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US Senators Take On The ESRB Over Manhunt 2
eldavojohn writes "Some US Senate members sent a letter to the ESRB asking for 'your consideration of whether it is time to review the robustness, reliability and repeatability of your ratings process, particularly for this genre of 'ultraviolent' video games and the advances in game controllers,' the senators wrote. 'We have consistently urged parents to pay attention to the ESRB rating system. We must ensure that parents can rely on the consistency and accuracy of those ratings.' The group of lawmakers were concerned that Manhunt 2 was only given an 'M' rating and instead feel that it should have the 'AO' rating — a rating that only 23 other games have been given and a rating that would cause Sony & Nintendo to restrict it from being released on their consoles."
Playing a game before making laws about how to rate them is about as useful as taking crack before making it illegal.
I hope they get the information required to take their decisions from experts in whatever science studies the matter at stake.
Not in the least. An 18 year-old is NOT mature enough yet either. BEWARE - Tangent ahead!!
For the record, I feel the minimum age of adulthood really should be something like 21, especially since college has evolved into 'High School Second Edition'. That means no voting, no joining the military, no getting married, no ZERO CREDIT CREDIT CARDS, etc. If you're not old enough to maturely handle alcohol consumption, I don't want you choosing which targets are friendly nor choosing what kind of political issues you think are 'cool'.
Back to the point, in our current society 18 is when you get to start getting your feet wet. You begin to make those costly adult mistakes and your parents will still bail you out. Your parent's expectations have just gone up and you are just starting to get enough rope to hang yourself with...
If you're delving into porn and sadistic material, you're expected to be self-regulating at this point.
It is exactly like you said, you really do change to fit the expectations of others. In that light, which is easier, restrict the games to match that expectation or change the expectations of everyone in society for the benefit of a sub-genre of video games??
Again, this isn't about the entire video game industry. This is about the RATING SYSTEM, and whether or not it can be used as it is currently and have any success at all. The logic all points to 'not in the least'.
Seriously, why is this even an issue? What am I missing here, besides the desire to emancipate the down-trodden teenagers of America?