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mechafuhrer
Title: General jackass
Joined: Jul 29 2010
Posts: 182
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Self-explanatory. What if the ratings system was never made, and NoA was still censoring games today?
"Gosh-diddly darn! Those gangster friends are gonna get hugged for stealing my teddy bear! And i'll get it back with my trusty care-bear gun! And in the end we can all ride unicorns on rainbows!"
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 Mickey mouse will consume you. |
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Syd Lexia
Site Admin
Title: Pop Culture Junkie
Joined: Jul 30 2005
Location: Wakefield, MA
Posts: 24886
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Eh, the ESRB was necessary.
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mechafuhrer
Title: General jackass
Joined: Jul 29 2010
Posts: 182
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| Syd Lexia wrote: |
| Eh, the ESRB was necessary. |
But just imagine it wasn't, we could still be fightning giant rats and generic blond guys instead of nazis.
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Mickey mouse will consume you. |
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UsaSatsui
Title: The White Rabbit
Joined: May 25 2008
Location: Hiding
Posts: 7565
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I don't think it necessarily follows that the ESRB gave license to companies to make more violent games and to eliminate censorship policies. What the ESRB did, mostly, was get the government and angry parents off of their backs.
Nintendo ended their censorship policies simply because they were losing money, and it was bad for their image. In fact, Nintendo's underestimation of the average age of a gamer is what set them back so far during the N64/gamecube years.
It's also a mistake to think NoA's policies completely watered games down. Yes, Castlevania cut out the topless statues and some Christian imagery, but you were not fighting boring, bland enemies. Contra still had you shooting aliens. Super Mario Bros was still awesome even though there was absolutely nothing in any SMB games even remotely controversial.
Oh, and go whine to Europe, where they got the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, and Contra became two robots killing other robots.
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Mr Takosuke
Title: :bell:
Joined: Jun 30 2010
Location: Whore Island
Posts: 180
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If the ESRB never existed them maybe the SNES port of MK1 would of had blood.
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Syd Lexia
Site Admin
Title: Pop Culture Junkie
Joined: Jul 30 2005
Location: Wakefield, MA
Posts: 24886
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The rating system stopped moralistic lobbying groups from pushing through harsher regulations like the ones in Europe. It also gave console makers and game publishers an out of sorts. It allowed them to license and manufacture games with kid unfriendly content without being seen as explicitly endorsing the content.
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Drew Linky
Wizard
Joined: Jun 12 2009
Posts: 4209
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| Mr Takosuke wrote: |
| If the ESRB never existed them maybe the SNES port of MK1 would of had blood. |
This...
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https://discord.gg/homestuck is where you can find me literally 99% of the time. Stop on by if you feel like it, we're a nice crowd. |
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Syd Lexia
Site Admin
Title: Pop Culture Junkie
Joined: Jul 30 2005
Location: Wakefield, MA
Posts: 24886
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| Drew Linky wrote: |
| Mr Takosuke wrote: |
| If the ESRB never existed them maybe the SNES port of MK1 would of had blood. |
This... |
Um, you guys are dumb.
MK1 on the SNES: No ESRB, no blood.
MK2 on the SNES: ESRB, blood.
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mechafuhrer
Title: General jackass
Joined: Jul 29 2010
Posts: 182
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When I said generic enemies i was mostly talking about wolfenstein snes.
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Mickey mouse will consume you. |
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Mr Takosuke
Title: :bell:
Joined: Jun 30 2010
Location: Whore Island
Posts: 180
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| Syd Lexia wrote: |
| Drew Linky wrote: |
| Mr Takosuke wrote: |
| If the ESRB never existed them maybe the SNES port of MK1 would of had blood. |
This... |
Um, you guys are dumb.
MK1 on the SNES: No ESRB, no blood.
MK2 on the SNES: ESRB, blood. |
Oh I thought the ESRB existed when MK1 was ported. My bad.
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Blackout
Title: Captain Oblivious
Joined: Sep 01 2007
Location: That Rainy State
Posts: 10376
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| Syd Lexia wrote: |
| The rating system stopped moralistic lobbying groups from pushing through harsher regulations like the ones in Europe. It also gave console makers and game publishers an out of sorts. It allowed them to license and manufacture games with kid unfriendly content without being seen as explicitly endorsing the content. |
This.
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Pandajuice
Title: The Power of Grayskull
Joined: Oct 30 2008
Location: US and UK
Posts: 2649
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Yeah, Syd is right and you guys need to do a bit more research before coming up with these theories. The ESRB had nothing to do with game censorship and in fact, the ESRB exists in the first place because of violent and bloody games and as Syd said, was only created to appease overactive parents and conservative pundits.
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StonedAutopilot
Joined: Aug 04 2010
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Posts: 52
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So many of the recent great games are rated M: Bioshock, Gears of War, Alan Wake, Heavy Rain, etc. etc.
That isn't to say that that there are not good games that aren't rated M. (Read: basically every game on the best-of NES and SNES lists, all the Final Fantasy games, etc.) But as technology makes things more and more realistic, more often does art seem to imitate life. And let's be honest, if life was a game, it'd be rated M.
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Currently listening: Loco Dice - Tight Laces
"It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." |
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SteelBallRun
Title: Kenka Bancho
Joined: May 05 2010
Posts: 227
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| Quote: |
| It's also a mistake to think NoA's policies completely watered games down. |
A small handful of games were flat-out prevented from getting released over here due to them, so their policies did have some bite.
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UsaSatsui
Title: The White Rabbit
Joined: May 25 2008
Location: Hiding
Posts: 7565
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| SteelBallRun wrote: |
| Quote: |
| It's also a mistake to think NoA's policies completely watered games down. |
A small handful of games were flat-out prevented from getting released over here due to them, so their policies did have some bite. |
Which ones?
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JonSnow
Joined: Nov 03 2006
Posts: 763
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Maybe parents would be more involved in their kids lives and not just trust the "establishment".
Overall I like it. It allows for a way for kids to buy games on their own, and then for them to put the more graphic games in a new category so that they can sell them as well without the risk they're making available perhaps harmful material to a youngster. Read the stupid things i used to believe thread for details. That was a cool thread idea btw.
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The One Truth Will Prevail
Brawl Code: 1805-1876-7506 |
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Syd Lexia
Site Admin
Title: Pop Culture Junkie
Joined: Jul 30 2005
Location: Wakefield, MA
Posts: 24886
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| UsaSatsui wrote: |
| SteelBallRun wrote: |
| Quote: |
| It's also a mistake to think NoA's policies completely watered games down. |
A small handful of games were flat-out prevented from getting released over here due to them, so their policies did have some bite. |
Which ones? |
Sweet Home has become perhaps the most famous NES game that didn't get released over here.
But again, it wasn't really PREVENTED from being released over here. It was just prevented from being released ON THE NES. There were other platforms (Master System, TG-16) that would have made a suitable North American home for it.
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aeonic
Title: Sporadic Poster
Joined: Nov 19 2009
Location: Kissimmee, FL
Posts: 2747
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| JonSnow wrote: |
| Maybe parents would be more involved in their kids lives and not just trust the "establishment". |
that's un amarrrrican, sir. why would we possibly want parents involved in children's lives when we can have television and the internet and woefully underfunded schools doing it for them?
also, a celebration for the first time you and I have agreed on something.
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Who likes role-playing games? Me. Way too goddamn much. |
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UsaSatsui
Title: The White Rabbit
Joined: May 25 2008
Location: Hiding
Posts: 7565
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| Syd Lexia wrote: |
| UsaSatsui wrote: |
| SteelBallRun wrote: |
| Quote: |
| It's also a mistake to think NoA's policies completely watered games down. |
A small handful of games were flat-out prevented from getting released over here due to them, so their policies did have some bite. |
Which ones? |
Sweet Home has become perhaps the most famous NES game that didn't get released over here.
But again, it wasn't really PREVENTED from being released over here. It was just prevented from being released ON THE NES. There were other platforms (Master System, TG-16) that would have made a suitable North American home for it. |
But was Sweet Home not released over here because it was too gruesome to get past the censors, or because the decision was made simply not to release it here? It appears to be a tie-in with a film that wasn't released in the states. Plus, I don't think there was too much of a problem with horror-themed games here (Castlevania, Friday the 13th, Monster Party leap screaming to mind).
I know meddling altered a lot of games, but I'm wondering if the censorship policies directly prevented any games from being released here. A lot of Japanese games that have nothing offensive in them at all didn't make the jump.
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GPFontaine
Joined: Dec 06 2007
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 11244
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ESRB is there to offer ratings for games. This is in direct comparison to the MPAA for movies.
They do not judge the quality of content. They simply scale the content to a specific moral compass and report their findings. This allows individuals to choose if it fits their own personal taste.
I am in favor of the ESRB and what it does.
As for children not being able to buy games that are rated M without an adult. GOOD! They should need an adult to choose if it is appropriate. Kids make bad decisions in general, adults don't always make better ones, but at least they are accountable. I'd rather parents be making these choices than the game developers.
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tolucalakevictims
Title: The Unbeliever
Joined: Jul 01 2010
Location: Australia
Posts: 24
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| StonedAutopilot wrote: |
So many of the recent great games are rated M: Bioshock, Gears of War, Alan Wake, Heavy Rain, etc. etc.
That isn't to say that that there are not good games that aren't rated M. (Read: basically every game on the best-of NES and SNES lists, all the Final Fantasy games, etc.) But as technology makes things more and more realistic, more often does art seem to imitate life. And let's be honest, if life was a game, it'd be rated M. |
I'm pretty sure my life would get a higher rating then a M
Drug abuse
Sexual References
Gambling
Sex Scenes
violence
Alcohol
Mild Fantasy Violence
"TolucaLake may change Online"
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"And He was asking him, "What is thy name?" And he said to Him, "My name is Legion; for we are many." |
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StonedAutopilot
Joined: Aug 04 2010
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Posts: 52
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| tolucalakevictims wrote: |
| StonedAutopilot wrote: |
So many of the recent great games are rated M: Bioshock, Gears of War, Alan Wake, Heavy Rain, etc. etc.
That isn't to say that that there are not good games that aren't rated M. (Read: basically every game on the best-of NES and SNES lists, all the Final Fantasy games, etc.) But as technology makes things more and more realistic, more often does art seem to imitate life. And let's be honest, if life was a game, it'd be rated M. |
I'm pretty sure my life would get a higher rating then a M
Drug abuse
Sexual References
Gambling
Sex Scenes
violence
Alcohol
Mild Fantasy Violence
"TolucaLake may change Online" |
Don't forget suggestive themes!
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Currently listening: Loco Dice - Tight Laces
"It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." |
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Spanish Meatloaf
Title: Denim Clad Road Warrior
Joined: Feb 24 2010
Location: Olympia, WA
Posts: 522
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The Video game industry would not be where it is today without the ESRB. The issue of inappropriate content would still have come up and without the rating system implementation casual gamers would never exist as they do today. The ESRB was necessary to bring the industry into a state of immortality into the main stream, without ratings video games could never achieve complete acceptance.
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