase the pressure on Queensland's Attorney-General to speed up the release of the discussion paper, which appears to be stuck with the Commonwealth Minister for Home Affairs.

For a few weeks, 2K Games' new title, Borderlands, was available to Australians at the same price on Steam that it was available in the UK and US. The game has been pulled from the Australian Steam site for the last week. Kotaku is now reporting that the game will reappear at a much higher price.

2K Games' Borderlands (image from Kotaku)

This probably doesn't quite amount to resale price maintenance, which is the illegal practice of setting minimum prices so that retailers don't undercut each other. It's probable that the relationship between Steam and 2K is complicated enough that this isn't technically an example of game prices being hiked up in order to lessen competition and protect Australian retailers, who have become used to selling games at a much higher price than their counterparts elsewhere in the world. Nevertheless, it is the sort of behaviour that's likely to annoy consumers, and quite rightly.

The huge markup for electronic distribution seems to be a trend - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, for example, is available from Steam for Australian residents at USD$89.99, and US residents for USD$59.99.

This is, of course, no big surprise for Australians. We have become quite used to paying more for books, music, and movies. What's particularly upsetting is that there is no way that retailers can justify the price increase for digital distribution by blaming the size and remoteness of the Australian market - the bits no longer have to be shipped here by boat.

When Trent Reznor realised that the price of his CDs in Australia were, in his words, 'ridiculous', his advice to his fans was to "Steal and steal and steal some more and give it to all your friends and keep on stealin’", because that was the best way that publishers would "get it through their head that they’re ripping people off and that’s not right."

We don't condone copyright infringement here, but there is growing unease amongst Australian gamers about the unfairness of a system that seems to discriminate against them - even when, as now, the Australian dollar is doing extremely well against the US Dollar. Perhaps if the industry cares about how fans view publishers, it will do something to address these concerns.

For now, we suggest that you purchase your games from overseas retailers, or get a friend with access to an international Steam store to gift it to you at their lower prices.

A new six page form-letter from the South Australian Attorney-General, Michael Atkinson, on the topic of the lack of an R18+ rating for games has begun circulating. An EFA member has sent us the response he received; it seems almost identical to the ones available at both Kotaku and Reddit. [ ed: see also discussion at ausgamers. ]

The letter reiterate that this is not going to be an easy fight to win. For Atkinson, the lack of an R18+ rating is clearly something that helps keep violent media away from children, and he sees no real harm in not making the same material available to adults. This letter shows both his conviction and his arrogance on the issue. He ends by stating that his constituents "are more concerned with real-life issues than home entertainment in imaginary worlds" and notes that he is "grateful for the support [he has] had [...] from the Liberal Party".

I want to put together a response to the discussion paper that analyses and addresses all of the points that Atkinson makes, as well as systematically covering the research in the field. If you are able to help, please contact me, join our R18+ games discussion list, or take a look at our (quite bare at the moment) wiki space.

[ edit: you can get the PDF of an identical letter from the reddit post ]

Steve Farrelly over at Ausgamers attempts to unravel the apparent inconsistency in two recent decisions of the Classification Board in rating computer games: refusing classification to Left 4 Dead 2, but granting Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 an MA15+ rating, where in most other jurisdictions it was rated as suitable for adults only.

Farrelly argues that:

the system itself is flawed, because in [the Classification Board's] arguments against classifying Left 4 Dead 2 they cite many things that you are currently able to do in other games, specifically Dead Rising, which encourages the use of creative melee weapons to dismember and kill the undead. The Samurai sword, as the best example, offering equal amounts of locational damage also showing off zombie insides; a game quite easily marked with an MA 15+ upon submission. And that is but one example.

The problem here then is there's no such thing as precedent. In the Board's eyes, despite releasing both Left 4 Dead and Dead Rising as MA 15+ games (among many, many others), they hold no ground to how they should treat Left 4 Dead 2, which is why it's entirely fine to walk into an airport in Modern Warfare 2, kill innocent people and watch piles of bodies build up on the floor around you, but it's not okay to smack a zombie in the face with a frying pan.

This is an interesting point - it certainly seems as though there is great difficulty in the potential for inconsistency in the Classification Board's case-by-case approach. The Board does have guidelines which it follows quite closely, but when cases like this seem to lead to inconsistent results, it lessens confidence in the system.

If you have some comments, head on over to the Ausgamers weekend discussion and add your voice.

New political party, Gamers 4 Croydon, have created a one-click tool to email your Attorney-General and request the release of the R18+ Discussion Paper.

The next meeting of the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General is apparently Thursday and Friday this week; if you care about an R18+ rating, send an email to your A-G now!