Australian Road Safety Authority Criticizes Racing Game

Thanks to the Sydney Morning Herald for their story revealing Australian road safety authorities are trying to pull the plug on Project Gotham Racing 2 for Xbox, claiming the real-life Sydney course in the game is "undoing a lot of the effort authorities are putting into road safety." According to State Labor MP Paul Gibson, chairman of the Staysafe Committee: "This game sends the wrong message to young people. It is actually glorifying speed and power. It is clearly an inappropriate depiction of speed behavior. If I had my way I would ban it." A spokesman for Microsoft responded: "It is not about driving on the streets, it is purely a racing game. The streets are blocked from other traffic and there are no pedestrians. All we are doing is taking the geography of Sydney and turning it into a race track."

Comments

Glorifying speed and power

[wed128]

Please...speed and power have been glorified since cars were invented...did we forget the GTO's and Mustangs of the 60's? this game won't make kids irrisponsible drivers any more than doom makes them kill or Pacman makes them crave candy and run away from ghosts...

Re:Glorifying speed and power

[DLWormwood]

Please...speed and power have been glorified since cars were invented... this game won't make kids irrisponsible(sic) drivers...

Amen. The way the quote reads, it makes it sound like drag racing and Nascar-like events are illegal in Oz. While not as common now, "road course" events were a popular draw in the States and Europe for Indy/Formula One races. The roads are always closed off, and markings and signs are added to make it clear to both drivers and spectators that it is a racing event.

Did the Australian authorities act up when Crazy Taxi was released? That would have been a better target, though acting against the game's release would have still been a waste of time.

Pac-Man?

[Acidic_Diarrhea]

Wait till they see Pac-Man! It glorifies the culture of overeating! These damn Americans and their fatty games coming to Australia and perverting the minds of the young - there ought to be a law!

Hopefully, some right-minded person in Australia will take the reigns and end the tyranny of Pac-Man.

Re:Pac-Man?

[jordanda]

"It is ridiculous to claim that video games influence children. For instance, if PacMan affected kids born in the eighties, we should by now have a bunch of teenagers who run around in darkened rooms and eat pills while listening to monotonous electronic music." --Gene Spafford

Games vs. reality

[keithosu]

Maybe which should rename "video games" to "reality". It is really hard to tell the difference.

Seriously, games are an escape. It is a virtual environment to do things that you may not necessarilly be able to do in real life. I have never been able to do more than 110 MPH in a car in reality but it is fun to do in a video game because you don't die when you crash that high speed car.

I've also chosen not to join the mob, pickup hookers, kill people on the street and steal cars. Though, it is real fun in a video game since there are no consequences.

Maybe they should make games about sitting in front of a cumputer, in cubicle and being the low man on the totem pole. I'm sure that would sell quite a few games.

Re:Games vs. reality

[BadCable]

Having done over 110 in a RL car many many many times I am here to say : You're not missing much.

The whole point is ZERO RISK in a game. HUGE risk in RL. Taking a car over 110 in RL is NOT fun. It's THRILLING. Games are FUN. It can be somewhat thrilling, but worrying about getting the best time is not the same as worrying about cops, and managing to stay on the road.

Pre-Approved games by INSOC

[Dutchmaan]

Soothing be productive lights and pretty be happy colors... and the gentle sounds of the be complacent ocean..

There now.. isn't that better than be accepting those nasty old violent thought games...

You've achieved a productive happy accepting citizen rating.. a shiny gold star will be mailed to you shortly..

Milton Bradly and others maybe in trouble

[xenocide2]

If games encourage reckless behavior:

Risk - Its lifelike depiction of the globe and glorification of "world domination" may be a severe liability to Hasbro worldwide.

Monopoly - The day someone is inspired by the best strategies in this game will be the beginning of the end of mankind. Encouraging housing shortages, anticompetitive behavior and beauty contests are not desireable behaviors in our landlords.

Hungry Hungry Hippos- In today's world of fast food franchises being sued for causing obesity, any game encouraging eating all you can outside of a thirdworld country is asking for trouble.

Hi Ho Cherroy - Sure, most people think the most dangerous aspect of the game is children choking after actually eating the cherries. But they neglect the greater social consequence of stealing poor American farmer's fruits!

The game of life - Its encouragement of heterosexual marriages may be approved by the President, but that won't stop gay right's activists from petitioning stores to stop carrying it!