AUS: AVP ban in public interest

Australia’s Attorney General has claimed the decision to ban Aliens Vs Predator from release was in the public interest”.

Michael Atkinson defended the Office of Film and Literature Classification’s refusal of classification, claiming only a minority of consumers is upset by this ruling.

Speaking to ABC News, he said: This is a question of a small number of very zealous gamers trying to impose their will on society. And I think harm society. It’s the public interest versus the small vested interest.”

The video showed gamers and industry representatives lamenting the lack of an R rating and criticising the current classification system for limiting what entertainment adults had access to.

It doesn’t seem democratic that a single Attorney General should be able to dictate what the vast Australian population can interact with,” said Ron Curry, CEO of Australia’s Interactive Games and Entertainment Association.

The government trusts us to be adults with films, but they only want us to be children with games.”

However, Atkinson did admit he understood gamers’ pleas, but maintained the ban against Aliens Vs Predator was for the greater good.

He said: I accept that 98 per cent, 99 per cent of gamers will tell the difference between fantasy and reality, but the one per cent to two per cent could go on to be motivated by these games to commit horrible acts of violence.”