Government finally asking if gamers want an R rating

[yoshi594]

Thread necromancy!!

So... gamers finally got their R rating - thank you common sense , but now, we have major retailers like Target pulling GTA5 off the shelves because it is not 'suitable' for their store. What lead to this... an online petition authored by former sex workers. Yes, that's right, moral standards are now being dictated to us by a group of prostitutes! WTF???!

A couple of days ago we had a report by the Greens encouraging parents to buy gender neutral toys because apparently buying Transformers for your son and Barbies for your daughter will lay the seeds for domestic violence later on in life. What has this world come to

the world? isn't it just idiotic australia? target and kmart have now removed gta 5...guess that's two stores i won't be buying from! (unless they have exclusive transformers of course!)

[Gutsman Heavy]

Absolutely stupid, and a dangerous slippery slope.

[UltraMarginal]

I don't know if it's that out of character for stores like K-mart and Target, I don't frequent either store for much more than toys but I don't recall ever seeing an R rated movie on their shelves.

unfortunately while an R rating does provide some clarity and potential protection for people considered too young to be exposed to certain material, that same rating does come with a certain stigma.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Just like tv and movies, department stores have a target audience (or target buyers in this case). And for Target and Big W and Kmart and David Jones and Myer ( sorry for all the 'ands') the target is mothers. I'm not surprised. But I can always buy from better places. Brick and mortar stores are losing the battle with online retail and if they have to institute these kinds of policies, so be it.
And i'm rambling.

I don't know if it's that out of character for stores like K-mart and Target, I don't frequent either store for much more than toys but I don't recall ever seeing an R rated movie on their shelves.

unfortunately while an R rating does provide some clarity and potential protection for people considered too young to be exposed to certain material, that same rating does come with a certain stigma.

R18 games should have a stigma to them. They're not designed for kids. they are for adults. The stigma should be, this game has themes and situations that adults only should have access to.

This just goes to show how Target isn't even following guidelines for the display of games. I saw scan of their catalogue stating great toys for kids or something, with a picture of Peppa Pig and barbie on one side, and GTAV on the same page. Now as far as I am aware, according to the regulations set by the classification board, R18 rated games were only to be displayed out of reach of children, away from other games. Now this may be away from the other games, but whoever put that game in that part of the catalogue should be fired.

Sure Target can choose what they sell, but an online peition (with probably more O/S signiatures than Aus) shouldn't induce this. Now, if it were a petition against violence towards women, that would hold more water, but this affects one game. Just one game. It's pointless.

This also goes to show how stupid retailers and many adults are who assume that games are for kids and it would seem that many ignore the rating.

After the rating was introduced, they should have embarked on an advertising campaign educating the public about WHY we now have an R18 rating for games.

this sirt of thing just really annoys me, as it completely undermines the R18 system as it is. personally I'd like an overhaul of the whole system as the MA15+ rating is complete BS!

Rant over. Gald I'm not in Australia at the moment!

[Defcon]

Thread necromancy!!

So... gamers finally got their R rating - thank you common sense , but now, we have major retailers like Target pulling GTA5 off the shelves because it is not 'suitable' for their store. What lead to this... an online petition authored by former sex workers. Yes, that's right, moral standards are now being dictated to us by a group of prostitutes! WTF???!

A couple of days ago we had a report by the Greens encouraging parents to buy gender neutral toys because apparently buying Transformers for your son and Barbies for your daughter will lay the seeds for domestic violence later on in life. What has this world come to

Unbelievable! GTA 5 taken off the shelves. Seriously that game series is always targeted. (see what I did there) I might have to look into this piece of news. Could happen to other games, but not many. I would see it only as a problem if the game was banned from sale everywhere. I never buy games from department stores, unless its a bargain or impulse buy. But even then I just don't. Because once I had a bad experience, a disc was missing from a game and I had a very hard time getting some sort of resolution from the retailer. So never again!

I did see a news story about how gender neutral toys are better, and the seeds and domestic violence. I think it is massively over-reaching to say that.

But not to disregard the topic entirely. I think the way the toys are divided by gender is seriously in need of an overhaul, they just need to change the marketing and the packaging. They should ban pink! , just label everything action figure
easy problem solved! customers may be upset at the political correctness gone mad again, but I think we will adjust and eventually not care. I'm ok with a few simple changes to remove some of the gender specifics. But going beyond that is unreasonable. The problem is once you remove the gender signs, the next step would be the products will change also. As a negative some traditional products for boys and girls may become much more limited and generic.

[MayzaPrime]

As Kmart and Target are massive companies and can sell or not sell whatever they want...

What I find funny is a bunch of misinformed people thinking that they have made a difference when actually GTA V has been out for over a year and Target and Kmart have been selling it for the entire time...

I also find it funny that parents still buy this game for their kids... What kind of moron would buy a R rated game for an 8 year old. Parents need to take some responsibility for what their children watch, ignorance is not an excuse.

[fatbot]

https://www.change.org/p/target-to-c...share_petition

C'mon guys, together we can stop department stores from promoting violence through their names & logos!

[Defcon]

I also find it funny that a bunch of people can be celebrating they have successfully got a product banned, as if it made a difference right? it seems silly because maybe they have, because they could do this again to another game quite easily. The image of a murdered woman from a game, is confronting to someone who does not play games, or who especially always considers games to be toys for children. They see that image, they get the worst impression of the game, they don't care about anything else. It is pointless to try and inform them, because they have already made up their minds. Its bias. Its useless to say what about all the murdered men? Nobody cares as much, but they should if they care about the other.

If in the game, women were completely removed or excluded from the violence, it wouldn't make a difference. Because the argument been made that these types of games are grooming men to commit violent acts, commit acts of domestic violence, and murder and mayhem. Because violence doesn't discriminate. What about if a woman plays this game is she not been groomed to be violent as well? or does it only work on men. I am sick of my gender been demonized, demeaned as if we don't have free wills.

[Trent]

Damn hippies and womenists!