The ESRB, Earmarks, and Manhunt 2 in Game Politics 48
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 The ESRB has fired off a warning to 3D Realms over some out-of-date labeling on the Duke Nukem portion of their website.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."
As much as I dislike what Rockstar says... (Score:3, Insightful)
Part of the blame falls with MS, Nintendo and Sony (Score:5, Insightful)
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!