IGDA on ESRB

Thanks goes to Brinstar for noticing Sakey's latest Culture Clash column, which takes on the ESRB:

Frustratingly, their responses are limited, because short of I know you are, but what am I? , it's hard to rebut baseless assaults. The fact is ESRB ratings are extremely prominent and contain more information than what's found on most other media. Yet it's labeled a “failure,” and so far it has countered by saying “No we're not,” because that's all it really can say.

I admire the ESRB. My only true complaint is that they're over-sensitive post-Hot Coffee and a little too quick to re-rate games. The fact that Kim Possible shows more skin than the unhacked version of Oblivion, and the effort involved with hacking it, should have had more bearing on their decision to re-rate that game. After all, enterprising modders could make Reader Rabbit into hardcore porn. To hold the rating systems responsible for the actions of outsiders would be disastrous.

I've been saying it for a while now, but it doesn't hurt to hear someone else agree...



tagged: esrb, gaming