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ESRB Now Enforcing Game Trailer Ratings

Posted by Zonk on from the would-you-please-stop-thinking-about-the-children dept.

Gamasutra has the news that the ESRB is beginning to enforce rating-related audience restrictions on game trailers. D3 Publisher's trailer for Dark Sector was judged AO by the ESRB, and demanded in correspondence to the company that it be removed from the internet. Take-Two, meanwhile, has been handed a letter saying their trailer for The Darkness needs to be 'age-gated' if it is to be seen online. Update: 06/26 14:20 GMT by Z : The Gamasutra post has been updated to clarify the situation: "ESRB president Patricia Vance has responded to Gamasutra with a prepared statement that claims today's notices are routine ESRB Advertising Review Council procedure followed since 2005. According to Vance, the appearance of both publisher emails today are simply reminders that mature rated trailers must be age-gated, and that if a trailer's content is found to be in violation of the ESRB's trailer requirements, it must be removed or replaced with an edited version."

7 of 86 comments (clear)

  1. This feels weird to me. by Perseid · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Gamespot is not run by the ESRB. They have trailers online. Are they saying that the publisher must tell these gaming sites to remove all traces of their trailer? What if Gamespot says 'bite me'? Perhaps they can't. But what about uploads to YouTube? What about copies posted on Bob's Gaming? These trailers are meant to spread like crazy - they're commercials after all. One would think that the ESRB should tell the publishers their fate before their trailers get in the wild, 'cause I've never heard of Dark Sector but you better believe I'm hunting down the trailer as soon as I hit Submit.

  2. Remove them from the internet, eh? by jasonmicron · · Score: 3, Interesting

    How does one remove something already released to the internet?

    Besides, all they need to do is leak their trailers into some IRC & Newsgroup channels. Underground publicity is the best publicity, plus it is has plausible deniability.

  3. Re:Suppose it's not a surprise, but... by xero314 · · Score: 4, Informative

    If a game is rated T, could a trailer by rated M? Yes, if the trailer contained content which is not in the actual game. This happens in game trailers. For instance it could be possible to make a Wii sports game trailer which showed people playing the game, while naked. This would change the rating of the trailer. Game trailers need not be made up of just snippets from the game itself. Many game trailers have had content only available in pre production demos (as happens in movies as well).
  4. Not the point of ratings. by MeanderingMind · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I have no problem with games being rated AO, and I have no problems with trailers being rated AO. However, given the way in which the AO rating is practically being applied (and quite explicitly here) I believe it needs a new name: NFA (Not for ANYONE).

    What bothers me about this is that decisions are being made for us concerning what we can do and watch. It is not the place of the ESRB to say what can and cannot be on the internet. The power of the ESRB is entirely within its ratings and should be extended no further. Don't like a trailer for "Gorefest Maimkiller", slap it with AO. Congratulations, your job is finished.

    I don't like that Nintendo and Sony won't allow production of AO games, but at the very least they have the right to do so. Their consoles, their rules. The internet, however, is not owned by the ESRB. There is no government sanction (nor should there be) that gives them the right to tell us what can and can't be there.

    I never intended on buying Manhunt 2, and I didn't care or know about the titles in the article. I'm about 100x more likely to take interest in these if only for the fact that they're the ridiculous targets of needless censorship.

    --
    Thunderclone: ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE! ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE!
  5. Re:Out of the ESRB's hands by aichpvee · · Score: 3, Informative

    That's where it'll ask you your age before letting you see something. There's some gaming site that has this on their flash videos. I just put in January 1 (default date) and then whichever year I happen to click on first, usually somewhere in the 60s or 70s. It's stupid, because there's NO verification (I don't think there should be anyway, don't let your kids on the Internet if you don't want them to see stuff) and it's just annoying as fuck.

    Never heard the term "age-gating" before though, but it makes sense.

    --
    The Farewell Tour II
  6. Whew, that was a close one! by roystgnr · · Score: 4, Funny

    Someone almost left Adult Only material on the internet!

  7. Re: This trailer? by Walpurgiss · · Score: 3, Informative

    The trailer they are trying to get canned is http://www.gametrailers.com/player/17392.html
    Its named a gameplay montage rather than a trailer. It shows several methods of killing, from neck breaks, decaps, shooting, and cutting with a weird 3 bladed weapon that apparently can also catch fire and build up a lot of static.

    I can see their objection to it being used as a trailer, but as far as being game content isn't all that much more graphic than a lot of other games.