The ESRB Gets An 'F'

GamePolitics reports on a failing grade given to the ESRB by the National Institute on Media and the Family. The report card did not look good for the ratings board, which almost immediately fired back at the organization. From that article: "The reality is that publishers understand that retailers largely choose not to stock AO-rated games, and so in the interests of producing marketable games, publishers will oftentimes revise and resubmit a game that was initially assigned an AO by raters in an effort to produce an M-rated game. When this happens, the process starts again from the beginning, and each new version of a game is reviewed independently. The call to issue more AO ratings has little to do with rating accuracy, and more to do with NIMF's real agenda, which is to destroy the commercial viability of games it deems objectionable. Unlike NIMF, ESRB's job is to be a neutral rater, not a censor."

Comments

Re:I "hate" Christians...

[rizzo420]

you are absolutely correct. why do parents want to leave the parenting up to large organizations? if you really care about your children, you'd try the game yourself first and then decide if they should be able to play it. just like with movies, some movies rated R aren't as bad as you would think. watch it with your child or go see it yourself first.

i also don't see why kids can't be carded when they rent or buy video games (although if you're too young for a license you have no way of being carded).

Re:Why a generic rating

[Blakey Rat]

What are you, an idiot? They already do this. If the rating is anything over E for Everyone, they always have a breakdown of exactly *why* it was rated that way.

http://www.covergalaxy.com/download.asp?system=XBo x&gamename=Grand%20Theft%20Auto%20San%20Andreas&co vercode=Cover

Look, there's a high resolution scan of the GTA San Andreas box (the one that all these groups are up in arms about.) Look at that block of large easily-visible text on the back that reads:

Mature 17+
Blood and Gore
Intense Violence
Strong Language
Strong Sexual Content
Use of Drugs

You see that? The EXACT REASONS it got a M rating, right there printed on every copy on the shelves.

Slashdot needs the -1 Just Plain Wrong moderation implemented, methinks.