The footage of Modern Warfare 2 revealed the other day was pretty shocking, but we were more than willing to give it a chance, to see what Infinity Ward were going to do with the situation and to welcome it with open, yet pensive, minds. So in the face of that decent, reasonable reaction to something it’s nice to know balance can be restored by – who else? – the Australians.

That’s not all Aussies, mind, just those at the Australian Council on Children and the Media, who think Modern Warfare 2 should probably be banned on the grounds that it trains you to be a terrorist. Jane Roberts, president of the foundation, said:

“The consequences of terrorism are just abhorrent in our community and yet here we are with a product that’s meant to be passed off as a leisure time activity, actually promoting what most world leaders speak out publicly against.

“We understand that it’s a game but … we’re not far off when you look at the images that you could actually put it on a Channel Nine news report and you’d think maybe that is real.

“If that material was on the internet about how to become a terrorist, how to join a group and how to wipe out people – that would be removed because it would not be acceptable.”

There’s probably no real need to argue against what she says, as we knew this reaction was inevitable. It will just be interesting to see what actually happens with the game over in Oz – there’s every chance it will go the way of so many other titles with violence in them and be refused a saleable classification. This is because in Australia, games intended for adults cannot be sold to adults, as the country has no equivalent 18+ rating.

Read the rest of the story on the Sydney Morning Herald.