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ESRB Adds New 'Tween' Rating
The Entertainment Software Rating Board announced yesterday that it was adding a new category to the entertainment software rating format. The new "E10+" "would mark games that might contain moderate amounts of cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes." This puts the category between "E" and "T", and allows for racing games with violent crashes and superhero violence.
That means that overprotective parents will actually allow their kids to play the next Smash Bros. game. It irritated the hell out of me that they rated SSBM as Teen, and it irritated me even more that retarded parents actually listened to the rating on the game.
Remember, the more the industry self-regulates and (supposedly) empowers parents to make informed decisions, the weaker the argument for government decency regulation.
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Why bother with all these abbreviations? Why don't they just specify a number from 0 to 18 on the box, indicating the minimum age. If they had done that in the beginning, they wouldn't have need to introduce this new rating level. They could have just used "10".
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This is a rating that has been sorely needed, IMO. Parents shopping for games for their not-quite-teenaged children may balk at picking up games rated "T", but also do not want to get most of the "E"-rated games that only pre-schoolers would enjoy. Most (not all of course) 8-12 year olds have outgrown Bob the Builder, Barbie, and other Cute & Cuddly (TM) characters and shows. They want to start sinking their teeth into whatever their big brother/sister or parents are doing...it's simply a stage of their growing up. This will defintely help parents puchase more age-appropriate games. Smart move, ESRB.
--- Welcome my son, welcome to the machine.
Heck, even Mario games have some cartoonish, fantasy violence. I guess that will get them a 'Tween' ranking now.
So what would qualify as 'E'? I guess puzzle games (not Super Puzzle Fighter, though) and stuff like Mary Kate and Ashley games.
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Why does 'cartoon violence' mean 10+? From what I remember of the kiddie cartoons (tom and jerry, coyote vs roadrunner, etc etc), they're about 70% violence and 30% preparation of violence; it's funny,(Laugh.) because it's toon violence.
And now the games industry says only ten year olds and older are the appropriate category for it? What? This also implies that before now, it was higher? (Yeah, where have I been. I just never needed to look at or understand the reasoning behind)
If kids watch cartoon violence regulated by their parents, the same levels should be taken to games. As the cartoons become more realistic, then sure - but as the adult is still the regulator, this 10+ seems incomprehensible.
Browsing with +2 to insightful posts and a higher threshold makes the average post seen seem a lot more ingenious
Come on, "tween" is for those in their "twenties." That is, if you're twenty-four, you're a tween-ager. Trying to apply this to pre-teens is absurd.
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Didn't they already have the KA rating? (Kids to adults). How is this any different?
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What about Frogger 3D? My wife and I love that and we're in our late 20's (almost 30, eek).
Damien
As a parent of a teen and an 8 year old, I find the 8 year old constantly frustrated at why some games are off limits but not others, even though they are all rated "T". (Yes, I actually check the games on a case by case basis).
To be honest, I'd prefer a game rating system similar to the toy rating system - something that measured difficulty/playability rather than simple violence. I mean, there's nothing in FF7 that my daughter shouldn't see or hear, but that doesn't mean she's capable of enjoying it.
Clear, Dark Skies
In opinion, I'm hoping that this will better inform parents driven solely on ESRB ratings. There are too many cartoon/fantasy violence games out there that have been "overrated" with a T rating. SSBM is THE perfect example of this, seeing that its predecessor was given an E. (The way it was put by Nintendo Power was that it was up to a T because of the better quality graphics, which is the biggest BS I've ever heard.)
So yes, hopefully this will ease the minds of many a parent and makes the decision easier.
I also like the "lives" (language, illegal, violence, evil, sex) system that was thought up. If only someone thought of that before. Kudos to the poster.
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...why can't the just place a label.. must be at least X age to play this game.
Actually Katamari Damacy gets a rating all its own as it is quite disturbing! A lot of fun, but definitely disturbing!
It will be interesting to see if any games in current release rated as T are retroactively rated to E10+ if appropriate. Obviously, this has serious marketing implications of the sort that drove the PG-13 movie rating's creation. The E10+ rating should result in a little upward tick in revenues as the group of "acceptable" games grows.
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Why can't video game companies do what board games and other toys do and post an age range on the box. Alot of people don't know the video game rating system already and adding a new rating makes it more difficult. Board games/toys say like: "Ages: 4-10", "Ages: 2 and up", etc. So GTA could be "Ages: 18 and up" and Mario could be "Ages 6 and up", etc. If they would print that on the box I do not think it would be as confusing as the current rating system is.
What is acceptable for 16-year-olds isn't necessarily acceptable for my 16-year-old. What is acceptable for 10-year-olds isn't necessarily acceptable for my 10-year-old.
The basic flaw of age-based rating systems - this in includes movies, too - is that parents should know their kids best and determine what is most appropriate for them. A Mormon 13-year-old probably is going to be scandalized by relatively tame material.
That's why ratings should be based on content - language, sexuality, violence, etc. That way, that special population who think it's okay for games and movies to contain gratuitous violence, but absolutely no sex know which games to buy their children.
we should just go ahead and ... use the movie rating system that parents already know the meanings of.
CARA's familiar ratings (G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17) are trademarked, and I don't see how CARA would agree to expand the scope of those ratings from films to games.
The real issue here is that the PG - 13 system has been flawed since its inception - Instead of dividing the current content, It allowed studios to flex their power even more - movies added or subtracted content to hit that magic line - good movies dropped scenes to draw in crowds, and bad movies added fluf to appear more violent/etc. What does a new rating in a defunct system do? Make it even more confusing.
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She's watching me play Beyond Good and Evil right now; but I really don't think she's got the eye for detail a hardcore RPG requires.
Clear, Dark Skies
Just as with toys, more detailed ratings would still help you match up your kid with appropriate games.
If you know your kid is precocious for a 9 year old, you might feel comfortable giving him a game rated for 12 year olds - but it still helps to know that the game is aimed at 12 year olds and not 22 year olds.
Clear, Dark Skies
I'm a big fan of Katamari Damacy (witness the signature, at least as it stands this week), but I'd be leery of letting a kid loose with it. Not because of the implied violence, but because of the strong theme of parental abuse that runs through it.
Look at how the King treats the Prince...after a strongly-implied night of substance abuse, he goes and trashes the house. He makes the kid clean up the mess (and offers some not-so-kind words at the start of each mission), and when the kid doesn't live up to the parent's expectations, it's the kid's fault for not adequately cleaning up the parent's mess. (Or, in the case of the Ursa Major and Taurus missions, the kid is given vague instructions ("just pick up one bear/cow"), and is then berated for not reading the parent's mind and coming up with exactly what the parent was looking for.)
If there were a kid in my life, I wouldn't play this game with him/her unless I was also prepared to talk about abusive parenting.
(And with my luck, the opening movie would set off a seizure...)
We can believe in you for 3 minutes, but beyond that, even the King of All Cosmos can't be expected to wait.
This is very good! Its like having a PG rating as teen is the PG-13. For kids who are too old to stand games like Finding Nemo, or other disney games marketed to younger audiences, but aren't able to purchase teen rated games yet. I myself am only 16 (on monday anyway) but i dont really see the ratings as restrictive, but as an effective means of keeping ridiculous charges from being levied against the makers of such stress relieving games as GTA and Quake 3. Many problems like those could be avoided if the parents had kept informed about what their children played, and about the maturity level of their kids. Hats off to the ESRB.
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Let us not forget that a Tween is someone who is between the ages of 20 and 29, inclusive. Didn't the Lord of the Rings teach us this?
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"Qua!?"
You, sir, have demonstrated that your family is part of the problem! I doubt this will have much of an effect on you directly, as very few teenagers will take the stance of, "Gee, I wish my parents would take a more active role in my life."
Of course, the true litmus test is who you blame for your own actions.
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... to tell us PRECISELY what is wrong with any major film out there. At least for a very specific subset of the population.
Read it for a laugh, read it for a look into a closed mind; for whatever reason, it's an interesting place. And they count ALL of the naughty bits and tell you what they are.
http://www.capalert.com/capreports/
An excerpt from their analysis of Daredevil (The guy thought it sucked too), specifically the "I" from the WISDOM scale:
Impudence/Hate:
* six uses of the three/four letter word vocabulary
* a single use of the most foul of the foul words in song
* reckless regard for personal safety by a child
* a single use of the three/four letter word vocabulary by a child
* lies
* facial piercing
* adult tantrum
This is actually a very clever legislative compromise...we can still steal cars, sell drugs and kill hookers in Grand Theft Auto, but now the game stars Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.
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That, I feel, is exactly what we need.
We all know my daughter is exactly like you were at that age.
Did you read any of the other comments?
Clear, Dark Skies
Isn't this what K-A used to be? Personally, i yearn for the days when games weren't rated, and the titles and covers gave you a damn good idea if the game was appropriate for your kid.