Through all of this, one of the things that seems to be forgotten by most people who are not as closely associated with the gaming industry as people like I am is the Entertainment Software Ratings Bureau. Just as films have a ratings board, so does the gaming industry. There is a clear rating system and reasons for why a given title got the rating it was given. Even Europe has PEGI, which fulfills the same function.
As a parent, I've always felt that we parents should be involved in the games we and our children play. Even parents who are not gamers, it is in your child's best interests that you at least somewhat understand what they are playing. The reason being that even though not true causal link has been observed between violent games and increased aggression in people, all media has an effect on us. These effects can be either positive (e.g. increased hand-eye coordination, problem solving, or even fighting dyslexia) or negative (increased levels of frustration mixed with adrenaline can lead to some lashing out -- ask any gamer and they have probably thrown a controller in frustration at some point). Regardless, there has been a ratings system in place for decades to provide parents and other consumers a guideline about the content of a game. But, most politicians are either unaware of this system or think it is ineffective.
As a result, the ESRB has decided to make a change to marketing requirements for games. To summarize, trailers for Mature-rated games will soon be required to provide a clear ratings statement at the beginning of said trailers. It is being likened to the green "this preview has been approved for all audiences" ribbon at the beginning of most movie trailers:
The general consensus I've noticed in comments on various sites is that this change is regarded as pointless. Personally, I really like this change. Making this disclaimer appear more like the MPAA rating screen will likely make the ESRB rating screen more accessible. More Americans are used to the MPAA rating system and making the ESRB rating resemble it as best as it can will somewhat equate the two in the minds of an audience. In these examples, though, there are not details or reasons for the rating like there are in the MPAA screen or as they appear on a game box. I hope to see that in here, too.
One of the possibly unintended side-effects of this is that game developers and distributors may start to do a gaming-version of a "red band" trailer. This hasn't appeared to have any effect on the movie industry, though with the emphasis on violent games in today's culture, the gaming industry better step carefully before doing something like that.
There are some other ramifications of these new rules, such as allowing game websites to now show ESRB ratings next to ratings by other ratings boards like PEGI. I can understand not wanting ratings that are not necessarily equivalent to be shown next to each in order to minimize confusion. However, as the article states, many websites weren't showing ratings at all. Lifting this regulation now allows websites to show all ratings, which is better than showing none whatsoever.
Glad to see that the ESRB is trying to change up their game. Kudos!
Gnome out.
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