For 10 years now, video gamers have been subjected to the mainstream media reporting on the National Institute on Media and the Family's video game report card. This biased, ridiculous, manipulating, and sometimes even funny document needs to be dissected just to view it in the proper light. That's what will happen here.
As always, the report begins by discussing sales and how large the industry has grown. They move on quickly to ratings accuracy, and include this line:
The system supposedly put in place to keep killographic games out of the hands of kids seems to often produce the opposite results
"Killographic." That's their own homegrown term, and it's right up there with "Murder Simulator." Both seem to be used interchangeably. Continuing:
In early July, we discovered that explicit pornography was included in the top selling video game, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Apparently, they were the ones that hacked into the title to find the hidden and completely NON-pornographic content. Just to see the content, it required an outside device and a large amount of time involved in the game. There's no mention of that anywhere in the report.
The so-called "hot coffee" scandal does not simply reveal the bad faith of one of the industry's most prominent companies; it has shown once and for all that the present rating system is broken and can't be fixed.
It's always amusing how these organizations will find one game to single out, and usually, it seems to be GTA. While Rockstar is the furthest thing from innocent (even if the situation was blowing further out of proportion than the Janet Jackson "mishap"), saying the rating system is broken because of some lost code on a game disc is absurd, and it only gets worse from here.
The ESRB video game rating system, like its cousins in the movie and television industries is owned and operated by the industry it is supposed to monitor.
Never mind the music industry that has a bland descriptor on the CD case with no other warnings such as what the language pertains to (sex, violence, etc.), and books can never be attacked. They're too educational, not to mention an accepted form of entertainment. They also seem to have no problem with the film and TV industry rating system even though the ESRB is run the same, and arguably the most noticeable and detailed.
Study after study shows that ratings would be stricter if parents were doing the job.
Note there is no link to any "study," and if parents were doing their job, there would be no need for their organization or this editorial piece.
Article comments
1 - TBJ
Hey nice read there!
This is the same BS that happens with TV, Movies, Music, etc.etc.etc.. PARENTS are not there with their children, PARENTS are not paying attention to what their children do, PARENTS are not being PARENTS.
Yet assholes like this one time and time again place the blame on Retail Stores, TV, Movies, School, hell, they place the blame anywhere BUT where it should go, to the PARENTS, all for 15 min of fame on Fox news or any other "news" channel that gives them the time of day. because they really could care less about the kids and how fucked up they are being raised.
2 - Matt Paprocki
Wow. Even the ESRB fired back at them. I've NEVER seen them do this, even after being ripped apart by the GTA SA "problem." Guess I wasn't the only one to find their report absurd:
3 - Ken Edwards
Damn, those are harsh words from president Patricia Vance. It is about time. Good point about "this year NIMF made clear that its real agenda is to undermine parent trust in the ESRB."
4 - Temple Stark
Matt some ugly-ass section editor (that is SO a JOKE, it's Ken there) chose this as a pick of the week. Go HERE to find out why.
Also, as a part of being a pick you get to make a pick of your own for anytime from Dec. 3 on. Click the same HERE link to find out how.
Thanks Matt