EA CEO Wants to "Move Beyond the Alphabet Soup of Game Ratings"

[Hitchmeister]

How difficult is it to just add a little notification that says something like "this game has tits and blood"? No ratings, no meetings, no boards, none of that. Just "tits and blood".

The ESRB ratings already have that information in the form of content descriptors: http://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_guide.jsp

You read those to make an informed decision about the content of games if you're concerned with ratings. Apparently, John Riccitiello is unaware of this. Which I find worrying.

 

[crazyrabbits]

How difficult is it to just add a little notification that says something like "this game has tits and blood"? No ratings, no meetings, no boards, none of that. Just "tits and blood".

Well, most games usually have a short content descriptor listed beside the rating on the back of the game box, and (as Hitchmeister said), the ESRB ratings already have summaries of each rated game up on their site. Hell, there's even a fanbase for the ESRB rating description writers.

I'll take Riccitello a little more seriously when he stops whining about global rating systems and starts talking about putting a system into place to warn consumers about on-disc DLC.

 

[Baresark]

I don't disagree with what he is saying, but the man is clearly a moron. First, how in the world is an American organization going to institute a rating system for the whole world? We gonna start invading other countries over it? "We don't care if you have democracy, but you must institute this rating system!" My second problem is that it being free should not be a selling point, but that is how governmental organizations work. You must adhere to their system in order to operate, and you must pay them to be part of that system. You get this with ESRB, you get this with XBLA, and you get this with housing inspectors.

I think what people fail to understand is that the ratings are suggestions and not law. When it says mature, the suggestion is that it's for someone at or above a certain age. That is how these organizations work (in most places in America). You have the right to not have your movie, book, or video game not rated and still sell it. You may limit your outlets by not having something rated, but rating agencies are far from necessary.

I'll use comics as an example. For years comics published under the iron fist of the CCA (comics code authority). It wasn't until comics actively stopped looking for CCA approval that it really took off. Ignoring it allowed for more adult, more serious, and more socially impacting stories. The first thing Marvel did without CCA approval was a story arch where Peter Parkers best friend, Harry Osborne, became addicting to pills. That was a huge problem at the time and here you had a government agency actively stopping the publishing of a work that could inform kids and adults about the dangers of it.

Edit: Also EA CEO "move beyond alphabet soup". Nice.

 

[Gregg Lonsdale]

I don't think the ratings system is the problem here. I think it's just people being stupid. If a parent would really look at the box art for a Call of Duty game, see the numerous guns and combat knives, and still think that it's appropriate for their 10-year-old then they probably just shouldn't be a parent. Hopefully this sort of thing will stop happening over time when the parent-pool starts to contain more people who grew up with modern video games and understand how violent they actually are. Hopefully.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

...according to Riccitiello, who also serves as Chairman of the Entertainment Software Association board.

Um... doesn't that present a conflict of interest?

Not at all. The ESA is an organization run by and for the game industry that lobbies for things they collectively want. You're thinking of the ESRB (Entertainment Software Ratings Board), which rates videogames for content. The ESRB was founded by the ESA, but as far as I know it's an independent non profit organization. The ESA just got it off the ground in order to get congress off their backs on the issue of videogame violence. Even if the ESRB /is/ run by the ESA, the conflict is in that statement, not in Ricitello being the chairman of the ESA. He's exactly the sort of industry big wig you'd expect to be at the head of that.

OT:

This is incredibly stupid. Has the man forgotten that the ESRB was founded in the first place to keep congress from cracking down on the fledgling videogame industry with a Comics/Hays code style censorship board? Or heck, the california violent videogame thing from last year, which the ESA was a strong opponent of for exactly the same reason they were an opponent of Congress doing it nationally back in the 90's?

Edit: Actually, re-reading this, it looks like he wants the ESRB to create a ratings system for the entire world. The ESRB, unlike the various European ratings boards, is not a government agency. So he's not so much asking the US government to make ratings for the whole word as asking the whole world to pay attention to what a bunch of American soccer moms think. Granted, I'm not sure which is a sillier idea.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

I don't disagree with what he is saying, but the man is clearly a moron. First, how in the world is an American organization going to institute a rating system for the whole world? We gonna start invading other countries over it? "We don't care if you have democracy, but you must institute this rating system!" My second problem is that it being free should not be a selling point, but that is how governmental organizations work. You must adhere to their system in order to operate, and you must pay them to be part of that system. You get this with ESRB, you get this with XBLA, and you get this with housing inspectors.

It's rather easy: any game sold or distributed in the US gets a rating. Anything beyond that could simply be an industry standard. Nothing that requires gunboat diplomacy.

 

[Canadish]

MEANWHILE; Origins has allegedly been hacked by Russians and stolen users account data.

More at 7!

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

It's a bit condescending I think to assume parents are confused by different standards between countries when they can easily look at what the rating means. They're not that stupid. Not everywhere at least. But if there's no reason not to, I think universal ratings would be fine in the same way universal powerpoints would be fine. That said, the ratings system is arbitrary wherever you go and isn't worth spending large amounts of money on.

Basically, let parents make their own decisions like they do anyway. If anything take the ratings system less seriously, parents shouldn't have to be told what games their child can and can't play.

Now with anyone else I might say "Oh look, they have feelings not entirely centred around money", but since it's John Riccitello, I instead think "Stop pretending to care about the industry and get back to thinking of new and exciting ways that people can pay you after they've bought the product".

 

[Leon's Hell]

Mr. Riccitiello I don't think you would have noticed this, but a move towards a universal rating system would result in you not having to pay as much to get your games rated. I suppose this is a happy coincidence, because it's obviously for the benefit of others and not for your company.

 

[Evil Smurf]

If a game called "Big fuck off gun simulator '13" With a cover of rocket launch killing naked bloody bodies appears on the market, Parents would still buy it for their 11 year old. Escapists please don't be stupid parents.

 

[shrekfan246]

How difficult is it to just add a little notification that says something like "this game has tits and blood"? No ratings, no meetings, no boards, none of that. Just "tits and blood".

The ESRB ratings already have that information in the form of content descriptors: http://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_guide.jsp

You read those to make an informed decision about the content of games if you're concerned with ratings. Apparently, John Riccitiello is unaware of this. Which I find worrying.

To be perfectly honest, it's endemic of the entire situation, really. Based on the number of pre-teens who play games like Grand Theft Auto, Halo, Gears of War, God Of War, Call of Duty, et al it would seem that most parents either don't know or don't care about how in-depth the ESRB really treats their rating system. And if that's not worrying, then I don't know what would be.

 

[WhiteTigerShiro]

I don't really see this as necessary. Do movies have a world-wide standard for ratings? If I fly to Japan or England will I still see the same familiar PG and R movies that I'm used to here? Do movies outside of the US even have ratings? Dollars to donuts he's really doing this so that it'll be cheaper to publish games in multiple countries (note: the price of the games won't actually change) and just has a convenient "think of the children" angle to swing at the politicians.

Over-all I don't really give a fuck, though. Whether this passes or not, I doubt it'll have any sort of bearing on me.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

How difficult is it to just add a little notification that says something like "this game has tits and blood"? No ratings, no meetings, no boards, none of that. Just "tits and blood".

The ESRB ratings already have that information in the form of content descriptors: http://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_guide.jsp

You read those to make an informed decision about the content of games if you're concerned with ratings. Apparently, John Riccitiello is unaware of this. Which I find worrying.

To be perfectly honest, it's endemic of the entire situation, really. Based on the number of pre-teens who play games like Grand Theft Auto, Halo, Gears of War, God Of War, Call of Duty, et al it would seem that most parents either don't know or don't care about how in-depth the ESRB really treats their rating system. And if that's not worrying, then I don't know what would be.

Those preteens are getting access to those games because their parents either don't care or think they're mature enough to handle them. The ESRB is actually a highly effective ratings system, blowing away the MPAA in terms of how well its enforced. But it doesn't matter if the parents ignore it.

 

[shrekfan246]

How difficult is it to just add a little notification that says something like "this game has tits and blood"? No ratings, no meetings, no boards, none of that. Just "tits and blood".

The ESRB ratings already have that information in the form of content descriptors: http://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_guide.jsp

You read those to make an informed decision about the content of games if you're concerned with ratings. Apparently, John Riccitiello is unaware of this. Which I find worrying.

To be perfectly honest, it's endemic of the entire situation, really. Based on the number of pre-teens who play games like Grand Theft Auto, Halo, Gears of War, God Of War, Call of Duty, et al it would seem that most parents either don't know or don't care about how in-depth the ESRB really treats their rating system. And if that's not worrying, then I don't know what would be.

Those preteens are getting access to those games because their parents either don't care or think they're mature enough to handle them. The ESRB is actually a highly effective ratings system, blowing away the MPAA in terms of how well its enforced. But it doesn't matter if the parents ignore it.

Well... yeah. That was my point.

I think the ESRB is incredibly thorough, especially on their website, but it's all moot if parents buy their kids these games just to shut them up.

 

[Metalrocks]

the pegi rating in europe has a big box with a number written on it for age. and every age has their own color. red is for 18 and it really sticks out.

in australia, movies and games have a very huge rating label on the left lower corner of the box. they dont use numbers for lower age group but for mature content there is a number as well. G, PG, M, M15+, R 18+. these are the ratings in australia. each of them have their own color and right next to it, it has descriptions what the game/movie contents. like: strong violence, scary scenes, sex scenes.... and all this stuff.
actually pretty informative. so the parents cant say they dint see it since it really sticks out.

 

[IronMit]

''to help consumers make informed decisions''

you can write in bold the charge for an online pass if not new
&
what DLC is missing from the game and how much it will cost you
&
the average length of a single player campaign

That will really help consumers make informed decisions..

 

[Twilight_guy]

Can't decide if I should add this to my list of examples for 'even mentioning EA makes gamers froth at the mouth'... hum...

Anywho, I don't think this will work out. Its nearly impossible to get every nation to agree on anything and for this to work you'd have to get everyone to voluntarily jump on board.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

E, E10+, Teen and Mature are really that complex of terms for parents to understand?

Actually, I'm not sure myself about the E stands for. Early maybe? That sounds silly. I do live in the UK bearing in mind.

Speaking of which, a numerical system is better anyway, it's clearer. A Universal system is a bad idea though, because some countries are more sensitive about certain things.