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Originally Posted by Clickme
Parental controls on consoles? 5 minute setup.
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Do parents actually do that? Most people I know can't figure it out but their kids can.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clickme
Checking hte rating on the back of hte box at the store? 12 seconds, maaaaybe 20 is you read slow. And like I said before, there are descriptors for WHY games are rated as such. from Comic Mischief all teh way up to Blood adn Gore, there is a label for EVERYTHING
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I like that about the ESRB rating. When parents make those decisions, they're usually not in the store to take a look. It's usually "my parents won't let me buy a game rated M" not "my parents won't buy me a game that says 'intense violence' on the back". Just for fun, take the following 4 examples I just pulled off my shelf: which are the T and which are the M games?
A) Alcohol Reference, Suggestive Themes, Violence
B) Blood, Strong Language, Violence
C) Blood and Gore, Language, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence
D) Blood, Violence
E) Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
A and C are T and B, D and E are M. In order the PC versions of: Street Fighter IV, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Oblivion: CE*, Deus Ex 2 and Prototype. In all cases, I think the final rating says more about the game than the list of possible objectionable items.
* Yes, I know Oblivion was re-rated at some point. My copy says "T" on the label.
That's kind of fun, but my point is really this: The parent has no way of knowing the difference between "strong language" (always M) and "language" (apparently T or M) or the difference between "intense violence" (M only) and "violence". Parents are still pretty much at ESRB's mercy as far as auditing content unless they view it themselves.
Oblivion and SC:CT are edge cases. It's arguable that SC could have been T with a little less swearing and Oblivion was obviously at the high end of T. Compare just the laundry list of Oblivion with the one for Prototype and assume they are both M. Oblivion looks worse at a glance. I'd let a 13-year old play Oblivion. I'd be a bit more leery about Prototype.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clickme
Bottom line, Irresponsible or lazy parents should blame themselves, not the companies. And with all the information jsut on the sticker, there is no excuse for rating ignorance.
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The people that push laws like the CA one don't tend to be parents in general. They tend to be activists and politicians.