An International Perspective on Gaming
This week is a big week for my fall Rhetoric of Gaming course here at Stanford. Not only are my students preparing to share their research topics on this international blog, but they are also eagerly anticipating their video conference Tuesday night with students from the University of Sydney, Australia. My class drew the late-night video conference, so we will be connecting at 10pm Stanford time for an hour-long activity with our global partners.
It's funny that just as we prepare to chat with Australia, Australia is in the news specifically for their gaming rating restrictions. As one blogger reports, it is looks as if Australia will be lifting its ban on the violent video game "Left 4 Dead 2" -- after the game has been revamped and censored specifically for Aussie audiences.
The controversy over violent video games has been brewing for years in Australia; one Australian news correspondent succinctly summed up the situation in summer 2008 when he pointed out,
[W]hen it comes to video games, we have one of the toughest regimes in the world in terms of dictating exactly what is available to our adult population. On one hand Australia is an oasis of game development, with a thriving, highly skilled industry generating hundreds of millions of dollars of valuable export revenue. On the other hand Australia's lack of an R18+ classification means that some of the world's most important video games are effectively banned from appearing down under at all.
Australia is not alone in their harsh critique of violence in gaming. Just last week, Venezuela announced plans to ban violent video games and toys.
Here in the U.S., we see controversy over violent content in gaming being played out on a small scale in Gamestops as parents fight with their kids over whether they should purchase M-rated video games (many of which boast the best graphics available) and on a larger scale in the media and the news. It's interesting to consider how this issue transcends American borders and in fact is part of a larger global conversation about if and how to regulate the violent content that is being programmed into gameplay everyday.
We would love to read more insights about this controversy both in the US and abroad.