We Like to Wii

We know Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a violent and controversial game; now it turns out that one Australian official is looking to ban it in his country. AU GameSpot reports that South Australian Attorney General Michael Atkinson has announced plans to appeal the game's MA15+ rating, which he calls "wrong." He accused the Classification Board of trying to "get games in under the radar." If the appeal is successful, the game will be effectively banned from sale in Australia. A higher age rating for the game is unavailable, partly due to Atkinson's own opposition to the formation of an R18+ rating. Yes, he thinks the MA15+ rating is too low, but has stopped the creation of a higher rating. Let that sink in, because it might help prepare you for the reasons he gave.

"I worry about any game that encourages gamers to perpetuate extreme violence and cruelty on screen, but this game allows players to be virtual terrorists and gain points by massacring civilians," he said in a statement. "Expecting game designers to be responsible by not glorifying terrorism will always lead to disappointment." He reportedly hasn't responded to GameSpot's request for clarification, given that the game doesn't award any kind of points in the controversial "No Russian" scene. Of course, it doesn't exactly glorify terrorism either, so it's probably safe to say he doesn't know what he's talking about.

Atkinson has been highly critical of the ratings board, saying he has "no trust" in their process. For their part, the classification board itself is staying out of the tussle publicly, with a spokesperson stating "The Board has no comment on Mr. Atkinson's statements."