14 DAY TRIAL // Left 4 Dead 2 might not have gotten away with its blood and violence in Australia, but Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 managed to prove that it was short enough to ride the kiddy train. The game successfully earned an MA15+ rating from the Australian Rating Board, known to be one of the strictest in the world. But that is seen as a grave injustice by the South Australian Attorney General Michael Atkinson, who sees the title as a blight on its native soil and will not allow it to corrupt the minds and souls of those he swore to protect. That, or it's just that he suffers from Hemophobia, which would explain why he is so against most video games.
If his appeal to the board's decision is successful, the game will be immediately banned from sales. In Australia, there is no rating available for titles beyond that of MA15+ and Atkinson is the very one that stopped a higher rating from being formed. His official statements are slightly confusing, as long as you take reality as "ground zero" and use it as a prototype for any comparisons. Atkinson said that, "This decision doesn’t surprise me. The Classification Board in Australia does everything to try and get games in under the radar," which sounds pretty weird, considering the long list of games that have been completely banned by the Australian Board.
He further added that, "I worry about any game that encourages gamers to perpetuate extreme violence and cruelty on screen, but this game allows players to be virtual terrorists and gain points by massacring civilians. Expecting game designers to be responsible by not glorifying terrorism will always lead to disappointment." GameSpot was just as confused by his statement and asked for some clarifications, but none were made. The game does not award any kind of "points" for the airport massacre scene. If anything, the title asks not once, but twice, if you're sure you want to play this part. And we are. Of course, we are.
Atkinson has shown a great amount of disbelief in the conduct of the board, and even with the large number of games that have yet to set foot on Aussie soil because of the issued bans, the Attorney General considers that the board is not doing its job as it should. "Just because the system is not being applied properly, it doesn’t mean the principles of the system are wrong … I have no trust in the Classification Board to apply the guidelines sincerely and correctly," he said. So far, the Australian Board was content to state through a spokesperson just that, "The Board has no comment on Mr. Atkinson's statements." Just as we are, the members of the board must be shocked to hear that they're not strict enough.