The ESRB and consumers using it.

Started by Frequency December 16th, 2009 3:49 PM
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Frequency

...Time to mix drinks and change lives.

Anatolia
Seen 4 Weeks Ago
Posted 4 Weeks Ago
1,115 posts
14.1 Years
(If this is too long, sorry. :/)

TO ALL THOSE GAMERS: You're gonna need some time for this one.

I've seen a bunch of idiots online(No one here yet) that complain about this. I think it's time for some clarification.

Now, I've noticed how a lot of people complain about the ESRB(I think it means Electronic Software Ratings Board: The guys who rate games. E, T, M, ETC.) and blame them on not being able to buy games from stores. SHUT THE HELL UP. The ESRB isn't preventing you from buying games. It's the consumer(and employees of game stores....>_<) that is. Most people that are under 18 are being restricted from buying games, because of their parents, or store policy. Gamestop, for example, needs EVERYONE to show ID when buying Rated M games, or trading in games. Unless you're friends or family with the employees, this becomes a thorn in the side of the consumer. But you can't TOTALLY blame them, simply for the fact of it being a rated M game. Some parents don't give a damn about the games their kids play. Other parents however, take the ratings seriously, all in the good protective nature as parents. So when can we ACTUALLY blame anyone for the wrongful distribution of games?

It all comes up to weather stores and parents ACTUALLY start enforcing the ratings, children or otherwise. It doesn't matter if you want to get a rated M game that's totally bad-ass. If 10-14 year olds start walking out of Gamestop and such with a rated M game, what will the parents or other consumers think?

I've noticed in a LOT of gaming mags(emphasis on "LOT"), the readers always talk about how the rating system is all enforced by the consumer; others talk about how it'a all BUT enforced by the consumer. I was reading this one guy's comment to it-I'll withhold his name for the sake of privacy- that talked about the enforcement of it. Now, this guy has worked at a local game store...a Bike Shop, or a Target I think it was....and had sold a rated M game to a young kid...about 8 or so. 10 minutes later, his parents had came back and started raving and ranting at the guy for selling it. The guy had apologized to the parents, as it was one of those days where he had so many customers at his register that he couldn't monitor all the transactions. The parents understood, and all was good. A couple weeks later, he DIDN'T sell a rated M game to a 12 year old-it was Resident Evil 3 he was selling at the time-and told the kid about how it was a rated M game, so he couldn't sell it to him because he was underage. His parents came in, storming and ranting saying s**t like...."You don't have the right to tell my kid what to play and what not to play".

What am I getting at, you ask? The point is, parents HAVE the right to enforce the rating system to their kids, but some don't. When you have a parent b***h and moan at you for not selling their 12 year old son a copy of Resident Evil 3, you begin to wonder if it should be enforced at all, simply because of the ratio of parents that DON'T enforce it enough. Readers of Nintendo Power, or Game Informer, or PSM, or XBM, or Gamepro, or whatever the eff they read, always talk about how it should be enforced, or SHOULDN'T be enforced. But what about the bridge between them? What about the ones that can have a double-edged opinion about the whole thing? If you say that it isn't enforced enough, yet enforce it all the time on your kids, then what the hell is the problem? Regardless of what others are doing, or if THEY aren't enforcing it enough, YOU'RE the parent. Enforce it on your kids, but say it isn't enforcred enough to others? That's bulls**t on your part, and that makes you a hypocrite of sorts.

Now, there ARE some honorable mentions about the whole thing....supposedly, kids that are exposed to the whim of the ESRB are less likely to repeat the actions of the games that they play. Sensible, as rated E games have been, for the most part, been completely unrealistic(Aside from the sport games and Professional racing games like Gran Turismo or Fl Championship Series, but they don't REALLY count). Fictional. IT CAN'T HAPPEN. If some moron tells me that they can ride on Spyro The Dragon and battle Mutant Crocodiles and Radioactive Sheep...well, they probably need help. Point is, the lower the rating of the game, the less feedback you get from gamers.(Children specifically) Now change the setting to rated M, and you have a whole new ball game. Simply because the higher the rating, the more realistic it could be.(Just a note, it doesn't apply for games like(Unless it had sex in it, which it didn't. >.>) Dead Or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball...yeah, I bought it. That makes me a perv, I guess. But I'm a guy. To the ladies on this board, I'm sorry. Kick me in the nuts.) Take Call Of Duty:Modern Warfare 2. We aren't being attacked by terrorists(Yet....=\), but it could DEFINITELY happen. That's where parents step and argue about how it's too explicit for their kids, or whatever the hell.

Me, having owned a Playstation since 2, have had MANY exposes to games that I shouldn't have played at my age. I started with Gran Turismo. That was my first game.(I know, because I got the PS1 right before I got my Booster Shot....Damm you, medical bastards...) Suprisingly, the next game I got was Parasite Eve II. I'm pretty sure it was rated T or M. I think M. Point being, I was VERY young being exposed to a game like that. Did it affect me? No. Back then, it might've had an effect on other kids. But jump to our future. Is it REALLY better than the exposure to crime, murder, and drugs we have in our society? Parents need to stop putting the blaming the games for their kids, and start giving the banhammer to their enviroment. Unless you're a person that is not exposed to that crap, there's the reason. The ONLY extent the ESRB goes, is banning AO games.(Adult Only) The ONLY AO game I've seen that was playable(And on that note, acessible), was the San Andreas Hot Coffee mod. But since when is sex in games a problem for the kids? I mean, if they learn Sex-Ed before the age limit for sex, what's the issue? Look at the amount of kids having sex before 18. Does that fall under the ESRB then? That's just bad parenting. Kids that play games, then go join a gang is another example. The parents would firstly blame San Andreas(let's use it for this example, since it had gangs and whatbot in it) for that. But what if the kid was already in the gang? Does it still apply? Would you still blame San Andreas, even AFTER it was introduced to the kid that was already in a gang? Exactly.

If more parents want to enforce the ratings, fine. If they don't? Fine. That's up to them, as the consumer's parents, to realize the extents of the ratings, and if they should enforce them or not. But don't go putting games at fault when the child had a bad upbringing. Besides, if you, the parent, is out there doing Meth or Crack or whatever, then see your kid doing it, and he has a game that shows the use of it, them where's the influence coming from? You as the parent might've been doing it while pregnant, so if anything, it was just a stepping stone. Then you try to blame the game for it? You as a parent, suck, and shows that you don't want to take responsibility. Go to rehab, you drughead....

Thanks for reading guys, and I'll see you in the future.
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Age 30
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The Milky Way
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Posted December 19th, 2012
929 posts
14.6 Years
tl;dr.

Anyway, my view on the whole thing.
Honestly, I do feel that age ratings should be enforced, in certain situations.
Like for example, a ten year old kid buying MW2 or GTA, as an example.
I don't feel kids should be exposed to such violence at a young age.
However, I really don't think it matters if they're only a couple of years under the age limit.
I guess it's more up to the discretion of the parents, though.
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TRIFORCE89

Guide of Darkness

Age 33
Male
Temple of Light
Seen November 25th, 2017
Posted October 21st, 2016
8,122 posts
19 Years
The ESRB is a self-regulating body. Their policies are encouraged and self-adopted by the North American video game industry. The entire system is voluntary. The console manufactures have banned AO content from their systems not the ESRB or the retailers.

Retailers choose to get onboard or not. And they do because it looks good. It's ethical. As such, they should be required to enforce the rules if they chose to follow the program. Surely they should be required to actually restrict M games to gamers under 17 or inform parents that the content may be inappropriate instead of just having a sticker up.

I think the ESRB is in need of some reform. The M and AO ratings are messy. AO seems to be reserved for sex, not violence - and by extension, the console treats the content like XXX material rather than the equivalent of an NC-17 rating.

Which is fine is AO is supposed to be the porn rating. But if that's the case, then the M rating should be split in two. If you look at the M rating there are games that make you go "Why isn't this teen?" and games that make you go "Why isn't this AO?" and a whole range in between. If AO is porn, then M should be NC-17. But, if T is PG-13... where's R? A new rating should be created for 15 or 16+ that lies between T and M.
Age 34
Female
The World In-Between
Seen April 4th, 2011
Posted March 9th, 2011
1,193 posts
14.2 Years
As far as I'm aware, its store policy at all stores the stores I know, such as Wal-Mart and GameStop, to enforce the "M for Mature" rating just as they'd enforce the 18+ Cigarette law or 21+ Alcohol law, well, a little less important then those two, but the point stands. Its there for a reason. Young Kids imitate things they watch or play. I know I personally spent many hours playing Super Mario Bros in the backyard with my brothers, particularly imitating Princess Peach as she was in SMRPG. Some kids don't, but this can also be compared to Gun Laws, most gun owners won't shoot up a mall, but the law is there for the minuscule amount that would. Again, I know that gun control is much more important than game control, but you get the gist of what I mean.

Zet

Age 33
Male
Brisbane, Australia
Seen September 29th, 2021
Posted May 16th, 2020
7,687 posts
15.7 Years
Wow, you really expect parents do to something? they'll just let their kid go outside and kill a hooker so they can get their money back.

In Australia we have people who cry over violent games that they need to be censored soo badly a 10 year old can safely enjoy playing a MA15+ rated game without going outside and killing someone because they just might be a zombie

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Age 33
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Denmark
Seen April 3rd, 2023
Posted March 11th, 2022
2,405 posts
19.7 Years
In this day and age parents don't raise their children themselves. The media (Video games, TV, etc) does.

As for the video game rating, if they don't mind that their children play M rated games despite the fact that they're clearly below the recommended age, then they can go buy the games themselves as the children won't (nor should) be able to.
I'm so tired of ignorant people *****ing at employees for doing their job. I've dealt with so many people like that at work.

Luckily we throw them out of the store (and they aren't allowed to enter the store again) if they become threatening which happens from time to time.

Frequency

...Time to mix drinks and change lives.

Anatolia
Seen 4 Weeks Ago
Posted 4 Weeks Ago
1,115 posts
14.1 Years
... I take it you've worked at a Gamestop? :\

I'm so glad the industry has moved past the low-quality porn games they used to make.
(If that was directed to me)...I'm 15. Sadly, no. :/ Good question, though. :)

What, like those crap games for Atari and 3D) back in the 70's? gawd, I remember seeing those in a issue of GI. They sucked, but lots of people bought it. As always, sex sells. :/
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Clain

Seen January 24th, 2023
Posted March 12th, 2011
4,293 posts
14.4 Years
Okay... I work at a movie/music/video game store, and if however it is found out, that an employee sells an M rated game (for example) to someone under the age of 17, the store will get fined, somewhere like $10 000, or something like that.

I follow it, and if the kid doesn't have ID or isn't with an adult then they don't get it... It's like obeying the law, there should be just no question to obeying it... Regardless of its fairness... I mean, video games have to pass through ESRB anyway...

Needless to say, I think censorship is completely stupid...

If parents are good teachers, then the kids will not want to murder everyone...

I mean, I grew up on watching x-files and the outer limits, as well as playing bomberman, and watching violent cartoons, and yet I am perfectly fine...

Kids, whose family neglects them, ends up committing crimes because the parents don't give a damn... Take for example two brothers in I believe it was Ontario, they used a rifle to shoot at passing cars, emulating Grand Theft Auto; they ended up killing one person, and injuring another... Both parents were lawyers.

However there are so many things that attribute to this, even video games is a small sector, anything that deals with imagination, that a kid can think of to fruition can be a hazardous force, from movies to books etc...

That even though I dislike censorship, I don't like it either when parents buy their 8 year old kid Halo 3, with a gold live subscription (yes there are plenty of those).

For the kids I tell that cannot buy the game, but subsequently bring in there parent, seem to have no problem. I haven't had a parent rant yet... However, while I will not be rude, I will not be apologetic either... If they continue to be rude, I'd call over security... There are too many customers who complain about crap that is out of my control (and for no reason at all either), and I'd much rather just stick a pen in their eye, because of their retardation...

But parents today are lazy bums... really that's all I can say... They don't care about their children (yes I know I am generalizing, and I don't care, I know it to be true). There are only a few parents that know how to raise kids... and I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't get it right the first time...

With all that, I still have the vindictive pleasure of refusing to let an 8 year old kid purchase Modern Warefare 2... The expression they give (not menacing but utter confusion), is priceless.

EDIT: Also when a parent is present with a child, whereas the parent is presumably buying an M rated game for a 13 year old, we are required to tell them what the ratings are for (blood violence etc).

EDIT2: What society does for material things...