Before I get into this post any further, I want to point something out. The ESRB is made up of human beings. There is no magical combination of traits that make a game appropriate for certain ages. Different themes can be considered more mature than others, but then you have to take into account the intensity of each theme; mild or strong, and you also have to consider the COMBINATION of the themes and what effect they produce together.
There is no exact science to rating a game, ESPECIALLY since people may individually agree. Every single rating ever slapped on a game is a judgment call. Thus, by definition, there will be inconsistencies and perhaps bad calls. This only increases when you take into account that it probably is not the same panel of people who review each and every game. I also know for a fact (I've seen a show about the ESR
that they do not play each and every game in-depth and weed out every single mature theme. It's not perfect.
I happen to think the ESRB is the single best rating system on the planet. Well, with the advent of the E10+ rating; before that, there were far too many E games that should have been T and vise-versa. But as it is now, it's a better and more informative system than even the movie rating industry here in the US. I hold the ESRB in pretty high regard and have never seen a game rating (except for pre-E10+ rating) that I disagreed with.
Originally Posted by
Ganondork
I know this sounds like a silly topic, but I'm kinda noticing it more and more. They gave Halo: Reach an M rating for blood and violence, not even language or anything. Whereas they gave The Conduit a T for blood, violence, and language. I know the ESBR has really gotten more strict as time has gone by, but Halo: Reach doesn't deserve an M rating.
Are the blood, violence and language of The Conduit as intense as the blood and violence of Halo: Reach? A bunch of little things can still be not as bad as one big thing. Furthermore, note that The Conduit has far worse graphics than Reach, so there's a chance the violence that is there is just not as graphic because of technical reasons. For the record, I've played Halo and Halo 2, and I fully agree with both of them being rated M. I don't know if the other Halo games to follow tones it down, but if they're anything like the first two or worse, then the M is well warranted.
Originally Posted by
Ganondork
And it's not just giving them a higher rating, they also seem to give a
lower rating, too. I've glanced through some Wii games at Gamestop, and there was a T game for blood, intense violence, language
and sexual themes. Did they simply lower it because it's a Wii game? Cause it seems like they make everything except Kinect games M on the XBOX 360.
Did you just read the game's rating and not actually play the game? If so, you have no idea how mild those things might be, even if there is all 4 of them in the game. And most of the 360 games are hyper-realistic shooters, so, yes, most of them will be rated M. Many Wii games do not come close to that. That's basic logic that a console with more mature games will get rated M games more often.
Originally Posted by
athenian200
That's why I think that their rating shouldn't be considered absolute. It should only be a guideline, and people should make their own decisions about what games their kids play.
100% agreed, because even if the ESRB was fricken' perfect, who's to say that they have the same policy on what is appropriate for which ages as the parents do? BE RESPONSIBLE.
Originally Posted by
425
The ESRB is pretty messed up. Like: Why is Super Smash Bros. Brawl "T"? Blood? No. Sex? No. Language? No.
That's one game. Also, see above. But aside from that, Smash Bros. Brawl is a game entirely based on bashing people like crazy. They have many characters who are very physically mature and attractive, a few of them even sexualized, like Zero Suit Samus (WHO DOES NOT BELONG IN AN E-RATED GAME). You can even see up Zelda or Peach's skirts. Then let's take into account that Samus mostly comes from T-rated games, as does Captain Falcon, and Snake comes from an M-rated game. Then there's the more dramatic and/or frightening themes of Subspace Emissary. A lot of ROBs die, and while they're robots it's still treated emotionally like the loss of a real person. Things like this happen constantly in Subspace Emissary.
Teen might be a little harsh for Brawl, but at the same time E10+ might not be quite high enough, so it's a bit of a tricky case and they had to make a call.