ESA Oppose Idea of Universal Media Ratings

[Arassar]

Trying to apply a universal rating system across several forms of media is inappropriate and misinformed at best, intrusive and misleading at worst. These forms of expression are not the same, so they shouldn't be rated the same. And seriously, is it THAT hard for a person to understand the label? I've never met anybody who was confused reading one.

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

I hear the first amendment invoked alot in arguments now-a-days like its some kind of opening chess move or a raid buff doled out to lawyers before court cases.

Exactly how does this impede on my right to free speech? If you ask me everything having one rating system would be alot simpler to parents. Why not use the current movie rating system, want to buy your kid the newest grand theft auto well lets see....rated R? Sorry Timmy, maybe when you're older.

If you want to know what it's like when your government is rating everything, go look at China. They aren't even allowed to have a skeleton in WoW because it might make the kids unstable.

Anytime the U.S. government tries to tell you what you can and cannot read or watch, they are violating the First Amendment.

 

[Xorghul]

I hate censoring.
Give it to me raaaw and wriggling. - Gollum

 

[Sixties Spidey]

All this bitching and moaning about censorship and a universal rating system is really starting to bring my blood to a boil. Might I suggest something? Every single parent, kid, government, and the FCC should listen to this. It's a very simple solution.

DON'T FUCKING USE CENSORSHIP.

Simple! That way, you fucktards can learn to parent responsibly without having a scapegoat to put it on while the gaming community gets the shaft from the public media.

 

[Bigeyez]

Honestly, we would get a lot less school shootings if parents could see that a game was Rated 'R' instead of Rated 'M' it's a great idea, methinks. The fact that they aren't doing this will only lead to public confusion.

*Crisis Averted* No facepalm needed. =p

 

[Nutcase]

Surely I am not the only one who thinks "ESA Rubbish Idea of Universal Media Ratings"
1) isn't English
2) is highly misleading?

The original Gamasutra article had a headline that made sense.

 

[Knonsense]

I think this is a sign that we need to axe the FCC, make a new organization to replace it, and then axe that one just to be safe.

"Universal ratings will, in the end, only serve to confuse consumers, violate the Constitution's first amendment, and are a solution in search of a problem," he added.

Which part, exactly? I don't trust the FFC any further than I could throw them, but I'm curious as to how it'd be unconstitutional.

Well, while I doubt that they would be able to ban things outright like the grotesque Australian system, there will have to be some rating in the new system that would allow them to effectively keep certain products out of mainstream stores or off consoles (an analogue of X or Ao). While this can't crush the freedom of the press without the cooperation of the industry, the industry will be forced to cooperate by market forces. After all, the Disney channel can air hardcore pornography during safe harbor. It just wouldn't be profitable for them. Allowing the FCC to label something as obscene would send a finished work back to production if not kill it, and what's to stop them from doing this to a game or movie for political reasons? I'd say that's a constitutional grey area at best.

 

[Amnestic]

Surely I am not the only one who thinks "ESA Rubbish Idea of Universal Media Ratings"
1) isn't English
2) is highly misleading?

The original Gamasutra article had a headline that made sense.

Rubbish can be a verb [http://www.learnersdictionary.com/search/rubbish%5B2%5D].

 

[Nutcase]

Rubbish can be a verb [http://www.learnersdictionary.com/search/rubbish%5B2%5D].

Thank you. Informal British flummoxes me.

 

[Bigeyez]

Honestly, we would get a lot less school shootings if parents could see that a game was Rated 'R' instead of Rated 'M' it's a great idea, methinks. The fact that they aren't doing this will only lead to public confusion.

/Facepalm

Did you really just say that videogame ratings are the reason behind school shootings? REALLY???

I'm sorry, I don't think I worded that right. Stupid parents are the reason behind it, and they buy the games for the kids at a young age and no matter how you put it, that kind of stuff has at least a tiny speck of influence.

Ah, alritey then I withdraw my previous /facepalm. All is well =)

 

[Knonsense]

Honestly, we would get a lot less school shootings if parents could see that a game was Rated 'R' instead of Rated 'M' it's a great idea, methinks. The fact that they aren't doing this will only lead to public confusion.

Well, first off I resent the idea that the media is responsible for school shootings, especially the idea that video games are more responsible than other forms of media.

Beyond that, you would have to be really stupid not to understand the meaning of the ESRB ratings. They explain what the letter stands for on the front, they describe the appropriate age group in terms of numbers, and they elaborate on why the game received the ratings that they did on the back. I don't see how this is more confusing or less descriptive than MPAA ratings. If that's not enough, a lot of stores have big fucking unnecessary signs describing each rating, even the fringe ratings that are very unlikely to appear like Early Childhood and Adults Only. Then they do the exact same thing again on inserts around the price tags. Then they refer people to their website. Honestly, if there was some statistic that said that ESRB ratings were more familiar to the American population than MPAA ratings, I wouldn't be surprised. We're saturated with coverage on ESRB ratings.

 

[hansari]

As far as parents using the ESRB ratings, that's a whole different topic, but regarless of what parents deem safe for their children, the ratings will give them a general idea of what they can expect to (not) be in the game.

You think a letter the size of a postage stamp, offers enough insight?

For every game that this system rightfully denies to children, there are kids who miss out on games that they were mature enough to play because of it.

And lets not forget the parents that disregard ratings and purchase inappropriate games for their children. Thanks to them, we have the "immature whiny gamer who is just a little too into it."

My argument here is that ESRB ratings just aren't appropriate to make an informed decision... (see the list below for what I think is)

This is impossible, parents would have to buy everygame their kids wanted. ...So you try to take God of war back but you've opened and played it so you can't....

UGH, you are right! We shamefully live in an age that can do nothing to help the plight of parents!

- They can't ask anyone for their opinion [http://www.whattheyplay.com/products/halo-3-for-xbox-360/]. Those "fellow customers" standing next to you at an EBGames just look so shifty too...

- They can't browse [http://www.callofduty.com/] through a video games website [http://gearsofwar.xbox.com/AgeGate.htm]. Those are so difficult to maneuver [http://halo.xbox.com/halo3/]and hardly offer any information...

- They can't watch gameplay footage online either [http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Bioshock+gameplay&search_type=&aq=f]. Especially not for upcoming games [http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=uncharted+2+gameplay&search_type=&aq=0&oq=Uncharted+2]. An in depth analysis would be a dream come true [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/reviews/], but parents just don't have that option [http://www.giantbomb.com/videos/]....

The ESRB rating system is meant to inform but, in reality, serves as nothing but a crutch to responsible parenting. Parents can look at an ESRB rating and think,"this is enough"...

 

[Bigeyez]

As far as parents using the ESRB ratings, that's a whole different topic, but regarless of what parents deem safe for their children, the ratings will give them a general idea of what they can expect to (not) be in the game.

You think a letter the size of a postage stamp, offers enough insight?

For every game that this system rightfully denies to children, there are kids who miss out on games that they were mature enough to play because of it.

And lets not forget the parents that disregard ratings and purchase inappropriate games for their children. Thanks to them, we have the "immature whiny gamer who is just a little too into it."

My argument here is that ESRB ratings just aren't appropriate to make an informed decision... (see the list below for what I think is)

This is impossible, parents would have to buy everygame their kids wanted. ...So you try to take God of war back but you've opened and played it so you can't....

UGH, you are right! We shamefully live in an age that can do nothing to help the plight of parents!

- They can't ask anyone for their opinion [http://www.whattheyplay.com/products/halo-3-for-xbox-360/]. Those "fellow customers" standing next to you at an EBGames just look so shifty too...

- They can't browse [http://www.callofduty.com/] through a video games website [http://gearsofwar.xbox.com/AgeGate.htm]. Those are so difficult to maneuver [http://halo.xbox.com/halo3/]and hardly offer any information...

- They can't watch gameplay footage online either [http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Bioshock+gameplay&search_type=&aq=f]. Especially not for upcoming games [http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=uncharted+2+gameplay&search_type=&aq=0&oq=Uncharted+2]. An in depth analysis would be a dream come true [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/reviews/], but parents just don't have that option [http://www.giantbomb.com/videos/]....

The ESRB rating system is meant to inform but, in reality, serves as nothing but a crutch to responsible parenting. Parents can look at an ESRB rating and think,"this is enough"...

What your talking about though is parents who are just bad at parenting. The ESRB can't make bad parents good ones.

Just because parents don't check other sources for information on games doesn't mean the ERSB is at fault. You could say the same thing about movie ratings. They give you more or less the same bland description an ESRB rating does.

And even then not everyone agrees on whats appropriate for kids. What you think is inappropriate for your kids another parent thinks is fine. When I was a kid I was bought M rated games all the time and I didn't grow up to be a fucked up little snot. If there is a "immature whiny gamer who is just a little too into it." playing a game the blame falls on the parent, not the ESRB.

And lets be honest here you know most parents won't check any of the sources you listed. Thats just how it is. But again thats not the ESRBs fault it's the parents and those who do use the ESRB as their crutch are practicing bad parenting.

To sum it up Parents are ultimately responsible here. The ESRB shouldn't need to include 10 pages on information on why a game got it's rating with every copy of a game sold. All the ESRB does is rate games by it's arbitrary system and it's up to the parent to verify these ratings and accept that game into their household or not. If a parent doesn't care or ignores all that information it's their own fault, not the ESRBs.

 

[KeyMaster45]

I hear the first amendment invoked alot in arguments now-a-days like its some kind of opening chess move or a raid buff doled out to lawyers before court cases.

Exactly how does this impede on my right to free speech? If you ask me everything having one rating system would be alot simpler to parents. Why not use the current movie rating system, want to buy your kid the newest grand theft auto well lets see....rated R? Sorry Timmy, maybe when you're older.

If you want to know what it's like when your government is rating everything, go look at China. They aren't even allowed to have a skeleton in WoW because it might make the kids unstable.

Anytime the U.S. government tries to tell you what you can and cannot read or watch, they are violating the First Amendment.

If I understood what I read right, the FCC isn't trying to put government in charge of the ratings, just trying to create a uniform rating system that both the ESRB, MPAA, etc etc.. can slap on their stuff. In terms of stark common sense if everything were to stwitch to the rating system used for movies parents probably would start paying more attention to the maturity of games their kids are playing. Like I said earlier, if you slap a giant "Rated 'R'" on a GTA box one would hope parents would go "Oh hey, that's the same sticker on Inglorious Basterds (or some other rated R movie), maybe my kids shouldn't be playing this."

I'm a practical man who feels that uniformity, or rather industry standards are something that make life easier on everyone. Despite that movies, music, and games are considered separate industries they all fall under the larger industry category of entertainment and thus something as simple as ratings should be standard between them so that the consumer can make a better more informed decision. Rightly so, however, when the consumer goes to purchase a game it is their ultimate responsibility to check and see if it contains unsuitable content for certain ages.

Where was I going with this argument, I'm not quite sure really. Read whatever direction you want into it, I kinda went off on a tangent.

 

[raxer92]

NO, no no no no no no, NO, this is unconstitutional in every right, the only reason their is even a videogame rating system was because parents bitched about mortal kombat, we dont need all of our media to be controlled by parents who ***** about anything that seems remotely threatening to their children. Stop this now or their will be a censorship war, At&t started one with 4chan and 4chan beat the living shit out of them, i assure all of you that no one will accept this idea, if their is a media rating system for everything then that means sooner or later they will try to censor things in all media related items, i mean think about it for a second, first its controlling the rating system and then controlling what comes out to the public? This is ridiculous!

 

[Knonsense]

See the thing is, the MPAA's ratings ARE more prevalent. You see, even while they have all of that, it's what we in the business (though I'm not actually in the business) call "small print" the box-art outnumbers the rating space fifteen to one.

Spoiler: For Comparison

Notice how the MPAA rating is conspicuously not on the front cover of the DVD, and occupies a tiny, tiny portion of the back, with no elaboration on what R means or why it's rated R, a rating which encompasses everything that is inappropriate for 13 year olds but not obscene enough to be X (though the movie was X at one point). There appears to be some elaboration on the movie poster, but it's too small to decipher at this resolution.

In contrast, the ESRB rating is really big. It occupies space on the front and can be read thoroughly and easily at this crappy resolution, with the possible exception of the line "content rated by." It's really big on the back, where the reasons for its M rated are elaborated upon. You may also notice that there is fine print near the bottom of the back of the box, and it is much smaller than any font used for the ESRB rating.

Let's also not forget that most American video game commercials (especially for rated M games) reserve about seven seconds when nothing is on the screen but the rating and this is accompanied by a voice over stating what the rating letter is and what word it stands for. It's comparatively easy to overlook the MPAA rating in an average movie trailer, where they usually throw the rating over at the bottom of the screen with a two second voice over while footage that's generally more interesting goes by in the background.

Honestly, it's sad that they have to do quite that much to keep government ass clowns from eviscerating the industry.

EDIT: Fixed some grammar mistakes.

 

[squid5580]

"Universal ratings will, in the end, only serve to confuse consumers, violate the Constitution's first amendment, and are a solution in search of a problem," he added.

Which part, exactly? I don't trust the FFC any further than I could throw them, but I'm curious as to how it'd be unconstitutional.

would take the USA put of step with the other major games markets where games are regulated by industry based bodies.

Should that be 'Out of step'?

I want to know how that will confuse consumers. Isn't that the problem now? We got Ms, Ts and numbers and just the general parental advisory thing. Hell on the Anime on Demand channel in my town they have warnings like skimpy clothes, extreme jiggling and nosebleeds. And they have icons to boot. How would having 1 set of numbers or letters for movies, TV, games and music confuse anyone?

 

[hansari]

If a parent doesn't care or ignores all that information it's their own fault, not the ESRBs.

Where did I say it is the ESRB's fault?

I'm for personal responsibility. The only thing the ESRB system is guilty of is being insufficient in the information it provides.

And even then not everyone agrees on whats appropriate for kids. What you think is inappropriate for your kids another parent thinks is fine. When I was a kid I was bought M rated games all the time and I didn't grow up to be a fucked up little snot. If there is a "immature whiny gamer who is just a little too into it." playing a game the blame falls on the parent, not the ESRB.

Thats because maturity cannot be dictated by a number or letter.

And lets be honest here you know most parents won't check any of the sources you listed. Thats just how it is. But again thats not the ESRBs fault it's the parents and those who do use the ESRB as their crutch are practicing bad parenting.

It is inevitable...it will be a crutch...why not make it a better crutch?

I said the current system is inneficent. Why not have this page [http://www.whattheyplay.com/products/call-of-duty-4-modern-warfare-for-xbox-360/] folded in the case?

That small postage stamp sized warning doesn't provide enough insight.

If you were an outside observer and uninformed about video games, how would you tell the difference between the gameplay available between this [http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51atrAxEVlL.jpg], this [http://www.vgblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/Games/Kane&Lynch/Cover_Art_Screens/kane_lynch_cover.JPG], and this [http://dev2.safenetdata.com/~safenet/images/call-of-duty-4-modern-warfare-box.jpg]?