Dissecta Event: "Classification: Is the Time for Talk Over?"

Melbourne, Australia, 8 March 2006 - The recent banning in Australia of Atari's 'Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure' video game has once again raised questions about the appropriateness of Australia's video game classification system, administered by the Office of Film and Literature Classification. However, there are efforts coming from within the video game industry to gain classification equality for video games in Australia. Dissecta is pleased to present one of the industry's leaders, Chris Hanlon, Chief Executive Officer of the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia, in "Classification: Is the Time for Talk Over?", to be held Tuesday 28 March 2006, 7pm, at the Australian Games Innovation Centre (Academy of Interactive Entertainment Presentation Room), in the Atari Building, Melbourne, Australia.

"Classification: Is the Time for Talk Over?" will provide an up-to-date picture of current efforts by sectors of the video game industry on the issue of video game classification.

The Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia is the key association for video game publishers and distributors operating in Australia. CEO Chris Hanlon is the key lobbyist for the Association on the issue of video game classification. Chris will speak on the issue of video game classification and outline current efforts to introduce a more appropriate classification system for video games.

Chris will be joined by Tom Crago, Vice President of the Game Developers' Association of Australia, the principal association for video game developers in Australia who will briefly speak on the issue of classification from the point of view of the game development industry. Tom is also the CEO of game developer Tantalus Interactive established 1994.

Tom and Chris will be joined by the editor of video game culture magazine Jump Button, Drew Taylor. Drew recently wrote an open letter to the Australian Federal Government Attorney-General on the issue of video game classification and we have invited Drew to outline his motivation for writing the letter, the response it has received, and the issues from a gamer culture point of view.

The 28 March Dissecta event "Classification: Is the Time for Talk Over?" will start at 7pm and run till 8:30 pm, with an audience Q&A. This will be Dissecta's eighth event since commencing in June 2005, and the event will be held at the Australian Games Innovation Centre (Academy of Interactive Entertainment Presentation Room), opposite Albert Park, in Melbourne, Australia.

For more information and booking details, visit Dissecta online at www.dissecta.com.

ABOUT DISSECTA

Dissecta is an event based community, providing game fans and game makers the opportunity to hear and see the latest games and ideas, hear about game making, and discuss recently released video games with the creators. For more information visit www.dissecta.com. Special thanks to the Australian Games Innovation Centre which is run by the Game Developers Association of Australia, and the Academy of Interactive Entertainment Melbourne Campus.