Why are so many games rated M?

[Maniacal]

Not all people who aren't adults are 9 year olds though. Plus, parents could, you know, not let their children play online if they believe their children cannot handle playing online. I do believe that letting someone below say 12 online is unwise, but to say someone doesn't deserve to be a parent for doing it seems a bit extreme.

Just saw your edit. I agree on the whole Halo and Black Ops thing.

There's a big difference between officially not allowing them to do something and whether or not the kids actually do it (they will probably do it anyway). And I was talking specifically children who aren't even teenagers yet and games like Black Ops in that post because it was related to a couple of posts above it that were quoted...

And the whole issue about no one wanting to play with younger players is kinda iffy. If you don't want to hear them, mute them. If you don't want to play with them, either play with a group of friends, or deal with it. There are plenty of other horrible players out there besides children after all

Children aren't generally very good at video games, and especially if the game involved teamwork (which CoD is utterly devoid of) that makes it even worse. There is no need to add to the number of bad players.

 

[Thrawn]

That definitely seems like a harsh conclusion to jump to. Especially considering how many parents, who love and take care of their children, still do it. Are you saying that, a 15 year old's parents are not deserving to be a parent if they bought him a Call of Duty or Battlefield game?

Around 15 is where I'd say things start to get a bit hazy for me. I mean M rated games would probably be fine(here in NZ M is generally 15-16+), R-rated, maybe, going to depend on the game, the kid, and what kind of environment he's been bought up in. In the kind of environment you describe, sure, it might be ok. In one where the parents just pretty much let their kid do whatever, no.

It's when you hear stories of people completely ignoring ratings and saying "oh videogames are for kids", then buying something like GTA for their 9 year old where I want to go buy a shotgun and pay these people a visit.

 

[KMRblue1027]

I'm fairly sure M games were quite common way before today's gaming era.

*cough*

Spoiler :

 

[OrsonM]

Doom was actually kind of a rarity in it's day, which probably helped its sales. Also of mention was the fact that there were no such thing as M rated games and it was both Doom and Mortal Kombat popularity that brought a ratings system to begin with.

There was a problem in the early 90s: companies such as Nintendo wanted to sell extremely profitable violent games without affecting their family console image, Joe Lieberman needed to appeal his voting base and irresponsible parents needed a little help when purchasing videogames for their kids, as the alternative of spending any time with them was just crazy talk.

Instead of either party actively trying to understand the nature and the role of society in violent videogames (or the medium as a whole), they instead decided on a quick and half-assed solution of yet another ratings system (such as those in movies and records). After some trial and error, a ratings system that allowed for a boost in profits without intellectual responsibility was born. Joe called it a victory, he almost became VP later on in life and since then M rated games have doubled, tripled, quadrupled in number, and sales just sky rocketed for most that tried (and Nintendo released the awesome with their port for Mortal Kombat 2, bringing that green back were it belonged).

The system's rules are simple, just as in R rated movies you can have some content, but god forbid you show full content!, just enough content to sell (which is arbitrary). And kids can play them, so long as their parents approve of them.

Who is the organization that regulates all this?, why the ESRB of course!, which is not governmental at all, because boo the government!, corporations have showed time and time again that they can totally self regulate themselves, as seen in the current recession and global warming.

You actually have to pay for the privilege, and not having your game reviewed usually means that it won't be sold by either consoles or distributors. The fees are just an offer you can't refuse!

If game costs are less than 250.000 dollars: $800
If game costs are more than 250.000 dollars: $4000

Like most completely legitimate-like businesses the government is kept away in as many parts of the system as possible: you can appeal their decision, but it would be to a committee made up of people from the industry. Their concerns are mainly about not getting any sex within the industry, because that might cause some heat. Violence of any type is A-OK.

this is ok

that's cool too

god willing, notice that just like in real massacres only bland mid 20s adults were killed, no kids whatsoever.

 

[Rub'Rum]

It's all a question of how the kids are monitored and how much their parents are with them to explain to them the things that they do. If a 9 years old is playing Call of Duty because his parents will do whatever they can to not have to take time with their kid, then no. However if I had a 9 years old who was curious about a violent game and wanted to play it, I'd probably let him (maybe not online much) as long as I were there most of the time to express myself and have him express himself about the violence in the game, and monitor the kid, and put some maximum playing hours and such. Somehow I doubt these kinds of games would be very appealing in the long run for kids of this age. It's more at around age 13 that they start being interested by them. At age 13-15, for me, a kid who was monitored properly in the earlier ages will have enough sense of judgement to know the implications of the game. I have known multiple kids, and myself, who have played very violent games at young ages, and all of us had good parents, and all of us were intelligent enough to know what to make of what we were seeing. A Kid developing a problem becaues of a video game has other underlying problems.

 

[Tani Coyote]

Swearing is seen as "cool," but in my opinion, using it too much just makes you sound uneducated. Really, it's the downfall of many a script - Shadow the Hedgehog only used "Damn" and "Hell," but used them in such excess it nauseated me(even SONIC says "Damn" once!).

Violence is likewise seen as cool, because it's something you can't do without going to prison. Of course, looking at horror movies, too much violence and gore just ends up becoming tiresome and tasteless. But, since violence is something we rarely see and engage in, games allow us to release those urges, so naturally, the violence level gets amped up. (It's the same reason horror movies do so well - they show us things we'd normally never see; we get a perverse interest from seeing someone get eviscerated, but if we see it too much it loses that twisted appeal)

Worst game for me in terms of swearing would have been San Andreas. Once Rockstar was allowed to use the f word, it was said every sentence. It's kind of hard to sympathise with the main cast when they're all a bunch of pottymouthed rejects whose only focus on life is the "hood." (God don't get me started on how much I hated Sweet's narrowminded idiocy)

 

[KMRblue1027]

Doom was actually kind of a rarity in it's day, which probably helped its sales. Also of mention was the fact that there were no such thing as M rated games and it was both Doom and Mortal Kombat popularity that brought a ratings system to begin with.

My Doom II, Ultimate Doom, and Final Doom CD (which are from 94-96) all have M ESRB Logos on them so unless the ESRB was founded between Dec 93 and Oct 94 Doom I had an M rating. I'm almost certain Wolf 3d caused the creation of ESRB, for the killing of dogs (Nazis= Not human beings apparently).

 

[CivCube]

I think the real problem is that we're buying games that have the exact same plot and visuals. It's time for more interesting variety.

 

[OrsonM]

My Doom II, Ultimate Doom, and Final Doom CD (which are from 94-96) all have M ESRB Logos on them so unless the ESRB was founded between Dec 93 and Oct 94 Doom I had an M rating. I'm almost certain Wolf 3d caused the creation of ESRB, for the killing of dogs (Nazis= Not human beings apparently).

Doom was actually first released as shareware, and it was within that distribution method that it achieved the huge success the game is now known for. There was no ESRB before DOOM, and what you mention about Wolfenstein is mere speculation (it's censorship when ported to the SNES was in great part due to restrictions by Nintendo).

Any of the other Dooms were released after the huge success of the shareware version, check the history of the ESRB and Doom.

 

[KaiserElectric]

I think the real problem is that we're buying games that have the exact same plot and visuals. It's time for more interesting variety.

A game with a unique concept that stands out is not always a good one, mind you. For every Minecraft, there is a Dino D-Day.