ESRB Defends Dead Island Logo Decision

[Dragonborne88]

I contest not their decision. Unlike many places, the ESRB is actually very good about grading and making sure games follow the guidelines set for them without stepping on everybody's toes.

They've proven a few times not be be victims of the videogame hate that a lot of people in the country have, just look at them actually letting Duke Nukem' off with an M.

 

[luckycharms8282]

Seems like a fair enough request. This kind of thing is similar to magazines in grocery stores. They cant put a pair of tig ole bitties on their cover, b/c it may be seen by kids or easily offended people. Inside their magazine, they are free to put in what they want.

 

[Vrach]

...gone mad. Sigh.

Let's deal with this outrageous disgusting profanity next:
http://www.featurepics.com/FI/Thumb300/20100405/Hangman-Help-1503719.jpg

I mean, someone might get seriously offended, even internally injured.

^This. That logo is so incredibly unoffensive, I've seen a billion times worse cover for a book/movie/etc.

 

[CD-R]

Yep the ESRB has gotton way more strict over the years. For example.

 

[Mister Benoit]

This makes me sad. A man can't be shown hanging from a tree in a silhouette yet sex shops can have huge ads all over the Montreal metro system.

I'm pretty sure those ads have warped and messed up way more young girls and boys then the box art of a game could.

 

[uppitycracker]

For the land of the free, you guys sure do have some odd fine print when it comes to these things.

anyone who believes this to be the land of the free is sorely mistaken. i call it the land of the privileged.

 

[Jumplion]

As I said before

It would be as bad as a Zombie silhouette being guillotined in France, nailbombed or carchased in a tunnel in England, kneecapped in Ireland, or having it's hands amputated in Arabia.

Certain things don't sit well with certain cultures because of their past. Having a "shadow" man hanging from a tree doesn't work well in America. Don't make me have to spell it out why. (KKK)

People tend to not think of the big picture or on a grand, cultural scale. It's as if *gasp* the world is a bigger place than just their country, as if it has history behind it.

You, sir, always make me smile when we think of the same things.

Spoiler: Brofist

 

[VanityGirl]

And, once again, America decides to mess with box art.

I can't wait to see what Australia will do....

 

[Dastardly]

snip

It's an understandable move. Box art is public. People who don't play your game--or who may be looking for reasons to hate your game--will see it. The game itself? Only paying customers. Box art and marketing are different matters.

The box art is only being changed for the North America release. With apologies to Canada, most of those boxes are going to the US, which is the place where this iconography could cause undue fuss.

Now, I think that we could, as a country, get over the idea that anyone hanging from anything ever must be about racism. But that's another discussion for another thread.

 

[pandasaw]

"Oooooo the fact that the I is not a hanging zombie on the boxart ruined the game for me"

The box art does not indicate the person hanging from the tree is a zombie.

 

[Keava]

I don't get what's the problem? Do some people really want more of the nonsense how games are violent and "attacking the children" with gore images? The change does not influence the game itself at all and the less controversy from the "concerned parents" the better for everyone involved.

 

[Fappy]

Honestly the ESRB is doing them a favor in the PR department.

 

[Lono Shrugged]

Sounds reasonable enough to me. It's kinda like meeting each other halfway. I think censorship in pretty much any way is stupid but in this case I can understand why people might find it distasteful and at least they are working with us and trying to make everyone happy. Instead of the usual media shouting gaming gets. Plus why is a zombie/dead dude hanging from a tree, if only to make him an I?

I just wish they made this call on the C&C games because I don't want to look like a sex pest when I am buying my damn games!

 

[Dastardly]

For the land of the free, you guys sure do have some odd fine print when it comes to these things.

Just means folks are free to choose whether or not their kids see a man hanging from a tree. If it's in the game, there's a choice. If it's on the box, at eye level in a game store frequented by children, there isn't.

Also, because this is a pretty damn free country, folks have free choice over where they buy their games. A retailer may decide that having a hanging man on a box on the shelf may drive away customers... so instead, they choose not to sell the game at all. Well, to combat that, the company makes a slight alteration to the box art. Sounds like a lot of people exercising perfectly reasonable freedoms, there. No one was forced to do anything (note that the ESRB asked for the change).

 

[ntw3001]

Well I know people here love to complain about censorship and all this, but it's a fair and justified complaint. The trick is not to use lynching as a marketing tool; a lot of people are actually anti-lynching. Even in this day and age! I know! Fuss, fuss, fuss.

Aside from that, it doesn't seem to have any direct relation to the content of the game. Who's hanging who from trees? Why would either the zombies or the survivors be hanging people from trees? It's just an offensive image that doesn't appear to make any sense in context.

That said, maybe the game is about zombie lynch mobs. That would certainly get some attention-sales.

 

[Jonabob87]

Good decision, having that sort of content out in the public eye for literally anyone to see is a no-no and rightfully so.

Interesting the number of people who are bagging America because of this, I'm almost certain other countries will have this edited too.

And those bringing up other examples of graphic box art: Those shouldn't have been allowed either, the mere fact that they slipped through doesn't mean that the standard should change.

 

[Stammer]

I just wish they made this call on the C&C games because I don't want to look like a sex pest when I am buying my damn games!

Kane: "I'm to sexy for my shirt."
lmao

Also, yeah, I kinda do agree that censoring the logo is a little silly. By allowing them to do this, it's almost like we're stepping another inch towards the bottom of the grave. It may not mean much now, but it's going to make them even more stingy on the next one, which is going to make them even more stingy on the one after that.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

You, sir, always make me smile when we think of the same things.

We are in agreement that this locale is free from danger. My word is my bond.

 

[jonyboy13]

Tanks to arrest a person, ridiculous freedom of speech, mum injecting botox to her child, 9\11 qqing about a pokemon game and now this in just few days. America is fucked.

 

[Cousin_IT]

waaaaah censorship! Free speech, 1st Amendment, stop ruining mah games waaaaah!