Slashdot Mirror


Lieberman Pleased With Video Game Ratings

Babbster writes "GamesAreFun.com is reporting that Senators Joseph Lieberman and Herb Kohl are pleased with the ESRB ratings system for video games and specifically praise the changes being made to ESRB labels effective September 15th. A lot must have changed at the ESRB in the last seven months since both these men wanted congressional hearings on video game ratings."

7 of 136 comments (clear)

  1. FX! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    does anyone remember the First X-rated video game in the 80s? (for Atari) It was basically VERY bad quality porn.

  2. I know why Liberman likes the improvements. by MtViewGuy · · Score: 4, Informative

    I believe that Lieberman and Kohl likes the improvements planned by ESRB because they are going to a rating system similar to what the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) implemented some time ago, namely giving clear and descriptive reasons on why a movie get a G, PG, PG-13, R or NC-17 rating.

    This is something I actually like, because parents will know clearly why certain games rated by the ESRB as M are not advisable for those under 18 (strong violence, explicit sexuality in various forms, strong language, and so on).

  3. Re:Useless ratings? by nemoest · · Score: 3, Informative

    There's no video game rating similar to NC-17...

    What about Adults Only? Content suitable only for adults. May include graphic depictions of sex and/or violence. Not intended for persons under the age of 18.

    The way I see it, the M ESRB rating is closer to an R movie rating since both recommend being 17 or older.

    You just don't see either the NC-17 or Ao rating that often since some stores don't carry either.

  4. Lieberman's Lolly by looie · · Score: 4, Informative
    no one should be fooled by lieberman's sudden 180.

    we all know that his primary concern is to get into the pocketbooks of soccer moms, left and right. he is the senator from a state that depends heavily on defense contracting, has the city that ranks second in the nation in poverty (hartford), a school system in shambles, an unbalanced budget, a governor who has just been fined for the second time in 9 years for ethical improprieties (accepting gifts) and whose campaign team is headed by another convicted bribe-taker, where mayors of two major cities have either gone to jail for graft or are about to do so. he was until recently a ranking member of a far-right religious organization which procured funding for emigration-to-israel projects. (he quit that group when he started campaigning for prez.) and, remember that he pounded the lectern demanding censorship of the internet when running with gore.

    the senator has done diddly for his state. he comes from a state where political corruption is business-as-usual and he is part & parcel of that package. he will do the same for the country, while lining his own pockets, if elected president. don't just not vote for this guy, work against him.

    mp

    Waterbury CT (37 yrs for the mayor for having sex with 8 & 10 yr-old girls, now waiting for his corruption trial to begin)

    --
    "The secret to strong security: less reliance on secrets." -- Whitfield Diffie
  5. rating system has limited success? by majcher · · Score: 3, Informative

    According to the current You Decide feature at KQED.org, some experts claim that the current rating system has had "limited success". That is, even though the ratings may be appropriate for the games, they are rarely, if ever enforced. Of course, others disagree altogether:

    "Parents found 13 percent of the games rated 'E' to be clearly objectionable for children 3-7. This year [parents] would have assigned an 'M' to 31 percent of the 'T' games. Our parents think that the ESRB is starting to rate 'on a curve.'"

  6. Re:Hypocrites by Emperor+Tiberius · · Score: 2, Informative

    Stores like Wal-Mart and now Hasting, as well as CompUSA now "enforce" the ratings. Say, you're sixteen and you're trying to buy HL, they'll actually ask for a state ID card, or drivers license to see if you're seventeen or older. Same thing with AO, and I think Wal-Mart is now doing the teens rating as well. Kind of stupid if you ask me, it's hurting their business more than they think.

    Thank god, I'm not a minor.

  7. Open Secrets didn't have it by alizard · · Score: 2, Informative
    Open Secrets doesn't break out video games as a separate category from entertainment yet.

    Anybody know how much they paid Lieberman off via campaign contribution to decide video games are no longer Satanic EVIL!!! ?

    While it isn't necessarily true that Lieberman's previous call for censorship and regulation in that industry were in fact, a shakedown intended to get them to pay him "protection" money, that's the way to bet.