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Controversial Manhunt Game Rated 'R' in Ontario
GrimSean writes "Well, it looks like someone in power up here in Ontario finally noticed the level of violence in Rockstar's Manhunt, as the Ontario Film Review Board has given it an R rating, much like a movie. The Toronto Star has an article here and the CBC has also covered the story - according to an article at CJAD, businesses could be fined a minimum of $25,000 Canadian for selling it to minors. It seems like they've completely sidestepped the ESRB's M rating and gone directly to the Restricted to 'control the thing'."
I hope these people realize that kids will get their hands on the games regardless of what the law says. I mean, if not a licensed copy, then a pirated copy off of bittorrent or something like that. At the end of the day, it's the parents that have to make sure that their kids don't spend their time on the wrong game, not the retailers.
If you read the story carefully, it is the Ontario Film Board that is rating video games. As I watched the CBC TV on this news story, the representative from the Ontario Film Board mentioned that Manhunt has every element that contributes to the R-rating, as in film: excessive foul language, grotesque violence, etc. If we were to rate video games the same way as film, then a lot of other games should have gotten the R-rating as well, yet this is the first video game that has received such a rating. This implies that they are looking for a quick and easy way to regulate the sale of violent game to minors, and the ESRB rating is not as effective as they like.
...I think it's good. I usually think that this whole videogame violence thing is blown out of proportion, and it is, but here, I think they made the right choice. Manhunt is just really disgusting - it's not at all like Grand Theft Auto, where the violence is humorous (a la a grown-up cartoon)...no, the violence here is disturbing...everybody I know who played it felt dirty, like they were some serial killer or something. It's really an uncomfortable game for most people I know. And the gameplay itself isn't that great (mediocre stealth fare), and it just seems like a cash-in on the media attention...yeah, I think Ontario was more than justified.
On a side note, sometimes I think that (in the U.S., don't know much about how it's done in Canada) we should just switch to movie ratings for games. I don't know if it would be a good idea for the same board or whatever to rate them, but it's just that PG and R are more familiar to most people than E or M. And they are kinda on the same "scale" anyway (PG-13 = T, R = M), so it might be a good thing.
Oh, and does anybody else feel that game ratings are a little...big? The dirtiest R-rated movie can get away with a little tiny square on the back of the box, but then videogames have to have a huge, ugly E or T or whatever plastered on the front and a large "descriptor" on the back. It's not that I'm against visability of the ratings, but I just think that videogames and movies should be treated more alike (it's annoying when Target refuses to sell M-rated games to minors, but don't have the same policy for R-rated movies, etc.)
That was quite a rant there...enjoy.