February 19, 2009

Video-games are not 'toys'
by Michael Lafferty

When it comes to inappropriate content in the hands of children, who is failing - retailers, parents or the ratings system?

During SCEA’s God of War III event, Stig Asmussen – the man who is directing the production of the game – made a comment that, on the surface, seemed like a “no duh” line, considering the content of GoW3.

What he said was that God of War III was not a toy intended for children.

Ok, let’s think about that for a moment …

Of course he is right, but maybe the perception is that video-games are, after all, games and in the verbiage of our language, games are often equated with meaning something for children.

Perhaps it is because we are inundated with the idea promulgated in clichés that as we grow older, we put aside fun and games and take on ‘more adult’ endeavors.

Quite frankly, the world has changed … a lot. We cherish our play time and look forward to the downtime from the hectic pacing of work. And we demand that our leisure activities entertain us, in spite of any other benefits.

Video-games are definitely not toys and some of the titles recently produced have no business being in the hands of minors. And yet, having said that, accounts of mothers buying the latest Grand Theft Auto title to appease a screaming 10-year old (or in one case, a five-year old) continue to surface. Shame on that parent! In fact, shame on any parent who slaps down $50 for any game they know nothing about, ignoring the rating – as poor as it may be in warning parents about the depth of game content – and tossing the title to a kid just to get them occupied with something and out of the proverbial hair of the parent for a given time.

The video-game industry is a mature industry, guided by talented game designers who are not limiting themselves to much other than the extent of their imagination and the latest programming strides. As far as game designers are concerned, there are few boundaries. The boundaries are supposedly imposed by the ESRB when it puts its rating on the box. However, the ESRB is operating in the past, and has not matured along with the industry. The ratings system is antiquated and poorly designed.

If the ESRB thinks that a little letter on the box and a black box on the back that ‘details’ what the ratings are for adequately give information, it is deluding itself. What is “comic mischief?” That is about as broad-based as it comes and really only serves to show how detached the system is from the actual industry.

It’s time for some major restructuring in the ESRB ratings, just as it is time to put the blame for kids playing titles they should not be playing where it belongs – on the supposed adults who bought them the game in the first place. Video-games are not baby-sitters and too few parents spend time to become aware of their children’s behavior in online venues or even in the choice of the games they play.

But what do you think? Who is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the ratings and are the ratings adequate enough as they currently stand? Are developers going too far in the content of games?

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