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The ESRB, Earmarks, and Manhunt 2 in Game Politics

Posted by Zonk on Wed Jul 18, 2007 11:39 AM
from the sucker-punching-senators-like-rockstars dept.
Government Entertainment Games Politics
GamePolitics has a number of interesting posts up this week on developing stories. The ESRB has fired off a warning to 3D Realms over some out-of-date labeling on the Duke Nukem portion of their website. The organization says it's standard procedure, but 3D Realms co-founder Scott Miller views it as a 'sucker punch'. Meanwhile, Senators discussing earmarks for the year are in a row over videogames. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) is resisting a $7.5 Million appropriation for an advanced computer system, which he 'compared ... to videogames.' Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) countered by noting that Coburn authorized spending that resulted in the creation of an actual videogame, the Full Spectrum Warrior title released by THQ. Finally, Rockstar has fired back at GamesIndustry.biz. The respected European news site wrote a blistering editorial when the Manhunt 2 kerfuffle first started, saying that Rockstar was being 'juvenile, shameful, and irresponsible'. They've now responded: "What about games make them deserve special treatment from the authorities? According to industry groups, the average games player is in his or her 30s, yet you support the widely held view that games are somehow a less sophisticated medium than cinema, only suitable for immature audiences. In other words, although gamers can negotiate the boundaries between reality and fiction in other media, you believe we are incapable of navigating the same boundaries in videogames ... We believe in a well-run ratings system. With the best rating system in history and the future of the industry and medium at stake, we don't understand why it is necessary to effectively ban all games intended for players 18 and older."
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[+] NY Videogame Bill Undermines ESRB 70 comments
GamePolitics is reporting that a bill introduced just four days ago in New York's senate will soon become the law of the land. Written by Rep. Andrew Lanza, the bill's goals are extremely vague. Aiming to 'crack down on video game violence', the bill will 'establish the Advisory Council on Interactive Media and Youth Violence to review the [ESRB] rating system and its effectiveness, and recommend additional steps that can be taken to curb children's access and exposure to such adult-only material.' Unsurprisingly after drawing on public fear and a lack of education to ram through useless legislation, Lanza isn't above some gloating. "Speaking in support of his bill, Sen. Lanza apparently couldn't resist drawing on the shock value of controversial amateur game V-Tech Rampage (which he mistakenly refers to as V-Tech Massacre), even though his legislation would have no effect at all on this non-industry, non-retail, non-rated, non-professional Flash game: The recent release of 'V-Tech Massacre,' a sick game which exploits the Virginia Tech University tragedy, is a painful reminder of the culture of violence which has severe consequences on our youth and society ..." Along with Best Buy's decision to include CMA ratings on videogames, this would seem to be another harsh blow to the Entertainment Software Rating Board.
[+] Manhunt 2 Ban Fallout, Game Rated AO By ESRB 384 comments
In the wake of yesterday's announcement of a UK ban on Manhunt 2 , Rockstar has registered its disappointment at the BBFC's decision. The company simply stated that they 'respect those who have different opinions about the horror genre and videogames as a whole, but we hope they will also consider the opinions of the adult gamers for whom this product is intended.' Meanwhile, here in the US, the ESRB has given the game the dreaded AO rating, for adults only. If you're unfamiliar with this seldom-seen designation, it's essentially the 'kiss of death' for a title at retail; a number of popular videogame outlets refuse to carry titles with that rating. MTV's Stephen Totilo has a lengthy and considered discussion of these proceedings. "For 'Manhunt 2,' signs pointed to the title being both less and more extreme than the first. Gone from press previews were mentions of snuff films and Directors. Instead, a more traditionally violent video game premise: one man's struggle to stay alive in an insane asylum gone mad."
[+] ESRB Now Enforcing Game Trailer Ratings 86 comments
Gamasutra has the news that the ESRB is beginning to enforce rating-related audience restrictions on game trailers. D3 Publisher's trailer for Dark Sector was judged AO by the ESRB, and demanded in correspondence to the company that it be removed from the internet. Take-Two, meanwhile, has been handed a letter saying their trailer for The Darkness needs to be 'age-gated' if it is to be seen online. Update: 06/26 14:20 GMT by Z : The Gamasutra post has been updated to clarify the situation: "ESRB president Patricia Vance has responded to Gamasutra with a prepared statement that claims today's notices are routine ESRB Advertising Review Council procedure followed since 2005. According to Vance, the appearance of both publisher emails today are simply reminders that mature rated trailers must be age-gated, and that if a trailer's content is found to be in violation of the ESRB's trailer requirements, it must be removed or replaced with an edited version."
[+] Condemned 2 Trying to Avoid Manhunt 2's Fate 108 comments
CVG is reporting that Monolith, makers of the upcoming Condemned 2, are working with the ESRB to avoid an AO rating. As we've discussed previously, an AO ban in the states is effectively a ban on retail sales. From the article: "When asked for examples of what we might now never see in a game again, we were told, 'An example of what we cut would be putting someone's head in a vice. That was too much, you know. There are also some decapitations we've lost. But this is more Sin City than it is real world and we want people to know that this is not a real world.'"
[+] ESRB Responds to 3D Realms' Kvetching 90 comments
Via GamePolitics, an article at the Hollywood Reporter site on the ESRB's snappy comeback to 3D Realms. You may recall Scott Miller (3D Realms' co-founder) saying a short while back that he viewed the ESRB's smackdown as a 'sucker punch'. The Reporter article lays out the ESRB's response, courtesy of the board's president Patricia Vance: "It's unfortunate that Mr. Miller's feelings were hurt, but let's be clear ... The ESRB is the self-regulatory body for the video game industry. We were established by the industry and we simply enforce the rules and guidelines that the industry has imposed upon itself. The games industry determined that there should be rules with regard to the proper display of rating information and that ESRB should enforce those rules by notifying companies who are not in compliance ... Unfortunately, due to 3D Realms' lack of experience submitting games to the ESRB, it would appear that they were unaware of the various industry guidelines in place and the consequences of not complying with those guidelines."
[+] Manhunt 2 Ready For Release, Politicians Angered 66 comments
After much hemming and hawing, Take-Two appears to have secured an 'M' rating for Manhunt 2 from the ESRB. The title is now due in stores around Halloween. The reversal of fortunes for the much-maligned title has prompted a number of conspiracy theories and outright outrage from groups 'fighting' videogame violence. Well-known commentator on the subject and California State Senator Leland Yee is demanding more transparency from the ESRB as a result of this decision. From GamePolitics' coverage: "Parents can't trust a rating system that doesn't even disclose how they come to a particular rating. The ESRB and Rockstar should end this game of secrecy by immediately unveiling what content has been changed to grant the new rating and what correspondence occurred between the ESRB and Rockstar to come to this conclusion. Unfortunately, history shows that we must be quite skeptical of these two entities."
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The ESRB, Earmarks, and Manhunt 2 in Game Politics 25 Comments More /

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  • As much as I dislike what Rockstar says... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by moderatorrater (1095745) on Wednesday July 18 2007, @12:00PM (#19902235)
    Rockstar makes games that don't often appeal to me, but at the same time, games do receive a lot of undeserved flak. As has been said many times before, what makes this game worse than Hostel or Turistas? Do games deserve to be judged more harshly than any other medium?

      • the rating manhunt has recieved (AO, I believe, adults only) is more like NC-17. Many theaters wont carry movies with that rating and it is considered stronger than R rating which would be most like the "M for mature" rating that the ESRB hands out. If Manhunt had an M rating none of this would be an issue.

        I think its a shame that there is no way for AO rated games to make it to the public on consoles, though I have no interest at all in Manhunt. I think its going to take something a little more refined

        • I think its a shame that there is no way for AO rated games to make it to the public on consoles
          Easy. Buy a Mac mini, connect it to the TV, and call it a console.
  • For all the controversy, Rockstar are one of the few development houses actively pushing video games to achieve the same status as other media.

    They've called the whole situation for what it is, ridiculous. Without such controversies, video games will never break out of the "juvenille" image so many people have of them.

  • Part of the blame falls with MS, Nintendo and Sony (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Satanboy (253169) on Wednesday July 18 2007, @12:26PM (#19902695)
    Since none of the three console producers will allow AO games, they have effectively ruined the rating system.

    If these companies would just allow all games to play on their systems without artificially hampering them, everyone would be happy. This issue has less to do with the ESRB and more to do with the foolishness of the console makers for stating that we, as adults, cannot judge for ourselves what we want to play.

    Imagine if your DVD players said 'this movie is too adult for you, you cannot play it' if you tried to play a John Waters film or a porno.

    Shame on Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo for preventing AO games from being able to play on their systems!
    • It would be kind of nice if they allowed the games but had a parental control option and required the game format to include its rating so that a parent could lock down a console to not play these games.

      This would seem to be a much better way of dealing with this. Hell, I dont even care if retail places wont carry AO titles, if they are available on the internet people might make them and eventually someone would make one that was really really good and had enough other merit that people might take notice.
      • You know what the craziest part is?

        The console based parental restriction system you described is already in the wii, and probably in other next gen consoles as well.

      • It would be kind of nice if they allowed the games but had a parental control option and required the game format to include its rating so that a parent could lock down a console to not play these games.

        This exists in each of the current systems (Wii, PS3, 360) and is enforced for both retail games and downloadable content. They also as a matter of policy will only allow games that are rated by the ESRB (or whatever the local equivalent is) on their system.

        The exact scenario you described exists with

    • > Imagine if your DVD players said 'this movie is too adult for you, you cannot play it' if you tried to play a John Waters film or a porno.

      Most DVD players do have such lockout features. My player occasionally gets corrupted and locks EVERYTHING out -- have to reset the firmware to fix it.

      I'm all for controls in the console, but unfortunately the morality police won't be satisfied unless they personally control the distribution of everything.

    • Well, AO games can still be distributed for the PC although it would have to be by download since Walmart and the gaming stores wouldn't carry it.

      As you said, the console makers have made these decisions. But if they decide that the effort to police the sale of a game and the risk of bad press (see Hot Coffee Mod) is too high, they aren't going to make a decision to make something available, then there must be market forces that indicate there is something detrimental to making the game available. If that
  • They demanded that 3D Realms updates their website. They were late with DNF as it was, if they also have web design tasks, I am afraid they might never finish it...
  • If I were Rockstar, I'd be saying "Hey, Sony, are you going to release Manhunt 2 as is, or are we going to make GTA IV be an Xbox 360 exclusive?"

    Then we'd see how quickly Sony caved.

    (GTA IV is the one thing currently making me think I might buy a PS3 before the end of the year.)

    ((Not that I have any interest in playing Manhunt 2.))
  • I do think there is a problem, and that's the inconsisistancy between game ratings and movie ratings. I have no problem with Manhunt 2 being rated AO (NC-17 equivelent), if there's any game that deserves this title on the basis of violence, it's probably this title. However, it is nothing compared to what the film industry is allowed to do. Hostel, Saw, Touristas and the like just as grim and violent, yet they somehow "buy" themselves out of the NC-17 rating. It really is the movie rating system that's corr
    • They enforced part of their contract in an ongoing attempt to cover the industries ass for the next big thing that involves games. They are trying to prove they have a functional, well maintained, and consistent ratings system. They are trying to maintain advertising guidelines that the industry agreed to. They are trying to prove on the PR front that the ratings system isn't a sham.

      Really the only thing the ESRB can do is make two adult ratings, one for "adult violence" and one for "adult sexual". The ones
      • Thank you for making that distinction. The ESRB doesn't ban games. retailers and console manufacturers do. (In the US at least)
        • Not to say that I have no problems with the ESRB, they done some annoying things too, but so have the ESA and others.
    • I prefer "Sanctimonious Repressive Bureaucrats" myself.
    • Um what has rockstar changed? 1:Make something violent and controversial. Make sure there is a hoopla about it. 2:??????? 3:Profit, rather well. Really none of the GTA games have been that big a departure, really They haven't been innovative. They have improved on a rather fun formula and added some nice social commentary and a rather funny, yet at the same time serious story. manhunt on the other hand... whats the point? All it seems to have are better graphics graphics and the Wii controller. What is g
      • bugger

        Um what has rockstar changed?
        1:Make something violent and controversial. Make sure there is a hoopla about it.
        2:???????
        3:Profit, rather well.

        Really none of the GTA games have been that big a departure. They really haven't been that innovative since GTA3. They have improved on a rather fun formula and added some nice social commentary and a rather funny, yet at the same time serious story.

        Manhunt on the other hand... whats the point? All it seems to have are better graphics graphics and the Wii control
    • Considering you can't buy the game, I fail to see how this is "Slashvertising". The fact that we can't buy AO games because of the console makers is a big deal. Any gamer should be concerned that we are held to a different standard than other media. Of course, this will eventually get better with time. As the older generation that is scared of video games die off...those of us who grew up with it will take over.

      • Considering you can't buy the game, I fail to see how this is "Slashvertising".


        I can help with that part of your education too: look up "AIDA" somewhere. We're currently in the "Awareness" to "Interest" sections of Manhunt 2's marketing plan.
         
    • No they won't. Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft keep just as tight a rein on what you can download. It all has to be signed with their secret cryptographic keys.

      • Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft keep just as tight a rein on what you can download.
        Apple doesn't. So why don't more games come out on Apple's "Mac mini" console?
    • I've seen at least one of the movies on that list which wasn't re-rated in an actual mainstream theatre....

      However, I've seen many of those movies released on DVD as "unrated" (really the original cut that got an NC-17 before editing) available for sale in stores like Target, or BestBuy, and they are playable in my DVD player (as are many more explicit titles). Unlike AO video games, NC-17 movies are available to purchase and play, whereas AO video games are essentially banned.

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