In a recent Gamespot interview (http://www.gamespot.com/news/6283214.html), California state Senator Leland Yee (the author of the video game law that's currently being reviewed by the Supreme Court) said that the ESRB was too biased to properly evaluate video game content:
I think the problem with the ESRB rating is that the ratings system itself is rather biased. The ESRB is funded by the industry, so it's like the fox guarding the henhouse. Clearly, they're not going to legitimately and appropriately place any markings on any video games, because it's in the interest of the video [game] industry to sell as many video games as possible. You never heard of an AO rating whatsoever, because that would limit your market share.
When the interviewer pointed out that the same is true of the MPAA and the NC-17 rating, Yee went back to his tried and true method of ignoring the question and started talking about how video games are a new technology that leave parents too bewildered to make a decision by themselves.
This guy is up for re-election on Tuesday. If you live in San Francisco, PLEASE PLEASE vote him out of office. Even his conservative opponent can't be worse than this.
I think the problem with the ESRB rating is that the ratings system itself is rather biased. The ESRB is funded by the industry, so it's like the fox guarding the henhouse. Clearly, they're not going to legitimately and appropriately place any markings on any video games, because it's in the interest of the video [game] industry to sell as many video games as possible. You never heard of an AO rating whatsoever, because that would limit your market share.
When the interviewer pointed out that the same is true of the MPAA and the NC-17 rating, Yee went back to his tried and true method of ignoring the question and started talking about how video games are a new technology that leave parents too bewildered to make a decision by themselves.
This guy is up for re-election on Tuesday. If you live in San Francisco, PLEASE PLEASE vote him out of office. Even his conservative opponent can't be worse than this.