I Have an Issue with the ESRB Rating System (Rant???)

[Stylish Nero]

Some may disagree may agree some may not care but I have an issue with it.

ITS TOO DAMN STRICT!

Particularly the American (US) version of the ESRB system.

The US version is divided into CA (early childhood), E (everyone), E+10 (everyone 10 and above), T (Teen), M (Mature), and A (Adult).

Okay there are barely any games for the CA section and Adult section in the mainstream market (although you can find a couple Adult games on the internet).

Now the issue I have with it is the amount of Mature games that dominate the market and how I feel certain games that rated M, don't deserve that rating or the rating system is too damn strict. I'll list some examples:

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(well most if not all of the Halo franchise)

This is only a list of games I have personally played and analyzed (there are others but I made it short).

Okay I'll list why I feel the following games don't deserve the M rating and possibly a Teen rating or a new rating that is like Pegi 16.

1. Persona 3 and Persona 4: I didn't play every persona game but I played these and based on what I've seen I don't see the problem outside they will occasionally say crude dialogue and some cursing (usually no worst than sh*t and I seen PG-13 movies that will throw in a f*ck in there). Its barely violent or bloody and has for sexual content it may have some innuendos or some sexual references to certain demons/shadows but I've seen worst or well more sexual and its not like its this dude.
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The Persona series have always been pretty dark but still rather upbeat and well not something I'll expect as a Mature series.

2. The Ace Attorney series has always had cases about murder and dark themes common in all court dramas or investigations shows like NCIS and etc and those are usually rated PG (or at the very most TV-14) and the AA series has always maintain a Teen rating but the game goes into 3D, have some blood now (when PG-13 shows, other Teen games, some old games, and PG to TV-14 shows have all had blood) and has a stronger emphasis on murder cases this time around and now its mature.

3. Dead or Alive 5 (and some of the past DOA games except the volleyball spin offs) are just another standard fighter. I mean if the sexual content is enough to land it as a Mature I find that to be rather weak considering its not like the spin offs and its just sexualized females (as well as some dudes) with notable assets wearing slightly revealing (or pretty revealing) outfits which is no different than Soul Calibur which has super young girls in bikinis (or the fact you can literally customize erotica on your characters in SC5 and oh lets not forget the clothes ripping). I mean there is no blood, sure its violent but not in that brutal or pain seeking kind of way, and there is zero cursing/crude language. Plus the more rather skimpy and very revealing outfits are DLC and that alone shouldn't be a reason to make it Mature when it completely lacks everything else but violence.

4. Devil May Cry 2: Granted it comes from a M rated series and was a sequel to a M rated game but lets explain DMC2's most mature content. Dante says "crap" ONCE and there is one scene where Dante shoots Arius out of a building and there is a little bit of blood....not A LOT but small amounts. M for Mature. I find it odd that a sequel in an E or Teen series can go up a rating if its a bit more mature than the past game but not the other way around.

5. Halo series: Yeah this one is a bit of a stretch but compared to other shooters its campaign is a bit lighter or softer compared to the likes of BF, GOW, or COD when its about as violent and vulgar as a Transformers or comic book movie (the PG-13 ones). Well just the ones I played. Plus the online interactions aren't rated by the ESRB so the rating is only influenced by the campaign. Some may use the excuse that you're inflicting violence on people rather than watching it and I would agree but for the entirety of Halo you're either shooting aliens or monsters that aren't human which is no different than killing a..........robot, bug, or demon in a E or Teen series like....a lot of them. And if not aliens and bugs but other dudes in armor so its not like killing humans in BF or COD or as gory as GoW.

Yeah I compare games to movies and television and see that the game rating system is just too damn strict. However, its not just that but compared to the European PEGI and Japan's Cero system its very flawed and needs improving. It either needs to ease up or had a new age rating that is for games that are too mature for Teen but nothing that makes it being Mature making it harder for a certain demographic that is appropriate for that game to get. Plus games like AA5, DOA5, and Halo are rated Pegi 16 and teens could get it.

Maybe I'm just nitpicking but it sort of bothers me that games like the ones I listed above are being grouped up with games like these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZYnBxdThvU

Do you agree, disagree? Regardless have you played any game that you feel shouldn't have been rated M?

 

[Vergil'sBitch]

If you're over the 'Adult' age, no one really gives a damn about the age ratings.

Bayonetta in the UK got a BBFC rating of 15, but PEGI felt it needed an 18 (BBFC is the UK Film classification, they used to classify games until PEGI took over).

I'm over 18 so age ratings don't bother me personally.

 

[TWOxACROSS]

Well yeah, the ESRB is pretty damn strict - and for good reason; despite the average age of gamers (roughly collegiate age), it's still seen as a "child's toy," and parents shove games at their kids. So, the ESRB system is supposed to protect kids from content they aren't supposed to get.

Now, here's the thing - content is the main point. The content and subject matter of the game is what gives the game it's rating. It doesn't quite matter if a game like Persona 4 is rather bright and colorful, and has a lot of happy times to it - the subject matter is still dark, and there is still a lot of violence (often rather graphic). The point of the ESRB system is to, at a glance, inform you of what sort of content is in the game.

Kingdom Hearts is a very lighthearted series, but it has a Teen rating, which owes to its violence, even if people aren't slicing each other in half and dancing in their entrails. Halo, DMC2, and a few other games that eke by into Mature do so because of their violence, and especially the amount of blood that is spilled - it might be a different color, or only happen during gameplay, but it doesn't matter, it's there >.<

Yeah, the ESRB system is strict, but it does what it needs to - inform the responsible parties about the cut and dry subject matter and content. I think if it was more lenient it might lose the power it has, or that it gives someone like me selling the games.

It's slightly nitpicky, but there's also the fact that in America, kids are being coddled way too much. Changing one system would do little, because it still has to operate as part of the larger society. Hell, things are different in Japan; they don't even care about showing tits as much as most Westerners do, and in the UK swearing is much more tolerated. Those societies have what seem like more lenient systems to us because their society in general is more lenient :tongue:

 

[Stylish Nero]

If you're over the 'Adult' age, no one really gives a damn about the age ratings.

Bayonetta in the UK got a BBFC rating of 15, but PEGI felt it needed an 18 (BBFC is the UK Film classification, they used to classify games until PEGI took over).

I'm over 18 so age ratings don't bother me personally.

True but I had quite the crap childhood growing up not being able to play a lot of games I wanted to play because they had the "Mature" label on them but they weren't that bad because my mom was the conservative one who thought if it has a mature rating on it (which was 17-18+ age) I shouldn't be playing it until I'm in that age range. I tried to convince her that some rated games have content on the calibur if not lower than a PG-13 movie but nope and was only able to get Persona 4 because it looked childish and the Gamestop clerk had to convince her. Other M rated games I had to hide from her or sneak behind her back to get although I couldn't use Gamestop and they were very handy. In my mid teens I would buy Teen and lower games from Gamestop and my M rated content from other store who didn't gave a damn but I (at the time) preferred Gamestop due to habit of going there and their deals and offers. The only M rated game I slipped out of Gamestop was Anarchy Reigns but I was 18 soooooo......

I'm over 18 too so it doesn't bother me anymore but I still feel its a bit too strict.