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Planned cosplay rally cancelled as sanity prevails.

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By John Gillooly on 27 February, 2009

Australia’s retrograde classification system for video games is a very passionate topic for a lot of gamers. So, when Gametraders announced that it was sponsoring a cosplay protest right in the heart of cranky old dude territory, it caused quite an outcry. There was a very real worry that the cosplay focus would detract from the overall message that gamers are adults from all corners of society.

The rally had been planned to occur at South Australia’s Parliament House on the 4th of March, though it has now been postponed thanks to some pretty major concerns brought up both here and overseas. Gametraders is still planning on handing over the petition at a later date, and is trying to garner plain clothes support for the event.

This change of heart by Gametraders really should be applauded. While it was perhaps naive to go down the cosplay route, is is the only significant game retailer that is lifting a finger over the R18+ issue. From what I have been told, the major gaming retail chains have wanted no part in the campaign, while Gametraders has been a big supporter of the campaign run by the R18games.com.au website and the cause generally.

The great irony of the situation is that those of us pushing for an R18+ rating are actually closer than ever before to our goal. The Howard government consistently refused to even entertain the idea of an R18+ rating for games. As it now stands, a commitment has been made to release a discussion paper on the issue and all that is holding us back is South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson’s insistence on changes in the discussion paper before it is released.

While rallies and petitions are a good way to raise awareness of the issue, the time for doing so is when the discussion paper is released. That way, it gets people thinking about the issue at the point when they can actually do something. Avoiding the cosplay focus for the South Australian rally stops the mainstream media from taking the lowest common denominator route and playing the freak card. The last thing gamers want is everyone thinking we are pushing this cause for the lulz and not because it is the sane thing to do.

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