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The ESRB Doesn't Take Games Seriously?

Posted by Zonk on from the preaching-to-the-choir-here dept.

Eurogamer has word of comments by the president of developer Factor 5, Julian Eggebrecht. The veteran game developer had some extremely pointed things to say about the ESRB, an organization he painted as 'not taking games seriously'. Says Eggebrecht, "I would be happy if in games we could talk about homosexuality, but we're not even at the point where we can admit that humans have heterosexual relationships, and that is a real problem - and it tends to show that games are not being seen, even by our own ratings boards, as an artform ... It's a flat out bizarre system...It makes it even harder for games than movies because we don't have the intermediate ratings. They don't really tell you what they will object to - they just say 'well, follow the standards that have been set before', which is a problem if you want to push the envelope." There's further discussion of this issue at Ars' Opposable Thumbs blog, which points out that the console makers hold some responsibility here too. Meanwhile, Rockstar is asking for help from the wider games industry to help them to fight the ESRB/BBFC rulings.

4 of 330 comments (clear)

  1. Turn ESRB ratings on their head by JosefAssad · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Wouldn't take much to cook up a campaign where tough ESRB ratings are used to sell even more games.

    Forbidden fruit and all.

    --
    The Banjo Players Must Die!
  2. Like the MPAA Ratings board by Nanite · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I just watched a movie called "this film is not yet rated" (get it on netflix) where they show just how incompetent and unfair the MPAA ratings board is. If the ESRB is WORSE, then I feel sorry for anyone trying to push the envelope in games developement.

    PS. Jack valenti is still dead and in hell

    --
    God is real unless declared integer.
  3. Comic books != videogames by elrous0 · · Score: 4, Interesting
    True, but even comic books are still strictly constrained to a large extent (controversial titles will only be carried in certain comic book shops, not in any mainstream retailers). And, even so, you're comparing apples and oranges. Even a quality modern comic book (or "graphic novel," if you're one of those types) can easily be produced by a single artist and writer in a relatively short time.

    A modern video game (above the level of Xbox Live Arcade material) requires a staff of 20 or more people (not including voice work) and can cost millions of dollars and years of work to develop. This means that money is a VERY real consideration in videogame development. No one is going to spend millions to develop a game that only a handful of stores in the whole country will carry.

    Now, you can point out that doing a cheap flash game or simple tetris-like title can be done much cheaper and easier than a full-fledged game. But that's clearly not the kind of game the OP was referring to.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  4. Re:Use lower overhead and release anyway by h4ck7h3p14n37 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Not true. For a game to be successful, it has to hit the shelves. Since NOBODY carries AO games (the rating reserved for porno and GTA:SA), you have to be careful to avoid that scarlet letter.

    Why don't the publishers simply not have their game reviewed by the ESRB and instead label them unrated? I know the big national chains have no problem carrying unrated movie titles.