Slashdot Mirror
MediaWise Video Game Report Card Issued
Thanks to several readers for pointing to the National Institute on Media and the Family's eighth annual videogame report card, which says it "provides a snapshot of the interactive gaming industry with a focus on issues related to child welfare." A particular issue focused on is "the growing issue of screen time as it relates to the obesity epidemic", of which it's suggested: "there is both an opportunity and challenge for the industry to develop games that involve physical activity so that young players exercise more than their thumbs." The other hot topic is a continuing one: "the easy access that boys have to increasingly ultra-violent M-rated games and the popularity of the most violent games with that group." The survey ends with lists, including "games to avoid" for 2003, mentioning obviously controversial titles like Manhunt, but also other, quirkier picks such as WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne.
Dance Dance Revolution, anyone? 3 rounds of Maniac can feel far longer than any marathon.
Er, presuming that they didn't play games with statistics you're misreading what they stated. (I cannot verify or debunk the statement, since there was no attribution for it).
In the two subsets (the 70% who have played and the 30% who have not played), a larger portion of the former got into fights than the latter. I wouldn't exactly consider this scientific proof, since it's probably a single study and the study group may not be representative, but it's not exactly surprising nor is it encouraging.
Look at the recommendations though. They're not calling for the end to violent video games like some of the kooks out there. They simply want the rules (not laws! Big difference here!) to be enforced. Can you really tell me that parental education on what the ratings mean is a bad thing? How about enforcement of the ratings to actually enforce the meaning? Certainly the ESRB should actually comply with their own policies -- and Manhunt should've gotten an AO.
I'm all for the labeling of games. I'm an adult, I'll buy whatever the hell I want to play. But parents should be able to discern between games acceptable for their kids and those that aren't.
I dunno, I thought Warcraft III in general (haven't yet played Frozen Throne) might be representative of a game that's frowned upon simply because of the morals--while the gameplay is certainly T-for-Teen, the themes (including Arthas killing his father and the fact you HAVE to play as a consciously evil faction to win the single-player campaign, along with subtler ideas about how good and evil are sometimes relative (witness the N.Elf demon hunters, etc)) might be the real reason that so many "family" groups are opposed to it.
Don't yell at me for spoilers--if you really cared about WCIII's plot, you'd have played it by now. =P
"America has done some terrible things. But I know that Americans don't cheer when innocents die." -Dave Barry
How come the rating system is E, Y, M, AO or instead of G, PG, PG-13, R? (I would assume that it has something to do with the MPOAA not allowing it.)
The MPAA owns the trademark to the G - NC-17 ratings. Current IP law requires trademark owners to pursue all infringement of trademarks in court, or risk losing those trademarks. Further, if the MPAA lost their trademarks, any movie could be put on a shelf with a G rating on the box, and no one could stop them (except maybe a class-action lawsuit from the parents of children that were set in front of Debbie Does Dallas because the parents were too stupid to realize it was rated G for G-string-eating-lesbian-action).
-PainKilleR-[CE]
There is no way that DoA could deserve an Ao rating. Ao is the equivalent to a NC-17, and NC-17 requires it to be either a) porn or b) have extremely explicit violence above and beyond what you see in M-rated games.
I don't think DoA volleyball even has any nudity, let alone sex. And the MPAA allows movies with some nudity to pass with an R rating, so why should the ESRB give DoA volleyball an M?
Vice City and Manhunt... well, I dunno. If Vice City deserves an Ao then so do a lot of other games. I haven't played or heard much about Manhunt, so I can't pass judgement on that one.
It's partially photoshopped. If that's the character I think it is (NG Resonance) she isn't wearing panties. The extra detail, however, was added.
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon