Letter to Office of Film and Literature Australia regarding GTA3\'s banning

I have just written this letter to the OFLA regarding GTA3 and classifactions in general. What do you think?

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To whom it may concern,

Hello, I would just like to ask as to why there is no \'R18+\' rating for videogames? I have become more interested in playing videogames over the past year or so and this is mainly because many games (particularly for the Sony Playstation 2) have now offered a more \'adult\' range of videogames; ones that are more interesting and enjoyable to play then that of ones that are targeted at children.

In the wake of \'Take 2\'s\' Grand Theft Auto 3 for PS2\'s banning, I think its about time that a \'R18+\' classifaction is implimented. Australia is one of the only countries in the world where there is not an adult rating for a videogame.

If there are adult ratings for movies and CD\'s, then why isn\'t there one for videogames? Videogames are no more widely available to children to that of CD\'s, DVD\'s and Movies, so I can not see the problem in implementing an adult platform.

I am not referring to games that have a pornographic or ultra violent streak, I am simply referring to games that may not be suitable for a \'MA15+\' classifaction. I personally believe that it is not necessary to completely ban a game that does not fit the \'MA15+\' classifaction. I believe that there just needs to be another classifaction rating that may have more strict sales policy, such as the game not being available at toy stores etc that are frequented by minors, or it shouldnt be allowed to be displayed (running) where minors are present.

This is just a thought.

REGARDS

Just a suggestion.  If you haven\'t sent the letter yet you should probably do a little editing to make it look a little more professional.  That way they might actually take you seriously instead of just tossing your letter in the trash.  Good luck on getting your point across and hopefully they will modify the rating system in Australia in the near future.

Professional? I don\'t want it to look professional. I want it to look like something an everyday consumer would write.

That is why I have written it in a simplistic fashion, so that is looks as though it is simply an average earning consumer writing in complaining about classifacations.

OK then just disregard my suggestion.

Good for you.

I found out just a few years ago that most government offices or large corporations respond pretty much exclusively to letters just like that.  They ignore email, because it\'s too easy to send in the spur of the moment, and too easy to duplicate.  Trying to get someone important who cares on the phone is virtually impossible.  Ordinary letters, however, get real results, because they realize that they\'ve made a decision that ordinary people care enough about to take the time and effort to write them.

I hope they get enough of these to change the rules down there .

Originally posted by FatalXception
I hope they get enough of these to change the rules down there .

We are just as much \'down\' as you guys are \'up\'...

I knew you would say that .

Don\'t worry, you can call us Canadians the ones "all tucked in, way up there" anytime you want.

Is GTA3 completely unavailable now, in australia?  Can you get it past customs by importing?  Are stores selling the ones they had in stock?

fatalxception, nice pic
i ripped this name from the rhmb cause i couldnt think of a username for this forum heh
i saw gta3 at a bunch of stores around perth aus just the other day
to the letter writer, run it through a punctuation checker or something