ESRB vs. MPAA

[DooMer87]

As we all know, the ESRB was founded in 1994 while the MPAA was founded in the 60's. Why am i posting this? Well, things have heated up lately. the ESRB gets bagfuls of letters from whiny people complaining, while the MPAA gets by without barely any. Do i oppose any of these orgs? I hate the ESRB, yes. But the MPAA is one of the least strict rating orgs ive learned about. Especially because in America you do not have to submit to these companies because that is your freedom. Also, the R category requires guidance, while in others you must be 17, 18 to get in. And the MPAA's symbols are so small on the box you can barely see it! The ESRB is a different story. Since they assume that parents are "uneducated in the gaming community" aka stupid, they have giant symbols on the front and back of the box. They are similar, as i say here:
ESRB MPAA
EC (none)
E G
E10+ PG
T PG-13
M R
AO X, NC-17
They also both have content descriptors. But why does the esrb get complaints? Well, you all know about san andreas and the AO rating, hot coffee, wacko jacko, etc. That is only one of the big factors. Since everyone is taking advantage of free speech and making chainsawfest 3000-comes with real blood! means that soccer moms need to realize that free speech is really out there. So, what i'm getting at is that the ESRb is getting as strict as hell while the mpaa is not. what do you think?

And yes, i know you're gonna try and point out every damn mistake i made, but someone had to point this out. nobody's perfect.

[kc32]

Actually, punctuation aside, I'd say it's right.

[St. Doom]

It's a shame that we pay them to think for us

[kc32]

St. Doom said:

It's a shame that we pay them to think of us

That made absolutely no sense.

[St. Doom]

kc32 said:

That made absolutely no sense.

I ment for

[myk]

DooMer87 said:
Since everyone is taking advantage of free speech and making chainsawfest 3000-comes with real blood! means that soccer moms need to realize that free speech is really out there.

Of course, free speech is undoubtably out there because kids can play games with sex and violence. It's proof!

[kc32]

St. Doom said:

It's a shame that we pay them to think for us

Yes it is. First of all, I don't trust other people to think for me. Second, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

[AndrewB]

I hate it when people use the term "free speech" in a non-government context.

[Ralphis]

DooMer87 said:

blah blah blah blah

You say that people "assume" parents don't know much about games. Let's face it jackass, they don't. It's a hell of a lot easier to look at a preview of a movie and say "Wow, this looks like it might have some questionable content in it" than there is to look at a gamebox like Conker's Bad Fur Day and say the same thing. This cannot be applied in all contexts, but it is a very general statement which takes place more often than not.

Also, the movie ratings are STRICTLY enforced (at least here in my state). If you aren't 17 with some Pennsylvania ID, you aren't getting in to see a rated R movie. They're enforced here so I don't see how this is a problem with the rating system but rather the people enforcing it. If a movie theatre doesn't strictly enforce the set code it is NOT the fault of the system.

Are you still trying to be a lawyer? I'd love to see some of the letters that you shoot off to clients because you can't type for shit dude

[DooMer87]

Ralphis said:

blah blah blah blah BLAH

Hey, all i was trying to do was to point something out. You dont need to shoot your mouth off at me because i like to be observant. People have OPINIONS, buddy. There was no need to say that. All you wanted to do was just blow off some steam against me just because of that lawyer incident. I don't want to insult you, but that was rude, man. If you freakin hate me keep it to yourself.

[kc32]

What really pisses me off is that simply by moving San Andreas up to the AO rating, the ESRB made every store stop carrying it. Good thing I got my copy a week after release.

[Bloodshedder]

It's not that they "made" them stop carrying it. Most stores just don't want to be associated with selling AO video games.

[kc32]

I know that. But it also means if the ESRB wants to ban a game all they have to do is give it an AO rating.

[caco_killer]

There was sexual content hidden in GTA:SA that made the ESRB change the rating to AO. They didn't change it just because they wanted people to stop buying GTA:SA. The ESRB doesn't work that way.

[kc32]

caco_killer said:

There was sexual content hidden in GTA:SA that made the ESRB change the rating to AO. They didn't change it just because they wanted people to stop buying GTA:SA. The ESRB doesn't work that way.

But they could. And they probably only raised the rating because so many parents that weren't paying attention to what their kids were playing called and were probably screaming for the game to be banned.

[Gokuma]

Hopefully the ESRB and MPAA will eat eachother and we'll be rid of both.

[Amaster]

Whine whine whine.

DooMer87 said:

And the MPAA's symbols are so small on the box you can barely see it! The ESRB is a different story. Since they assume that parents are "uneducated in the gaming community" aka stupid, they have giant symbols on the front and back of the box.

What? I fail to see your point here. You want rating notices to be less noticeable because... ? God forbid a parent makes an informed decision. Im sure it would be preferable if they were completely unaware of what their child was doing.

If you cant buy a game because the local store decides you're too young, ask your parents to get it. Problem solved. If they refuse then they, and the rating guide, have pretty much done what they need to do.

[DooMer87]

hmm well my point was that theyre kinda different and that the esrb seems stricter, well to me. i wish all this controversy about violent games would end. I don't like the esrb but i am in favor of parenting. it just seeems the esrb is kinda strict.

HUGE MIND-BLOWING (not really) EDIT: It seems the ESRB's ratings are "beyond repair" and Clinton's new bill could even cause Congress to intervene if problems are found in the ESRB, and this probably means that if that FTC investigation is found that Rockstar put hot coffee in s.a. on purpose (of course they didnt!) or something like that then we could see congress create a government-run video game ratings system.

They are truly messing with the Constitution and true american freedom. We could even see games BANNED.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6140535.html

[Bloodshedder]

The ESRB can be as strict as it wants, but until retail stores stop selling T- and M-rated games to kids that shouldn't be able to buy them, it won't really matter.

[SyntherAugustus]

Bloodshedder said:

but until retail stores stop selling T- and M-rated games to kids that shouldn't be able to buy them, it won't really matter.

Timeline, thanks to hilary clinton best buy, gamestop, and a few other places ask for IDs for rated M games. It's been like this for months now.

[KwadDamyj]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6140535.html