Penny Arcade Teams Up With The ESRB

[Irridium]

Spoiler

This looks like as good a place as any for me to rail on the ESRB, so let?s do this .



only 2 mainstream games EVER got an AO rating (Manhunt 2 and GTA San Andreas) Why only 2 you ask?
Well it's because any game that receives an AO rating will not be carried by stores (even online ones) no publisher will ever fund an 18+ game and console manufacturers will not allow AO games to be released for their systems . so an AO rating is equivalent to a ban.


The combination of console makers banning these games , retailers not selling them and publishers not supporting ensures that if someone ever wants to make an adult game they will gave to fund / distribute it themselves and only release it for PC's.

And while self censorship is better than imposed censorship, the problem is that IT"S NOT THE ESRB's JOB TO SENSOR OUR GAMES they are a ratings Board their job is to rate games not ban them. because If I ever wanted to make a game with a realistic depiction of the holocaust I will not be able to find someone to fund, distribute or sell my game.

This is not all directly the ESRB's fault but they are a big part of the problem and need to change the way they rate games, and the way they operate overall

The ESRB has a problem with sex. out of the 24 games to ever receive the AO rating 23 of them are for" Strong Sexual Content" and only 1 is for violence.

This is also the main problem with the Film classification system in the US, right down to the strange aversion to any kind of eroticism, but Even more exclusive and much more opaque and secretive. Their rating staff have, pretty rightly, been accused of waging a moral campaign against content they don't like personally. An NC-17 rating is a death sentence for even an independent film forcing film makers to edit their work in order to get it seen by... anyone. Many people might not have even heard of NC-17 which is a real indicator of how much of a sigma it carries.

Ever wonder why you never see any kind of female pleasure in most movies? The MPAA ratings board is highly against anything even implicit of that kind of thing; anything that depicts even an actresses face looking genuinely **ahem** 'happy' can result in tipping an film in NC-17 territory. Basically the film classifiers are censoring any shred of eroticism from movies and most films are now made to expect this reaction and self censor. This is partly why most movie love scenes even in 18/R rated films are so stunted and oddly empty.

The ESRB simply has the problems all rating bodies carry when given a tool that can punish something they find distasteful, you end up with them trying to force nearly all content to conform to their ideals. This is not even mentioning the flawed way many games are actually rated. Until the ESRB and the US in general is less uptight about sex in games it will be hard for them to progress as an art form.

[sub] Don't get me started on the FCC and the history of the UK BBFC[/sub]

So, in movies, you can show a woman having sex, but she can't be shown enjoying it?

That's... pretty fucked up.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

And yet, people will still buy their 3 year olds Modern Warfare because it shuts them up.

Also, is it just me or does it look like the woman in the picture standing incredibly awkward? Either she's holding something in-between her legs or they gave her some really goofy proportions.

I really don't see actual 3 year-olds playing Modern Warfare. I think at best I was playing the original Super Mario Bros. for the NES when I was 4(actually playing it properly), though I would have considered myself a more focused child back then, then it seems children are today. I remember when my little nephew, at 5 years, got one of those little educational game systems that you hook to the TV, well, I couldn't get him to do anything properly. He just sat there going, "Yeah look at the train", and didn't even try to understand why he needed to have a controller in his hands.

I can't say that I've ever encountered a 3 year old playing a Mature game, the youngest I have encountered is possibly 9 or 10, still wrong, but definitely not 3.

On the picture, I would say that it is goofy proportions.

 

[Abedeus]

While I do believe that ratings are not accurate for every child (I've played 18+ kids since I was... 8? and I turned out to be okay MURDER EVERYONE), it won't stop parents from buying games for kids that are dumb enough to buy 18+ games in stores.

I mean, a 8-10 year old asked parents for Saint's Row 3 just yesterday in my local store... When I was his age, when I wanted a game too gory for me, I just got it counter-feit!

 

[itsausernamewhatofit]

But then again, the other part of me knows that if you make something an app, people somehow too stupid to use a web page will suddenly do it.

I'm pretty sure al Qaeda could get donations from NYC if they had an app.

This just made my day. Thank you.

 

[Darkmantle]

And yet, people will still buy their 3 year olds Modern Warfare because it shuts them up.

Also, is it just me or does it look like the woman in the picture standing incredibly awkward? Either she's holding something in-between her legs or they gave her some really goofy proportions.

I'm pretty sure it's goofy proportions, it really bugs me.

 

[darksakul]

Yeah I suppose raising awareness is always a good thing, but shouldn't little things like... the rating explanation on the back of the box, The box art and in some cases even the name of the game itself provide enough of a guideline?

I agree, what the hell happened to a parent said "sorry honey, not this game okay, maybe another" or "I do not approve you playing this game, maybe when you are OLDER".

Why can't parents act like parents for once. Regardless of the stupid rating on the game, parents need to make a stand on what media they want their child exposed too.

I seen some sensible parents say "NO" to E rated games because they know their child will not do well with the material in a particular game. Example I seen a father refuse to by his 6 year old Raving Rabbits for the Wii because he believes that much comic mischief isn't good with a child that is hyper active

 

[jawakiller]

I just wish parents would stop buying their kids M rated titles so I can play in peace. I don't want to have to hear a small child trying to iterate to me how he had just recently slept with my mother every time I die. Especially when you consider the fact that I have the highest score.

 

[Something Amyss]

But then again, the other part of me knows that if you make something an app, people somehow too stupid to use a web page will suddenly do it.

I'm pretty sure al Qaeda could get donations from NYC if they had an app.

This just made my day. Thank you.

I aim to please.

Zachary Amaranth, at your service!

Okay, that sounded weird.

 

[itsausernamewhatofit]

But then again, the other part of me knows that if you make something an app, people somehow too stupid to use a web page will suddenly do it.

I'm pretty sure al Qaeda could get donations from NYC if they had an app.

This just made my day. Thank you.

I aim to please.

Zachary Amaranth, at your service!

Okay, that sounded weird.

Forgive me if I don't...take advantage of your services after an introduction like that.

 

[Something Amyss]

Forgive me if I don't...take advantage of your services after an introduction like that.

Well, I'd be doing it wrong if I took offense. >.>