Professional Warcraft III Olympic torch carriers

Olympic torch carriers come from all walks (heh, get it?) of life. Olympians, celebrities, national or community icons and if your lucky to be the daughter of an IOC member you too can take up this ultimately privileged duty. Gaming peripheral company Razer has announced a sponsorship which will see two of China's (if not, the World's) best Warcraft III players – Sky and Moon join 8 other people selected by the Beijing Organising Committee to carry the torch through China.

In what can only be seen as great recognition for professional online gaming, with official Olympic sports such as: trampoline, speed walking, synchronised swimming, and multiple equestrian events – it really makes you wonder how far we are off to include some of the e-sports.

Another GTA, another 100 reasons why Australia needs a R18+ classification

Assurances from Rockstar have come through to state that the edited Australian version does not 'compromise the quality of the game in any way'. In the last few weeks some of the saucy R18+ content has been leaked out by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) which includes strong sexual references, prostitution, strip clubs with lap dancers, and simulated sex scenes and gestures.

A considerable amount of the Australian gaming community who are looking forward to GTA4 have expressed grave concerns for the 'watered down version' and are currently looking at overseas options such as importing from other PAL countries such as the UK and NZ who both have an unedited and R18+ classification of the game. Personally me – I don't have such patience so I'll put my faith in Rockstar to still knock my socks off with Australia's MA15+ version, which hey – if the previous GTAs are anything to go by – won't be a problem.

The bottom line is, with the gaming industry taking a huge global rise (in terms of units sold and popularity) and with statistics showing the average age of gamers increasing as the years go by the need to address a gaping hole in the Australian game classification becomes more and more apparent. Recently the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General announced that they would opt for public opinion on the matter before making their decision final. Let's just hope an R18+ rating is introduced by the OFLC before GTA5 (which will be pretty sweet by the way) hits our shores in a few years.