A hearing to decide the fate of the PS3 modchip, the X3JailBreak, that was scheduled to take place on August 31 in Australia has been delayed, according to a Kotaku report. Apparently the presiding judge, Justice Kenny, wasn't able to make the hearing. The court has pushed the hearing to Friday, Sept. 3.

An Australian Federal court injunction was put in place to keep the USB device off the market as the court gets ready to hears Sony's arguments. The injunction is extended until the Sept. 3 hearing.

According to the X3Jailbreak website, the device is a "USB plug and play solution that installs in seconds, keeping your valid warranty seal in tact," and is "Compatible with all production models FAT and SLIM. The device also “supports all regions: USA, JAP, PAL and KOREA." It also supports "all games" and supports homebrew applications. Read More

When it comes to plans for the country's National Broadband Network (NBN), Australian voters are in quite a pickle as the federal elections kick off tomorrow, August 21.

A column in the Age outlines a few of the choices of Australian voters and they are head scratchers: vote for the Labor party and their proposed “$43 billion national fibre rollout, designed to offer at least 100 Mbps to at least 90 percent of Australian homes,” or opt for the Liberals and their $6 billion plan to offer at least 12Mbps service to 90 percent of AU residences.

Sure the Labor version sounds good, but keep in mind that the man behind a proposed (though delayed) mandatory Internet filter in the country is Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, a Labor party member.
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Times are tough Down Under too, as it seems that one of the larger Australian game developers has closed an office and downsized personnel at two additional locations.

GamePron reports on the shakeup at Krome Studios, which appears to have closed down its Adelaide office altogether, while laying off staff from both its Melbourne and Brisbane studios. The site notes that the Adeliade office was initially opened in order to try and give some jobs to employees of developer Ratbag, which shuttered in 2005, just months after being acquired by Midway Games and undergoing a rebranding as Midway Games – Australia.

At its peak, Krome was one of the largest independent videogame studios in the world and has produced some 19 titles covering 40 SKUs. It’s best known for its creation and development of the Ty the Tasmanian Tiger series.


Thanks Ryan!

A longstanding loophole that has allowed mobile application developers to avoid submitting their wares for classification in Australia has been vowed to be sealed up by the country’s Labor Party.

The Australian reports that the issue is on the agenda of the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General meeting, which was postponed three weeks ago due to the looming state elections (that take place on August 21).

Labor’s Brendan O’Connor, and Minister of Home Affairs, said that he was, “… concerned about the classification of games playable on mobile telephones and had put the wheels in motion to address this with his state and territory counterparts.”

Meanwhile, a Sydney Morning Herald story notes that such submissions could cost developers between $470 and $2040 per entry, which didn’t sit well with some creators.
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Tony Abbott, the leader of the Australian Liberal Party, says he would be happy to take a closer look at the 18+ age ratings for videogames in the country - should his party be elected to the government. Abbot made the comment at a public forum in Sydney, where he was asked about his views on the absence of an R18 rating for video games and what his policy was on it.

"If what happens with videogames is not roughly analogous to what happens in other areas, that seems silly," Abbot said in his response. "Instinctively I'm with you, and it's something I'd be happy to look at, if we are in Government", he added. "If you think there is a problem, I would be happy to look at it." However, Abbott was blissfully unaware that there had been a debate on the issue.

The Standing Committee of Attorneys-General is to take up the issue in November, following a submission from Australia's Interactive Games & Entertainment Association and an in-store petition led by retailer EB Games. We'll see if this bears any fruit. Read More

In advance of the August 21 Australian federal elections, GameSpot Australia has put together an election primer for gamers.

The article provides information on where candidates and political parties stand on issues like adding an R18+ videogame rating category, implementing a mandatory Internet filter, boosting broadband speeds and generating more governmental support for videogame makers.

Responses below from political party members on the subject of R18+:

Brendan O’Connor (Labor) Minister for Home Affairs:

This is a matter for classification ministers and an agreement must be reached that satisfies all states and territory governments before changes can be made to that nation's classification system. The strength of arguments on both sides must be considered. What is needed is the right decision, not a rushed decision Read More

A motion to support the introduction of an R18+ rating for videogames was put forth at a recent Western Australia meeting of the Liberal party, but the motion was rejected.

AU site R18Games carries word that the motion was defeated by a vote of 74 to 67. The motion was introduced by the Western Australian Union of Liberal Students during a conference attended by Opposition Leader (and Liberal party federal leader) Tony Abbott and a variety of other unnamed “state and federal MP’s and Ministers, as well as industry leaders.”

Despite the defeat it was reported that “the debate was well received within party ranks and that the issue is gaining attention.”

R18Games also noted that, “To this date, neither major party supports this much-needed change to the ratings system. And with an election campaign well under way, it is doubtful that this issue will even come back on the agenda for the next few months.”
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A new study in Australia, commissioned by Village Roadshow and conducted by the University of Ballarat Internet Commerce Security Laboratory, has come to the conclusion that 89.9 percent of all torrents offer copyrighted materials.

Village Roadshow is suing Australian ISP iiNet for allegedly allowing its customers to share copyrighted films and television shows. Unfortunately for Village Roadshow, a Federal Court has already ruled that the ISP is not liable because it didn't "infringe copyright itself." The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft, of which Village Roadshow is a member of, is appealing the decision.

So with that kind of court action as a backdrop, the results of the study commissioned by Village Roadshow seem skewed to support its current and future legal action. Here's some more information about the study: Read More

The Australian government has delayed discussion once again on an R18+ rating. The Standing Committee of Attorneys-Generals were set to have a meeting this month to discuss implementing an R18+ ratings system, along with a host of other issues, but the meeting was cancelled due to the upcoming Federal Election. Those looking for a timely implementation of a rating system for mature games in Australia were disappointed by the delay.

The delay is frustrating to anyone that has participated in the process through public comments, because many politicians in the country say that they think the R18+ rating is a good idea. Liberal leader Tony Abbott said in May that the classification system for videogames is broken and former Queensland Premier Peter Beattie has said that a majority of SCAG is "pro R18+."

A new meeting date is the most frustrating news of all: The next meeting will take place in Canberra on November 4-5.

Source: Kotaku by way of Andrew Eisen.

Australian Communications Minister Senator Stephen Conroy (pictured) has said that implementation of a mandatory Internet filter in the country will be delayed for about a year while the government examines exactly what constitutes content that is “refused classification.”

Conroy had intended to introduce official legislation on the matter in early 2010, but, according to ABC, will now delay it until later in the year, biding time as an independent review looks into what exactly should be banned by the filter. Who will be conducting the review is not known, or at least has not been revealed as of yet.
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Any hopes that a new Prime Minister might mean that plans for an Australian Internet filter would not be enacted are fading as PM Julia Gillard has indicated that the censorship initiative will move forward.

Speaking to ABC Radio, as reported by The Age, Gillard stated, “Images of child abuse, child pornography - they are not legal in our cinemas.” She continued, “Should you be able to see them on the internet? I think that that's the kind of moral, ethical question at the heart of this.”

Filter critic Mark Newton, a network engineer, reacted to Gillard’s statement by stating, “I call on Julia Gillard to spend a little bit more time listening to the policy's critics, instead of dismissing them with silly throwaway lines about child pornography.”
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Australian Senator—and fervent anti-gambling crusader—Nick Xenophon (pictured) is turning his attention to arcade games that feature gambling elements, saying that such entertainment is a “training ground” for children to learn how to gamble.

Xenophon, who previously took on mobile and PC games based on slot machines (or pokies as they are called Down Under), was joined in his latest contention by Charles Livingstone, a Monash University “electronic gaming expert,” who told the Age that such arcade games achieved a pair of purposes: “to indoctrinate kids to gambling, to make them think this is a normal part of life; and to lure children, and with them their parents, into the pokie venues.”
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A former Premier of the Australian state Queensland, who, in 2005 argued for a ban on the games Fable and Mark Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, is now calling for the introduction of an R18+ videogame rating.

Peter Beattie (pictured) served as Premier of the Australian state for nine years and once claimed that the Mark Ecko game glorified “high-risk, law-breaking, violent and even deadly behavior.” He also took issue with Fable for its reported male on female violence, saying that “Domestic violence is a crime.”

In a post on the Australian, Beattie, now Queensland’s Los Angeles-based trade and investment commissioner, noted how he was constantly peppered with questions about Australia’s lack of an adult videogame rating at last month’s E3 Expo. The repeated questions made Beattie “mildly embarrassed for Australia.”
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The dead will rise again in Australia, this time uncensored, as that country’s Classification Board has bestowed an MA 15+ rating upon the Capcom sequel.

So, the title will be spared the travails of another zombie gore fest, Valve's Left 4 Dead 2, which was originally refused classification twice, before a modified version was submitted and granted an MA 15+ rating late last year.

Dead Rising 2 carries the descriptors “strong horror violence” along with “blood and gore and sexual references.” THQ, who will distribute the title in Australia, told GameSpot that the game was not edited in anyway prior to submission. Read More

The Interactive Software Association of New Zealand (ISANZ) has merged with Australia’s Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (iGEA).

ISANZ will adopt iGEA’s name, resulting in a single trade organization that now totals 22 companies, including the seven new additions from New Zealand. Citing research from GfK Retail and Technology, iGEA claimed that the 2009 videogame market cracked $2 billion in Australia and reached a record $170 million—an increase of 12 percent—in New Zealand.

iGEA Chairman Edward Fong stated, “There is great opportunity to collaborate and share our knowledge, insights and resources with our New Zealand team and we are very excited to have them on board.”

Former ISANZ president Mark Goodacre, now a Director for iGEA, added, “This strategic partnership will help ensure we remain relevant to our members on a local and international level.”

The Australian pro-videogame political party Gamers4Croydon is disbanding.

Founded by David Doe, a former videogame tester, the party was created in order to champion the addition of an R18+, adult videogame rating category in the land of Oz and to assist with the removal of anti-game South Australian Attorney General Michael Atkinson.

On the Gamers4Croydon website, Doe wrote that the party would not be competing in the upcoming federal elections as “all good things come to an end, and it’s time to pass the torch on to people with the resources and experience necessary to bring the change to bear politically.”

Doe encouraged backers to “look closely” at the Australian Sex Party and the Australian Greens as possible replacements for support.
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Australia has its first female Prime Minister as Labor’s Julia Gillard assumes the leadership position following the resignation of former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in the wake of withering support.

While it’s uncertain how Gillard’s ascension will affect the R18+ movement, a Kotaku Australia reader submitted the attached image depicting Gillard on the cover of adult-rated videogames under the banner “Red Head Redemption.”

Following the government upheaval, Gizmodo is attempting to start a movement to oust the current Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Stephen Conroy in favor of Senator Kate Lundy. Conroy is the chief backer of a controversial country-wide Internet filter, while Lundy, according to the tech blog, has “a lot of respect” within the tech community.

About Conroy, Gizmodo wrote: Read More

The Melbourne Youth Justice Centre in Melbourne, Australia is under fire this morning for allowing juvenile offenders access to violent video games and DVDs. Community Services Minister Lisa Neville is certainly listening to complaints from crime victims groups and child experts; she has called for an investigation and ordered that such material being immediately confiscated.

The fervor over this came after a Sun Herald report that youths in the facility were playing games like Grand Theft Auto and watching "real life crime shows" on "Pay TV." So how did they get access to this content? Apparently the staff at the facility were using games, DVDs and Pay TV as bribes to encourage "good behavior." Read More

Given that taxes plays a major-role in the ability of states and countries to lure videogame developers, we thought it would be interesting to take a look at results from a recent KPMG study (PDF) into the tax competitiveness of 95 cities and countries around the world.

The guide rated the locales using a Total Tax Index (TTI), which was described as a measure of “the total taxes paid by corporations in a particular location, expressed as a percentage of total taxes paid by corporations in the U.S.” This methodology uses the U.S. as a benchmark with a score of 100.0*.

The TTI rankings placed Mexico first among countries, with a 59.9 score, indicating that total tax costs in the country are 40.1 percent lower than in the U.S. Canada came in second place, followed by the Netherlands, Australia, the UK, the U.S., Germany, Italy, Japan and France.
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The strong response from Australia’s gaming community to the R18+ issue may have backfired a bit, as the government is now delaying discussion of the issue in order to get feedback from more of the community.

GameSpot notes that Minister for Home Affairs Brendan O’Connor indicated that, “…further work needs to be done before a decision can be made.” When pressed, O’Connor told the publication that “ministers had agreed that a broader consultation of the public's views was needed following the dominant response from ‘interest groups.’”

While a spokesperson from O’Connor’s office indicated that “interest groups” referenced the 34 community, church, and other groups that lodged submissions in the public consultation, GameSpot wrote that, “given that submissions were dominated by pro-R18+ interest groups (EB Games and Grow Up Australia), the intended meaning seems clear.”
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While Australia’s Standing Committee of Attorney Generals (SCAG) did hold a meeting yesterday to discuss a variety of topics, including, presumably, the lack of an R18+ videogame rating in the country, one AG was unable to attend the gathering, meaning that no decision could be made.

Any changes or decision require a full consensus of Attorney Generals, and Delia Lawrie, AG from the Northern Territory, was unable to attend due to “Treasury portfolio responsibilities,” according to a note on the Gamers4Croydon Facebook page.
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A South Australian politician fears that downloadable gambling games might fall into the hands of children.

Senator Nick Xenophon (pictured) is taking aim at Australian-based Pokie Magic, which creates mobile and PC games based on slot machines (or pokies). Xenophon, according to AdelaideNow, stated, “If they are an Australian corporation, then we can legislate to stop this.”

“Children will play these applications thinking they cannot lose when in reality you cannot win,” said the Senator, continuing, “We need an overhaul of our laws because the technological world has moved so quickly our laws are out of date and we need a national approach to this.”
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A report from The Queensland Legislative Assembly of Australia on Alcohol-Related Violence inexplicably suggests that expanding research into the effects of violent videogames on youth might somehow provide more insight into the impact drinking has on people.

The inquiry (PDF), released last month, was drafted by the Law, Justice and Safety Committee and focuses on “alcohol related violence around licensed premises.” The report begins by asking, “What has happened to Australia’s drinking culture?” and claims that “Vomiting, falling over, and creating a nuisance in public are not seen as shameful but to some are badges of honour.”
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A reader of Kotaku Australia put together the attached video, which, in just a minute and 48 seconds, illustrates the case for an R18+ rating Down Under.


Thanks Adrian!

A pro R18+ petition sponsored by retailer GAME has garnered the signatures of over 72,000 Australians.

The company plans to present some of it findings to a Standing Committee of Attorneys-General meeting on May 7 reports GameSpot, though it’s unclear if the issue of R18+ will even be on the agenda of that gathering. GAME also plans to present the petition to Federal Home Affairs Minister Brendon O'Connor.

The petition, also sponsored by Everyone Plays, achieved the large number of supporters in only six weeks, and is on track to become the largest petition in Australian history, surpassing a 2005 petition for Work Choices that received 85,189 signatures.

A similar petition sponsored by EB Games and Grow Up Australia totaled over 46,000 signatures.

Thanks Ryan!

Despite previous inferences to the contrary, new South Australian Attorney General John Rau (pictured) is denying that he is for the addition of an R18+ videogame rating category.

Rau’s implied backing of an adult videogame rating Down Under came via a Tweet from Gamers4Croydon President Chris Prior, who said Rau was “a supporter” of R18+. Speaking to GameSpot however, Rau stated that, “I have no preconceptions about this issue and intend to listen to the arguments.”

Rau added, “I can neither support nor wisely argue against a position if I am not aware of the relevant factors.”
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An Australian Politician has come out against Internet filtering in the country, while simultaneously indicating he is against the addition of an R18+ rating category for videogames.

Shadow Treasurer and Liberal Party member Joe Hockey (pictured) let his opinions be known in a speech entitled “In Defence of Liberty,” which he gave to the Grattan Institute, an Australian public policy think tank.

Hockey called Australia's plans for Internet censorship an over-reach, reports IT Wire, and then added:

What we have in the government's Internet filtering proposals is a scheme that is likely to be unworkable in practice. But more perniciously it is a scheme that will create the infrastructure for government censorship on a broader scale.
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While Michael Atkinson can now be described as the ex-South Australian Attorney General, an Australian gamer has penned a column arguing that now is the perfect time to for gamers to act mature and make amends with the anti-game politician.

In a piece appearing in the videogame-themed Screen Play column that runs in the Brisbane Times, Leigh Martin of Darwin, Australia wrote that gamers and politicians have actually been on the same page all along, as both groups wished for “the careful regulation of content potentially harmful to minors.” He chalks up the basis of unrest between the two parties to “posturing and politicking.”

Martin continues: Read More

A libel suit filed by Evony, LLC last year against a UK-based blogger has been dropped.

Evony is, of course, the company behind the game of the same name, the one which litters seemingly every last corner of the Internet with ads usually accompanied by ample female cleavage. Ex-Imagine and Codemaster marketer Bruce Everiss (pictured) has been taking the company to task on his blog for quite some time now, detailing some of the sketchy practices used by the game’s creator.

Evony filed its lawsuit in Australia, a move that Everiss called “libel tourism,” and dropped the case just two days into hearings, reports the Guardian. A Vice Development Director for Evony said in a statement that the case was dropped in deference to criticism from players of the game themselves. “A lot of our players expressed opinions about the lawsuit, and we reacted to that,” said Benjamin Gifford.
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A public demonstration against the lack of an R18+ rating in Australia, which featured marchers dressed as zombies, went off without a hitch—but with plenty of lurching—in Sydney over the weekend.

Rhys Wilson, head of the group Aus Gamers Limited which organized the protest, wrote on Facebook, “I want to thank each and every one of you guys for making yesterday easily one of the best days of my life. I haven't heard any complaints from anyone, and I'm more than happy to do this again later in the year, assuming I'm not killed in a freak manure truck accident.”

IT Wire estimated the crowd of gathered ghouls at between 500 and 600 strong, easily surpassing a November 2009 similarly-themed march, which drew around 175 participants.
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