The adult Aussie gaming population has a bit of a running battle with the OFLC and a certain politician in regards to the lack of an R18+ rating in Australia. We’re getting fed up with seeing titles like Fallout 3 rejected (although eventually amended and accepted), games like Silent Hill: Homecoming shunned, and generally being lumped into the category of a ‘sensitive gaming market’ alongside countries like Germany and Japan.
Kotaku are reporting the news that the Interactive Australia 2009 report – a study concerned with the part that gaming plays in Australian culture – has been released and it contains some fascinating figures. Among the interesting findings are; the average age of gamers is 30, 88% of households own some sort of non-mobile phone game device and 54% of gamers are male, with 46% being female. In relation to the coveted R18+ rating; 63% aren’t aware that we don’t have an R18+ rating for games, but 91% are in favour of receiving this classification.
The report was compiled from the findings of an online study aimed at national random selection of 1,614 Australians who had to complete over 75 questions and 300 data points. Although the study isn’t massive (we think that the R18+ question should have been included in the last census), hopefully it’s enough to catch the attention of Michael Atkinson and refuel the ratings debate.
Below is a trailer of what we’re missing on the Silent Hill: Homecoming front.
