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What's So Wrong With the ESRB?
1up has an in-depth look at the Hot Coffee hoopla, and the resulting impact on the ESRB. From the article: "Hot Coffee's wake was also the tipping point for The National Institute for Media and the Family. Its strongly worded 10th Annual MediaWise Video and Computer Game Report Card awarded the ESRB an 'F' for ratings accuracy and a 'C+' for ratings education. More damning was the Report Card's statement: 'The so-called 'hot coffee' scandal does not simply reveal the bad faith of one of the industry's most prominent companies; it has shown once and for all that the present rating system is broken and can't be fixed.'"
I'm 19 now, on the cusp of being an adult (more or less). I grew up with ESRB, and I think they've done a great job. I don't think this peddling from another opponent needs to be even payed attention to. The gamers, the industry as a whole, and educated peoples in the public stand behind ESRB. Granted, my parents have not been involved in actively monitoring what games I play, but since I grew up with the ESRB ratings system, whenever I make little ones of my own I'll know what to look for. It's all about being educated, and it's about being apart of your child's lives, and not letting them play GTA: SA at the age of 6. But heck, when I was 5 we didn't have any fandangled open environments. But we did have Descent. Damn good game.
The ESRB's credibility has nothing to do with Hot Coffee. In fact, I'm totally floored by the fuss that Hot Coffee has caused. It's not that big of a deal. It had to be hacked to be even remotely viewable. An article posted on Slashdot awhile ago made Hot Coffee to be the biggest industry blunder in our history, but I think it's more of the biggest over-statement in the history of our industry.