ESA Thinks iPhone Games Should Be Rated

[Pigeon_Grenade]

Pointless, a parent Should Know Enough to guide there children in what they Belive is the right Direction, if i Believe My child is ready for, say a Teen rated game, then a ratings Pointless, its what THEY think, not what you yourself think which always bothered me..

 

[IrrelevantTangent]

Because, as we all know, vidja games without ratings are the Devil's tools, and Jesus died for vidja gamers' many, many sins. *rolls eyes* This is just silly. Do games on the iPhone even count as full-fledged video games? They don't have enough content, and there's surely not enough bad stuff in them to justify ratings. Right?

 

[Erana]

Am I the only one who likes this idea?
Ratings are one of the industry's few ass-covering moves, dispite how little they do. As video games become a more accepted form of entertainment and art, the general public will start to shift the blame off the games themselves and to those irresponsible enough to let young people play games they weren't supposed to. At least I hope.
Still, I am a strong supporter of the rating system, and considering some of the content of apps I've heard of, it would (ideally) keep more mature software out of the hands of people who would somehow find a way to abuse it.

 

[Erana]

Am I the only one who likes this idea?
Ratings are one of the industry's few ass-covering moves, dispite how little they do. As video games become a more accepted form of entertainment and art, the general public will start to shift the blame off the games themselves and to those irresponsible enough to let young people play games they weren't supposed to. At least I hope.
Still, I am a strong supporter of the rating system, and considering some of the content of apps I've heard of, it would (ideally) keep more mature software out of the hands of people who would somehow find a way to abuse it.

Yes, yes you are the only one...
BURN the witch!

There is NO possible up-side to censorship, or in turn, "age ratings" on media. It is forced morality at best, and shifts parental responsibility away from the parents and onto the media provider/creator. Rating systems let parents take the lazy way out, instead of previewing something before letting their child see it, they just look to a stupid icon to tell them how they should act. Then, when the child sees something they didn't intend on letting him, they blame everyone but themselves, when in truth it is their own laziness that is at fault.

Add to that, the politics behind any censorship board. X game or Y movie has something about it that Z board member dislikes, so it gets a worse rating despite not having the objectionable content the rating merits. Or because Y movie promotes the idea that gay marriage is not sinful, board member Z, who is a blatant homophobe and conservative, blocks its release.

Find me a good side to this...

What's so bad about the rating system? Sure, parents should be paying attention to what their kids are playing, but other than a few "misrated titles," I'd say the ESRB is pretty reliable. I've never come across an E-rated game that I would restrict from my own possible future child (with the exception of games that are simply bad products.)
As you said, a lot of parents are lazy with what their kids are playing, but isn't that where the ESRB steps in? Would we have nearly as many, "9-year-old kills because of GTA" if their parents had made even the slightest effort to read the rating? As I had said before, with the presence of the rating system, parents have no excuse.
And all systems are currupted when people are involved. Doesn't mean all hospitals should close down because someone killed someone by misreading a prescription.

 

[ThrobbingEgo]

Aren't the ESRB ratings entirely optional?

Besides, it's superfluous to have both Apple's arbitrary internal rejection system and the ESRB.

 

[ucciolord1]

I hate ratings. I see why they exist, and the gaming industry is probably better off with them (though iPhone games shouldn't have them, because it would be stupid) but it just pisses me off when they rate something harmless like Halo "M", or something sick like Manhunt 2 "M". This is a bit off topic, but I wish they would add a "PG-13" rating. Then maybe my mom would let me play Crysis...

 

[ucciolord1]

Because, as we all know, vidja games without ratings are the Devil's tools, and Jesus died for vidja gamers' many, many sins. *rolls eyes* This is just silly. Do games on the iPhone even count as full-fledged video games? They don't have enough content, and there's surely not enough bad stuff in them to justify ratings. Right?

It would be like rating "Heli Attack"
"Protect your children from two-dimensional helicopters of Satan!"

 

[HentMas]

Fine by me, unless Jack Thomson (or whathever his name is) wants to make it so that the game ratings are abligatory, and Jail to those that sell them to Kids