Slashdot Mirror
ESRB Should Stand Down?
Next Generation has a piece wondering if the ESRB should step down in favour of an independent board, to restore the faith of consumers in the game ratings system. They talk with a company that proposes just that, wanting to substitute a new system for the current model. From the article: "Profanity Sex Violence (PSV) Ratings differ from the ESRB in that they describe levels of sex, violence and profanity in games (using a traffic light system) instead of judging a game to be appropriate for a certain age."
to restore the faith of consumers in the game ratings system.
Did I miss something? Was faith ever lost in the ESRB? The ESRB didn't create the "hot coffee" mod, and last I knew they were quite capable of rating a game "M for mature" if it contained sex or violence.
The only thing that "Hot Coffee" made me loose a little more faith in are parents who refuse to care what they buy their children - or talking heads screaming about how videogames are apparently murdering babies in their sleep.
instead of judging a game to be appropriate for a certain age
But I think that judging a game by a certain age is a perfect rating system. It's worked for movies for decades. If I could change one thing about the ESRB rating system, it would be to use the age limit instead of an obscure symbol. Current ratings are:
"EC, E, E10, T, M, AO, RP"
Those would become:
"EC, E, 10, 13, 17, 18, RP"
Although until I looked up the ratings to type them out above, I didn't know that an "E" for "Everyone" was actually a more severe rating than "Early Childhood" (so clearly "E" is not really "everyone").
Nobody would have a problem thinking: "Gee, this game is rated '18', I wonder if I should buy it for little Timmy" - but if they see a benign "M" symbol, parents are not necessarily going to make a mental connection if they're not looking out for it.
My seven year old is not stupid. He is seven. He understands that E games are for him and M games are not and that he can only play T games if we approve. (Star Craft & RoboTech).
More importantly he was able to understand this when he was five and he has never asked for an M game because he knows they are not for him. As a parent this is a huge feature, the ratings aren't just for adults.
Yeah, yeah, it's a big debate. On the one hand you've got responsible parents who declare they should be free to raise their kids as they see fit. On the other hand you've got parents who starve their kids, lock em in closets, hit em with things, force them to watch porn and even rape them. They have the right to raise their kids as they see fit right? No? Well which is it? Not only is the child's welfare at stake, there's also the affect this child will have on society when it grows up.
How we know is more important than what we know.
For example, the movie, Minority Report, carries red for violence and profanity and yellow for sex.
For all I try I simply can't remember anything close to sex in that film. They had nude female bodies, yes, but they were lying in a pool hooked up to machinery. Only someone who's totally perverted anyway would even think the word "sex" upon seeing the Precog's Temple. Other than that, I don't even recall a kissing scene.
Let's not hand these people our video games until they can get their damned facts straight.