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Post by Oily on Sept 19, 2004 14:37:46 GMT -5
I really do think they should move the ratings to the front of the games and make them like the movie ratings so parents can easily see them and understand. But my sister was eight and quite happily playing Unreal Tournament, with bits of brain bouncing around. My dad and I felt too sick to play it  It wasn't excessively gory, despite some odd bits, but I think sexual content is kind of different - it provokes questions from younger children, but everyone bleeds Although excessive gore isn't good either. But it's quite different from games and real life. A little pixelated pool of blood is fine, seeing it in real life is quite the opposite. I think children are more mature than people give them credit for, and seperation of reality from fantasy is no big deal for most people. Only when they're tiny do they actually think real people are on TV, not actors. It's even more seperated for video games, because the images can never be totally realistic. Nor do normal people go on killing sprees just because a game did it. If parents don't want their kids to see stuff, then they should pay attention to the warnings. Most just cave in to kiddy pressure. |
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Post by TheEaterofWorlds on Sept 19, 2004 17:08:43 GMT -5
I really do think they should move the ratings to the front of the games and make them like the movie ratings so parents can easily see them and understand. They are on the front of games. They are explained in more detail on the back. |
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Post by Ikkin on Sept 19, 2004 18:40:08 GMT -5
I've been trying to figure out for quite a while how videogame ratings compare to TV/movies, and here's what I've come up with:
eC=G=Y Pretty obvious
E=G-PG=Y7-TVPG Here's where it gets tricky...
T=PG-PG-13=Y7-TV14
M=R(maybe high PG-13)=TV14-M Not really sure here...
Kinda convoluted...and it would probably come out differently if I was comparing TV and Movie... They should make one system, for everything, I'd say...'Teen' sounds a lot worse than 'PG,' and definitely a lot worse than 'Y7.'
And, a random videogame related thought- (Overrated/underrated related idea)
Super Smash Brothers, for N64, and Super Smash Brothers Melee for Gamecube. Very similar gameplay-wise. They're multiplayer fighting games, basically, and the point is to pound your opponents (everyone else, or the other team) into the ground. Neither of them are graphic in any way, I'd say around the level of an American superhero cartoon (not as bad as Y7 rated anime like Dragonball Z or Rurouni Kenshin, by any means, since there's no blood whatsoever)
SSB is rated E, SSBM is rated T. Why? Does better graphics equal more violence? It's not like it's any more realistic or anything... So, unless you'd say, for instance, that a bad, semi-pixellated, though still watchable, copy of an R-rated movie isn't as bad as the actual movie, there's little sense in calling them different ratings. So, either SSB is underrated, or SSBM is overrated. Since I've seen more violent Y7-rated TV shows (PG TV equivelent, I'd say), I think SSBM is the one with the incorrect rating. It's really a matter of opinion...but it is something to think about.
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Post by lemmykoopa300 on Sept 19, 2004 19:40:20 GMT -5
*points up at Ikkin* I agree with that one.  SSBM got a bad rating for a video game. It shoulda been E. It isn't THAT bad, but the explosions are a bit more realistic. |
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Post by Oily on Sept 20, 2004 14:56:52 GMT -5
They are on the front of games. They are explained in more detail on the back. Shows the last time I bought a game Still, some of my games have them on the back. I think we have European ratings here, and they're simple. I've discovered 3+, 7+, 15, 15+, 18+, 11+ and 13+ lying around. I think the plus ones are the newer format and it's obviously that they relate to age. Most of them seem to be fairly rated too. |
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Post by lemmykoopa300 on Sept 20, 2004 15:36:00 GMT -5
I think we have European ratings here, and they're simple. I've discovered 3+, 7+, 15, 15+, 18+, 11+ and 13+ lying around. I think the plus ones are the newer format and it's obviously that they relate to age. Most of them seem to be fairly rated too. Cool. We should have that. xD |
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Post by TheEaterofWorlds on Sept 20, 2004 15:47:21 GMT -5
I think we have European ratings here, and they're simple. I've discovered 3+, 7+, 15, 15+, 18+, 11+ and 13+ lying around. I think the plus ones are the newer format and it's obviously that they relate to age. Most of them seem to be fairly rated too. Oh snap, I wasn't thinking about if they were printed on the front in other countries. How terribly America-centric of me. Sorry.  |
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Post by Killix on Sept 21, 2004 7:55:38 GMT -5
*looks at her copy of SSBM*
Rated Teen for: Comic Mischief, Mild Violence
It sure sounds a lot worse than it is.
you might be right about the better graphics = more violence
or maybe it's not that, maybe it's more of "better graphics = more realistic violence
so therefore a more realistic violence needs a higher rating?
If you think about it like movies. Remember all of those R rated movies from the 50s? Y'know, all the ones where people ran out of the theatre screaming because it was too scary? The same ones we laugh at today because they're outdated and really....fake and poorly done?
but nowadays movies have better "graphics" thus making them scarier.
I'd better stop talking before I stop making sense...oh, too late.
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Post by TK on Sept 21, 2004 9:39:41 GMT -5
*looks at her copy of SSBM* Rated Teen for: Comic Mischief, Mild Violence It sure sounds a lot worse than it is. you might be right about the better graphics = more violence or maybe it's not that, maybe it's more of "better graphics = more realistic violence so therefore a more realistic violence needs a higher rating? If you think about it like movies. Remember all of those R rated movies from the 50s? Y'know, all the ones where people ran out of the theatre screaming because it was too scary? The same ones we laugh at today because they're outdated and really....fake and poorly done? but nowadays movies have better "graphics" thus making them scarier. I'd better stop talking before I stop making sense...oh, too late. No, you bring up a good point. I just think that Super Smash Bros. (E for Everyone) involves coloured polygons duking it out whilst Super Smash Bros. Melee (T for Teens) involves more humanesque figures engaged in combat. I think the latter would be more identifiable with small, psychotic children. As far as movies go, though - R is the second-highest rating. The realism in movies today are certainly to a higher degree than half a century ago, but the NC-17 rating (normally reserved for EXTREME carnage - as in Passion of the Christ multiplied by five - and pornography flicks) really wouldn't be justified in some of the new situations. |
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Post by lemmykoopa300 on Sept 21, 2004 15:15:20 GMT -5
I agree with Meowth.
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Post by althechia on Sept 21, 2004 20:32:10 GMT -5
Ooh, fun topic.
People say that video games are technically an art form comparable to movies, and as such, they can only be censored as much as any other artistic media has been. And, as such, it has its own rating system.
I think it's true that games have visually grown a lot along with technology, and there's such a wide-spread variety nowadays you could claim games can be divided into genres based on content. Playing Resident Evil is comparable to watching a horror movie, and Mario games are akin to a really fun cartoon show. Roleplaying games in particular are very rich on plot, and depend heavily (usually) on well-written ones to be any good. All these games have a right to exist, just as any movie or TV show has a right to exist.
There are some genres that are more exclusive and controversial than others. There are people who get porn movies, and then there are people who get porn games, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that, but I'm not interested in owning a porn game. Action games with a lot of violence...who doesn't love a good action movie with a little gore once in a while? The Godfather is a pretty gory classic, and horse heads in beds shouldn't be censored to lessen the experience.
Parents mindlessly buy their children horrible movies too, and since the two are so strongly connected, it makes sense to group them together, don't you think?
I think it would be wise to put REALLY porn-oriented games into its own section (or store, even), but light, funny sexual situations should be situated in a more PG-13 level, and should be grouped thusly. Same with action games, PG-13 to R. I've seen more graphically violent things done in movies than anything in Grand Theft Auto, and Grand Theft Auto, despite its realism, does not use live actors.
I know there's a really strong argument against giving games the same rating system as movies, but I've forgotten it entirely. ^_^
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Post by lemmykoopa300 on Sept 22, 2004 19:13:12 GMT -5
WOW! AL POSTED ON MY BOARD! *hugs Al* I LUFF YOU AL! And Al has a point. They should make sections for the ratings. Like an E rated zone, and an M rated zone, and stuff like that. |
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Post by Killix on Sept 23, 2004 17:58:42 GMT -5
No, you bring up a good point. I just think that Super Smash Bros. (E for Everyone) involves coloured polygons duking it out whilst Super Smash Bros. Melee (T for Teens) involves more humanesque figures engaged in combat. I think the latter would be more identifiable with small, psychotic children. . *nodnod* Also, human female characters are in SSBM aswell. Maybe some people would find it offensive that male characters are slapping Peach around? I dunno. Just another reason I think is why it's rated T. |
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Post by Retired Blub on Sept 23, 2004 18:01:51 GMT -5
I remember the game Manhunt. That was just wierd and freaky. Lots of parents were buying that game for their kids, having no clue what it was about...
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Post by Draco on Sept 23, 2004 18:04:04 GMT -5
*nodnod* Also, human female characters are in SSBM aswell. Maybe some people would find it offensive that male characters are slapping Peach around? I dunno. Just another reason I think is why it's rated T. But she can slap them back with a frying pan, or a golf club, or a tennis racket..... |
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