Uproar in Victoria over violent computer game

President of the association, Noel McNamara, has called on the government to ban "Hitman: Contracts", telling the Herald Sun newspaper the game is "absolutely disgusting to promote heinous crime and build up such an unhealthy fantasy".

A spokesperson for State Attorney-General Rob Hulls, who was confronted on the issue this morning in an interview with Victorian radio station 3AW, told ZDNet Australia  today that "it's a matter for the federal government".

"What we will be doing is to alert the federal government to community concerns that have been raised today," said the spokesperson, adding that the Attorney-General has not called for it to be banned.

"Hitman: Contracts," rated MA15+ and released in May, involves creating strategic plans to kill designated victims in various countries and is the third release in the Hitman series.

Alex Kidman, editor of games review Web site Gamespot.com.au -- a ZDNet Australia site -- said the argument against violent computer games has been had many times before.

"The line that we must protect the kiddies is a bit rich given that the vast majority of the games buying public is over the age of 20," he said. "It's not a game that's marketed towards the younger gamer in any case.

Kidman adds "what the concerns do point to is a glaring flaw in the current ratings legislation that doesn't allow for an 'R' Rating".

Chris Eade, spokesman for the distributors of the game Atari Australia, said the game was classified according to legislation and given a medium rating in animated violence.

Eade said there are "much more violent games out there", some with a "high" violence rating.

The game has been very popular since its release, according to Eade, who also argues "it has more strategic elements" than just being violent.

Eade also states that if the game is banned then "the classification process needs to be looked at because it's classified by the Office of Film and Literature Classification, a government department."