Sydney gamers take to the streets over R18+

Australia has earned itself a negative reputation when it comes to banning video games, and 2009 did little to help the country shake it off. Not only were several high-profile games banned, but the much-lauded R18+ classification discussion paper was pushed back time and time again, before its eventual release in December.

With the discussion paper having done the rounds of the gaming groups, Luke Lawrie from R18+ Games Australia is organising an information day in Sydney's CBD at the Queen Victoria Building, on the corner of George and Druitt Streets, on the 9th of January. The aim of the day is to educate Australians outside of the gaming community about the lack of an R18+ classification, with Lawrie telling GameSpot AU that they will be specifically targeting older people who are less likely to know about video games.

The event has no sponsors backing it and is entirely done out of love, with Lawrie personally putting over A$300 towards printing information sheets and forms. So far he expects around 10 people to help but said if more people turn up, he'll be looking at expanding to other areas of the city to try to spread the word.

Click here for more information on the event.

To find out more about the R18 + debate in Australia, be sure to check out GameSpot AU's extensive feature on the topic.