http://www.swiftless.com

So what is the problem? Well, Australia only has an MA15+ rating for games. Therefore, any game that doesn’t fit into this banner is refused classification and not allowed to be sold. However, the average age of Australian gamers is 30. In a fumbled attempt to protect the children, the adult majority get treated like immature social misfits. I have no problem with refusing to sell children games that are specifically made for adults. My problem is with treating adults like children.

What can we do about this? You contact the people responsible and give them a piece of your mind. The states’ Attorneys General are responsible for holding back an R18+ rating for games. SA Attorney General Michael Atkinson has been the most vocal in his opposition. I urge everyone to write to their respective MP and share your thoughts on the issue. Below is my letter to Atkinson.

Dear Mr Atkinson

My name is Michael  and I am a 24 year old PhD Candidate at the University of South Australia. I am writing to express my disgust at the current rating scheme for video games in Australia. As a country with a rich new media industry, I cannot believe we are falling behind the rest of the world with our lack of an R18+ rating for video games. Recent incidents, such as the censored release of Left 4 Dead 2 (news.com.au, 17/9/09), and the refused classification of Alien vs Predator (news.com.au, 7/12/09) has shown how out of touch Australia is.

The video games industry is no longer a niche market. The Entertainment Software Association states that in the US alone, video games are an 11.7 billion dollar industry. The video game Halo 3 recorded $170 million in sales on its first day, compared to $151 million for the film Spiderman 3 on its opening weekend (esa.com).

Furthermore, it is clear that the Australian public wants an R18+ rating for games. According to the Interactive Australia 2009 report (igea.net), the average gamer in Australia is 30 years old. Gaming is no longer an activity for children, and it is important for video games to be treated in the same way as all other mass media the Australian adult public has access to. The report also stated 91% of adults, both gamers and non‐gamers, believe Australia should have an R18+ rating for games.

Protecting the Children is a poor argument. 92% of Australian parents say they are aware of the games being played in their home. Purchasing games should not be considered any different to purchasing an R rated DVD. I agree that there are some games that children should not have access to. However, censorship is not the way to solve the problem. Children are not allowed to purchase alcohol, cigarettes, R rated movies, etc., retailers and parents can be responsible for enforcing the same restrictions for video games.

I look forward to hearing your opinion on this matter. The video games industry is large and growing, and games are an important recreational activity for many Australian adults. Australia can not afford to keep falling behind the rest of the world any more. Thank you for your time.

Yours faithfully

Michael

Now if everyone would do the same, Australia can catch up with the rest of the world.

Just a quick note to say I’ve updated my publications list to include ISMAR 2009 and ACE 2009. Below is a video for my ISMAR poster.

Enjoy!

http://www.20papercups.net/projects/web-development

Now you can see some of the work I’ve actually done. I hope to have 3D and PhD related work up soon.

Cheers, Michael

So this afternoon I was bored. Then I thought I would be somewhat productive and make some videos. I didn’t have anything prepared for making programming ones. However, I had a couple of people ask me about Git and why I thought it was so freaking great. So, today I offer you 3 new videos, giving a basic overview of the Git Source Code Management System. Here are the videos so far:

VTM01 – What is Git?
VTM02 – The Basics of Git
VTM03 – Pushing and Pulling

Thats all for now. If anyone has any thoughts on what topics should be covered, let me know. Git is huge, and I can’t cover all of the features in great detail. And remember kids, if all else fails:

man git

Cheers
Michael

Why oh why did I do this?

WELL… I’m coming to the conclusion that maybe, just maybe I have something to say and that maybe, at least 5 or 6 people may want to read what I have to say.This goes against what I’ve said about Blogs in the past. However, I’ve been reading Joel on Software lately which gave me the idea that perhaps blogs can be useful – as long as they aren’t just boring ramblings about some loser’s daily life. I figure nobody cares what I had for lunch today (toasted sandwiches by the way), but if I have something interesting to say then this website would be the ideal place.

Because of this it makes more sense that I migrate to something like WordPress; it gives you lots of stuff for free. Up until now my website was managed using a custom CMS I wrote for Loud Whisper Design. The CMS is written in a very modular way, making it easy to extend as we have to add functionality for new clients. It does a pretty good job of it actually. However, if I want to add a blog style thing into this website, I would have to write it because we haven’t had to do a full on blog before.

And this is where it comes down to using the right tool for the job. Yes, I could write a Blog plugin for the Loud Whisper CMS, but it would be a lot of work. A lot of work for something that wouldn’t even compare to what WordPress already does for Blogs. So, until I change my mind again I am using WordPress.

So hopefully the mess of hacks to WordPress to make it feel less like WordPress (I don’t really like the system most of the time) is worth it and I’ll write some things on this website that people may actually want to read.

By the way, I am in no way implying that my rants are as interesting as Joel’s from Joel on Software!

Cheers
Michael