Lara Bingle and Michael Clarke Split! Oh Noes!
News from Luke - Monday, 15 March 2010 @ 12:33am
Just in case you didn't know, Lara Bingle and Michael Clarke ended their relationship this past week. I have had to break out the tissues on a few occasions to wipe the tears of sadness away.... because lets be honest, this is probably the most important and devastating news EVER! If you have been too busy playing Final Fantasy 13 you might not know of this tragedy. Luckily though you'll be able to read all about it at every credible “news” site, women's magazine and newspaper for the next few weeks, including the front page of today's The Sun-Herald. Oh, you might also notice The Sun-Heralds front page special investigation on video games too.
The Sun-Herald conducted an investigation involving major retailers selling video games to minors without proof of age. 14 year old Peter Baee visited 6 well known stores in Sydney, picking out games with a MA15+ classifications on the box. He managed to leave 5 of the stores with the game in his hands.....
Dick Smith – Pitt St, Sydney
Purchased : Grand Theft Auto 4 - Requested ID. When none could be produced, asked for date of birth. He was then sold the game.
David Jones – Market St, Sydney
Purchased : Timeshift
JB Hi-Fi – George St, Sydney
Purchased : Modern Warfare 2 - Sold Peter the game without asking for his age.
Myer – George Street, Sydney
Purchased : BioShock 2
Game – Sydney Central Plaza, Sydney
Purchased : Aliens vs Predator – Initially requested ID but then sold the game on condition that Peter print his name and signature on a petition for supporting the proposed R18+ classification.
EB Games – George Street, Sydney
Refused Sale : Call of Duty 4 – Peter was asked for ID, was refused sale by staff
Interactive Games and Entertainment Association chief executive Ron Curry advised, “When it comes to mass merchants, there can be a high turnover of staff [and] employee moves between departments, and there is potentially a lack of continuity in terms of education and knowledge of what the classifications actually mean. That said, there is no excuse”.
The fines for selling a game to someone under-age as a sole trader is up to $5500, and $11,000 for a company. Hopefully this investigation will make some of those company's wake up and take some initiative to try and put procedures in place so this does not happen so easily.
If you are shopping in a retailer where you do happen to see a game being sold to someone who is clearly under-age, be a responsible gamer and speak up.
Now with all that out of the way who's up for some cricket?
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When working at GAME, I was told specifically to not mention rsetrictions to parents or kids who looked to be under 15, just shut up and process the sale. It was early on in their expansion into the Australian market but still! I was shocked.
Yeah, I heard about that when I first started, but it must depend on the store managers as well. One of the first things I was told by my store manager was to always check IDs.
I know of some retailers that don't even check ID for trade ins...... makes you wonder if they're checking ID when people purchase games.
When working at GAME, I was told specifically to not mention rsetrictions to parents or kids who looked to be under 15, just shut up and process the sale. It was early on in their expansion into the Australian market but still! I was shocked.
And yeah, parents not giving a damn what their kids play... I was in a suburb with a lot of migrants and you'd have poor parents that have limited english skills trusting their kids are better at understanding this "western culture" when it's just kids getting what they want with little resistance.
I would be fine with letting him pre-order it, so long as his mother or father came with him to pick it up. Otherwise I'd just cancel his order and give the shit his money back
I make them get their parents before I even take their name.
Hahahaha, i've actually had kids come back in with their parents to cancel pre-orders when the parents find out what exactly their son/daughter is buying. It's quite hilarious, but then I have to put on my serious face and find out who on earth let them pre-order it in the first place.
)Just the other day a lady was buying a copy of AVP for her child that had to be no more that 10 years old. I explained that the game is extremely violent and was originally meant to be an unclassified or 'R18' rated game, and only because the publishers appealed the fact that the violence was more sci-fi than human related is it even allowed to be sold in Australia.
she looked at her son, looked at me, shrugged and said "It's OK he's played it at his friends house"
.....OMFGDSAJKDHSADOSIADHO!!!111
This.............times 100.
But I have to say, I had a very clued up parent come in today to buy a game with her son. I explained the game to her, and she remarked that her son plays in the loungeroom, and that she watches him play it so she knows what he is playing. Her reason is that it is better for them to do it with a parent around, then to go and do it at a mates place where there is no supervision. Her son was telling her to sign the petition too.... i didn't have to say a word. lmao.
I work for GAME and fucking hell, I'm disgusted in the staff member doing that. It would be common sense to check for ID, especially when it's an MA15+ game. I'm not sure how you can get something as fucking simple as "ask for ID" wrong in ANY case.
I had an arguement with a customer the other day also, because he was three days off of 15 and I wouldn't let him put down a pre-order for GOW3. He came back later and said that another retailer let him put the money down and waved the receipt in my face. I just told him that I wasn't going to get into trouble because an underage kids like him wanted something he shouldn't of had..... (the little dickhead)
I would be fine with letting him pre-order it, so long as his mother or father came with him to pick it up. Otherwise I'd just cancel his order and give the shit his money back
I make sure at the EB I work at to always ask for any for anything. Even when they have a parent there I explain the game and why they should be careful about buying a game for someone under 15. I am sick to death of selling parents and their kids copy's of the Lost and The Damed which has the most graphic full frontal male nudity I have ever seen in game or anything with just a MA15+ rating. These games need to be [b]R48?[/b] and we need this rating. I think everyone I work with around SA is sick of this and I hope to hell something can be done and those other retails can be slapped a fine.
I HATE it when parents come in with their child and put a copy of an MA15+ game on the counter and I know that I'll have to TRY my hardest to explain to them that this game is not AT ALL suitable for their child. (but I still do it
)Just the other day a lady was buying a copy of AVP for her child that had to be no more that 10 years old. I explained that the game is extremely violent and was originally meant to be an unclassified or 'R18' rated game, and only because the publishers appealed the fact that the violence was more sci-fi than human related is it even allowed to be sold in Australia.
she looked at her son, looked at me, shrugged and said "It's OK he's played it at his friends house"
.....OMFGDSAJKDHSADOSIADHO!!!111
