ESRB Gives Arkham City a Teen Rating

[Kopikatsu]

I doubt it refers to Harley, as she didn't develop her psychosis until after she left school and met the Joker.

ESRB Gives Arkham City a Teen Rating

women seem a little thin on the ground in Arkham City. If I had to guess, my money would be on Harley - she seems the type.


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Cant be because she became bad when she met the Joker. At least thats the backstory that the game gave me in the Asylum

I doubt it refers to Harley, as she didn't develop her psychosis until after she left school and met the Joker.

Not only that, but I don't recall Harley ever having murderous tendencies. That is to say, when Paul Dini was writing the character. Any written by Grant Morrison, or any other writer, is null and void, in my mind.

It's possible that it still is Harley. Arkham Asylum/City seem to have their own continuity. Like, if you look at the villain's profiles in Arkham Asylum you'll notice that it just gives a recap of their comic version.

The evidence for that is Hugo Strange's profile talks about him and Batman meeting, but Batman will meet Hugo Strange for the first time in this continuity in Arkham City.

So, instead of Harley just being a ditzy blonde who slept her way to her degree, it's possible that she's been changed into always having been a psychopath...who still probably slept her way to her degree.

 

[rolandoftheeld]

This is news now? Arkham Asylum was also rated Teen. I don't understand how this is noteworthy. Batman was never an M-rated franchise, especially when it comes to games.

Not really much else to say but that. I don't really think Batman would benefit from an M rating. The feel of The Killing Joke is great, don't get me wrong, but I don't think it should define the franchise. Giving a Batman game an M rating would almost certainly mean more blood and more killing, and if Batman just turns into a masked executioner he loses so much character. If you want that, go for the Punisher instead.

 

[Lord Krunk]

It's possible that it still is Harley. Arkham Asylum/City seem to have their own continuity. Like, if you look at the villain's profiles in Arkham Asylum you'll notice that it just gives a recap of their comic version.

They're referring to the AA audio logs, which show Harley being a psychiatrist that quickly falls for the Joker.

The evidence for that is Hugo Strange's profile talks about him and Batman meeting, but Batman will meet Hugo Strange for the first time in this continuity in Arkham City.

How do you know that? Judging by the trailers, they seem to be well acquainted.

 

[Kopikatsu]

It's possible that it still is Harley. Arkham Asylum/City seem to have their own continuity. Like, if you look at the villain's profiles in Arkham Asylum you'll notice that it just gives a recap of their comic version.

They're referring to the AA audio logs, which show Harley being a psychiatrist that quickly falls for the Joker.

I know. I meant, in this continuity it's possible that she was already a psychopath before that. Getting drunk and murdering a bunch of classmates doesn't necessarily mean that she was caught.

The evidence for that is Hugo Strange's profile talks about him and Batman meeting, but Batman will meet Hugo Strange for the first time in this continuity in Arkham City. How do you know that? Judging by the trailers, they seem to be well acquainted.

Word of God. [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WordOfGod]

Can't remember where exactly it was referenced, but I'm pretty sure it was even mentioned in one of the Escapist articles. Bit too busy to find it myself at the moment, maybe later.

 

[Gothproxy]

I think the ESRB dropped the ball on this one. I'm not one for sheltering kids and being Politically Correct in my book borders on moronic, but there are things, little things, that we could do to stem the tide of kids being desensitized to so many crude things. But, as with most issues when it comes to teens, the PARENTS play the most important role. But, unfortunately, most parents seem to drop the ball more often than not.

 

[Worr Monger]

I would have been surprised if it had an M-rating..

..but after reading the article, I guess it makes sense why this is news. The internet alone can ruin kids more these days than a Batman game anyway, right?

 

[Imp_Emissary]

Can't wait for this game, I hope they release PC system specs soon.

It's UE3 game, your toaster can run it.

So we are getting the 'not so' Dark Knight again?

That sucks.

Because of the "no kill" policy.

Seriously. Batman should just have killed every last psycho he met, the first time he defeated each one of them. Countless lives lost because he needs to keep reassuring himself that he is somehow better then those people that can take it upon themselves to do what has to be done.

I understand that you need to keep a rogue gallery for your superhero to fight, but it's the shit like this why you can't take majority of comic books seriously.

>_< You can't blame Batman for the loss of lives! Why the hell didn't the mass murdering psychos not each get the death penalty?!
Blame the obvious crap legal system that Bat's city has!

 

[Kopikatsu]

Can't wait for this game, I hope they release PC system specs soon.

It's UE3 game, your toaster can run it.

So we are getting the 'not so' Dark Knight again?

That sucks.

Because of the "no kill" policy.

Seriously. Batman should just have killed every last psycho he met, the first time he defeated each one of them. Countless lives lost because he needs to keep reassuring himself that he is somehow better then those people that can take it upon themselves to do what has to be done.

I understand that you need to keep a rogue gallery for your superhero to fight, but it's the shit like this why you can't take majority of comic books seriously.

Batman has had to explain himself MANY times. Basically, he says (To Jason Todd about the Joker, who is right there) "You think I haven't wanted to kill him every second of every day? You don't think that every life that he's taken because I let him live doesn't haunt me? Killing him would be too easy, and once you cross that line, you can't ever come back from it."

Basically, Batman doesn't kill because he feels that it'll lead him down a slippery slope where he basically becomes The Punisher.

 

[Ben Jackson]

Doesn't really affect me, but I think it's good really. ESRB have clearly taken a "it's batman, teenagers will want it, it's not really that bad." I mean, my mate who's 12 (I'm 14) wanted batman:arkham asylum, his mum is super strict, so she bought it for him 'cos he loves comics and stuff (he even read kick-ass at 7...), but arkham city looked very...grown up for him, so this is good news for him.
I mean, this doesn't effect me at all though, 'cos I play like every game though.

 

[Titan Buttons]

The first game had party that kids could find scary, such as the hostage scenes with zsasz, but apart from that there really wasn't anything that a teen could see and not be fine with.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

ESRB Gives Arkham City a Teen Rating

women seem a little thin on the ground in Arkham City. If I had to guess, my money would be on Harley - she seems the type.


Permalink

Cant be because she became bad when she met the Joker. At least thats the backstory that the game gave me in the Asylum

Catwoman then I guess, or maybe Poison Ivy?

 

[Harveypot]

In the UK, I think it will be the same as Asylum, a 15/16 depending on who rates it. Also, I am so excited for this game. I loved Asylum.

 

[Fidelias]

Don't kid yourselves, I think it's pretty clear the vast majority of teenagers with a console play M rated games anyway.

It's not really a big deal.

I could swear like a sailer by the 3rd grade, kids aren't as innocent as people seem to think...

So yeah, I don't care, just give me the awesome game already!

 

[TerribleAssassin]

Reading the report, they censored ass and ***** but not bastard.

But anyway, yay, 15 rating over the pond means I can get it and I look forward to it, massively!

 

[Jaebird]

So, instead of Harley just being a ditzy blonde who slept her way to her degree, it's possible that she's been changed into always having been a psychopath...who still probably slept her way to her degree.

Well, seeing how the DC relaunch/reboot isn't too far away, Harley's origin can include any manner of psychoses. What we do know is her fashion sense will go off the deep end.

 

[zombi2989]

She got a LITTLE drunk and killed all her classmates. Jesus....

 

[Twilight_guy]

They were going to give it an M rating but then Batman flew in and beat the guys up so they brought it down to a T. Or maybe when he heard about the M rating he punched the game so hard that it became a T.

The funniest thing about all this is that... it's batman. Its a child's superhero and yet its rated for teenagers and children can't play it. Isn't that ironic?

 

[Xman490]

I guess the ESRB didn't change between Asylum and this sequel. However, this still makes me think of the Portal 2 ESRB changing from T to E10 after the blood splattering and red on the screen for damage from Portal were removed. Frankly, I liked that change, since the blood was unsettling.