ESRB Unveils Automatic Rating System

[Weaver]

Why in the hell do you need to submit a physical DVD? What year is this again?

 

[Scott Guthrie]

well i look forward to the next GTA being a 3+

 

[gigastar]

Pffft, just imagine Nintendo subitting a DVD of the next Mario games most violent content...

 

[Pandora92]

Is it just me that's been so involved with the Portal ARG recently the first line had me thinking it was GLaDOS speaking...

 

[Danpascooch]

I could see this system working if there were stiff enough penalties for lying, such as between 25-100% of total sales depend on severity, and perhaps forfeiture of the right to claim a rating in the future, based not on company but on the owners of said company (frankly companies "restructure" all the time)

They can't just steal profits, they're a private company.

I think a fair punishment would be refusal to rate that game, and any other games from that developer for a year.

 

[Psycho Cat Industries]

Great,we're gonna get extremists going around making the new Yu-Gi-Oh or something of the like M and other people making new murderfests E10

 

[Psycho Cat Industries]

I could see this system working if there were stiff enough penalties for lying, such as between 25-100% of total sales depend on severity, and perhaps forfeiture of the right to claim a rating in the future, based not on company but on the owners of said company (frankly companies "restructure" all the time)

They can't just steal profits, they're a private company.

I think a fair punishment would be refusal to rate that game, and any other games from that developer for a year.

That'd mean that any kid could come in and buy the game.That isn't a loss

 

[Danpascooch]

I could see this system working if there were stiff enough penalties for lying, such as between 25-100% of total sales depend on severity, and perhaps forfeiture of the right to claim a rating in the future, based not on company but on the owners of said company (frankly companies "restructure" all the time)

They can't just steal profits, they're a private company.

I think a fair punishment would be refusal to rate that game, and any other games from that developer for a year.

That'd mean that any kid could come in and buy the game.That isn't a loss

How many unrated movies do you see in theatres and stores?

Retailers almost always refuse to stock items that have not gotten or been refused a rating, and anyone who goes to a store and sees a cover that says something along the lines of "Unrated!" (like they're flaunting it) pretty much universally take that to mean it's something horrible.

 

[Psycho Cat Industries]

I could see this system working if there were stiff enough penalties for lying, such as between 25-100% of total sales depend on severity, and perhaps forfeiture of the right to claim a rating in the future, based not on company but on the owners of said company (frankly companies "restructure" all the time)

They can't just steal profits, they're a private company.

I think a fair punishment would be refusal to rate that game, and any other games from that developer for a year.

That'd mean that any kid could come in and buy the game.That isn't a loss

How many unrated movies do you see in theatres and stores?

Retailers almost always refuse to stock items that have not gotten or been refused a rating, and anyone who goes to a store and sees a cover that says something along the lines of "Unrated!" (like they're flaunting it) pretty much universally take that to mean it's something horrible.

True,though that doesn't stop movies from advertising themselves on all the networks around here.I think Hot Tub Time Machine is still unrated.

 

[Danpascooch]

I could see this system working if there were stiff enough penalties for lying, such as between 25-100% of total sales depend on severity, and perhaps forfeiture of the right to claim a rating in the future, based not on company but on the owners of said company (frankly companies "restructure" all the time)

They can't just steal profits, they're a private company.

I think a fair punishment would be refusal to rate that game, and any other games from that developer for a year.

That'd mean that any kid could come in and buy the game.That isn't a loss

How many unrated movies do you see in theatres and stores?

Retailers almost always refuse to stock items that have not gotten or been refused a rating, and anyone who goes to a store and sees a cover that says something along the lines of "Unrated!" (like they're flaunting it) pretty much universally take that to mean it's something horrible.

True,though that doesn't stop movies from advertising themselves on all the networks around here.I think Hot Tub Time Machine is still unrated.

Yeah, but nobody sees a movie cover that says something along the lines of "Jackass: unrated!" and thinks "Gee, it must have been so tame a rating of G just doesn't capture its wholesome family values, time to go show it to my toddler and not pay attention while he watches the whole thing"

Even still, remember, the whole "M rated games can't be sold to minors thing" is not a law, it's just store policy, there is no way the stores would let them buy something that ESRB refused to rate if they aren't going to let them buy M rated games.

 

[Psycho Cat Industries]

I could see this system working if there were stiff enough penalties for lying, such as between 25-100% of total sales depend on severity, and perhaps forfeiture of the right to claim a rating in the future, based not on company but on the owners of said company (frankly companies "restructure" all the time)

They can't just steal profits, they're a private company.

I think a fair punishment would be refusal to rate that game, and any other games from that developer for a year.

That'd mean that any kid could come in and buy the game.That isn't a loss

How many unrated movies do you see in theatres and stores?

Retailers almost always refuse to stock items that have not gotten or been refused a rating, and anyone who goes to a store and sees a cover that says something along the lines of "Unrated!" (like they're flaunting it) pretty much universally take that to mean it's something horrible.

True,though that doesn't stop movies from advertising themselves on all the networks around here.I think Hot Tub Time Machine is still unrated.

Yeah, but nobody sees a movie cover that says something along the lines of "Jackass: unrated!" and thinks "Gee, it must have been so tame a rating of G just doesn't capture its wholesome family values, time to go show it to my toddler and not pay attention while he watches the whole thing"

Even still, remember, the whole "M rated games can't be sold to minors thing" is not a law, it's just store policy, there is no way the stores would let them buy something that ESRB refused to rate if they aren't going to let them buy M rated games.

Yeah,the modern standard would dictate that,I guess.Still though,I would laugh so hard if we ended up pulling the comic book rating thing where it gets so tight that the developers just make a new one.

Captcha:What is a speracco you?

 

[sooperman]

What part of that involved us doing their job for them, exactly?

"Anyone who submits an online game for rating will have to answer a number of questions in order to gauge just how strong or mild the game's content actually is. There are a number of categories, such as offensive language, violence and sexual content, which in turn break down into sub-categories."

Do you see the problem with that? If you wanted to get your laptop rated by Consumer Reports, you wouldn't send in a list of what's good and what's bad about it.

Maybe this is laziness on my part, I'll admit it. But I should think that playing/viewing a game personally to collect this kind of information, the only service provided by the ESRB, should be done by professional game reviewers, not the people making the games.