The ESRB
The Entertainment Software Ratings Board has been around for nine years and is the be-all, end-all of the appropriateness of a game for a certain age group. After some investigation of the ESRB, however, I learned numerous things about not only why the GameCube is last in American hardware sales, but also some scary things about the society in which we live.
You’ve seen them: the small ‘E’ or ‘T’ logos in the lower corners of every game for every major gaming console since the SNES. You’ve heard it at the end of commercials too: “Rated ‘E’ for Everyone." But did you ever look into it: really take a look at the little logos and wonder why they’re there and why they exist to begin with? After some scrutinizing over the details, I have come to understand their use and worth.
And I quote, from the ESRB’s Official Website, “To take full advantage of the ESRB rating system, it’s important to check both the RATING SYMBOL (found on the front of the game box) and the CONTENT DESCRIPTORS (found on the back of the game box).” The site then lists the symbols and descriptors, but more interesting then the system itself is the way it is implemented into the gaming world.
Just looking at the Games that I own: Twenty Titles (twelve “Everyone” titles, seven “Teen” titles and one “Mature” title,) four have no descriptors. The ratio of E-rated games to T-rated games is nearly 2:1! That’s why Cubers own a “Kiddie System.” That is, however, only at face value, so let’s take a closer look, shall we? Everyone: Luigi’s Mansion, Pikmin, Wave Race: Blue Storm, Madden 2002, Super Monkey Ball, Super Monkey Ball 2, Super Mario Sunshine, Animal Crossing, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and finally, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
Luigi’s mansion didn’t have a single descriptor, so I guess the board didn’t foresee any eleven year-olds sucking up beach balls with their vacuums and attacking their parents. Wave race cannot have descriptions - come on - seriously. Madden 2002 couldn’t have descriptors either, you know? Finally, if they saw that Animal Crossing could do to corrupt a child’s mind, they’re insane. Luckily, they did not.
Pikmin, although it wasn’t gruesome, did have some violence in it. (Mild) Violence was also the descriptor for The Legend of Zelda, The Wind Waker, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time / Master Quest, XG3 Extreme Racing, Super Monkey Ball and Super Monkey Ball 2. Those were the only E-Rated games I own with Violence as their descriptors. I’d personally like to add that while I can understand it in Pikmin, and each Zelda title, XG3 wasn’t violent at all barring the explosions when you crashed, nor were either of the Super Monkey Ball titles, although I guess that arguably, monkey fight involves death; Maybe, I won’t argue it. What other descriptors existed in a game for Everyone? Mild Lyrics (Sonic Adventure 2 Battle [I don’t remember hearing anything!]) and Comic Mischief (Super Mario Sunshine [I know what you’re thinking… where? Graffiti]) caused little for parents to worry about.
Teen rated games contain things that aren’t quite adult material, but that contain content some parents might not want their kids observing…The violence in Star Wars Rogue Squadron 2 was obvious, and very personal with the characters, so it can be understood. Cel Damage’s comical cartoon-styled shredding and beating couldn’t prevent it from grabbing the teen rating for its violence, albeit animated, and its’ comic mischief. The Simpson’s Road Rage featured mild language (as opposed to spicy language) and suggestive themes, along with it’s demolition-derby like car crash violence. Metroid Prime’s T-rating was based solely on the gruesomeness of the title’s many exploding enemies, while Enter The Matrix earned it’s Teenage Rating for the same reasons as The Simpsons. Enter The Simpsons? The Simpsons: Reloaded? Wow… Finally, F-Zero GX’s still baffling Teen rating is due to the mild violence of dying cars, the comic mischief, and its suggestive themes (a few scenes occur in bars: oh well.)
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s requiem’s Mature rating earned it an entire paragraph here not only because it is my favorite game, or because it should be yours too, but because it can be placed under a lot of scrutiny. Could this game be Adult Only? Yes actually. Think about it: If kids can blame Columbine on Doom and a more recent shooting on The Matrix, why can’t a game based on Insanity be the reason that “the defendant went insane before attempting to kill her mother, father, aunt and uncle with a Magnum she found in her neighbor’s shed, the idea given to her by a videogame she liked called ‘Eternal Darkness’.” It’s very possible. The same thing could be assumed of Grand Theft Auto, that either of these games could potentially be for adults only: why aren’t they?
Our society has become immune for the most part. Back in the 60’s and 70’s, ‘ass’ was censored. Today, South Park can say ‘shit,’ arguably the second worst curse, more then 160 times in a single episode, none of them censored. Eternal Darkness’ mature themes, along with Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto series are most certainly not mature games: they’re games for adults. Someone will, down the line, blame a killing or other kind of sacrifice of human life on Eternal Darkness: I can feel it. It may not be this year, this decade, but it will happen, I’m sure. Some crime will be blamed on GTA as well, it’s seemingly careless attitude towards rape, abuse, drugs and high crime instilling a sense of invincibility and prowess over others. These games, which feature topics which would once have been rated NC17 in a movie theatre, or worse if such a rating existed, are now available to anyone.
Why?
Our society is now taught to handle violence as if it’s nothing. My neighbor’s three year old brother brings a telescope stand outside. As I throw the football around with my neighbor, the little one opens the tri-folding legs and begins swiveling the handle around, ‘sniping’ us. He yells ‘boom,’ and ‘your dead,’ even ‘come over here so I can kill you here,’ and as much as I know it’s not serious, and that he’s just playing, and that it is very amusing, this is still coming from a kid who can’t say my name much past ‘ayex.’ The fact that I find it amusing is sad, but I digress that I do and I can’t help but feel normal to do so, as wrong as I feel. Violence and death is meaning less and less, and is being instilled at a much earlier age.
The ESRB is normally referred to by gamers as a nuisance because it can hinder hardware sales, cause parents to reconsider, etc. Denis Dyack of Silicon Knights, makers of Eternal Darkness, once explained that ESRB ratings were not to prohibit gamers from buying a game, but rather to make sure that the parents of the gamer are aware of what exists in the game, and that all that is needed is a talk and an understanding before the game can be played. This statement is in fact what the ESRB does. It’s never kept me from getting games as an amount of trust has mounted between my parents and I so that it is well known that games are games, and reality is reality. It is as simple as that. Simple as that. That. ‘That’ is often overlooked.
What else did I learn through the ESRB? Nintendo’s in last place for a reason. Their console costs less then everyone else’s, features a very ergonomic controller, and is home to the only true gaming mascots, Mario, Zelda, Samus, etc. Those are plusses right? Think about it on the flipside: their console is the cheapest because it lacks DVD playback and internal modems, hard drives, et cetera, and has those characters, but fails to implement many new titles with the potential to become classics, excluding Pikmin, which could just do it. Why is Nintendo’s console last? All the other consoles are more aggressive in their broad ESRB ratings and aren’t afraid to have as many Mature’s as they have Everyone’s. Nintendo’s Teen and Mature Rated Games: Super Smash (HAL,) Eternal Darkness (Silicon Knights,) Metroid Prime (Retro) and finally, F-Zero GX (Amusement Vision.) Nintendo’s E-Rated Games: Luigi’s Mansion (EAD,) Pikmin (EAD,) Wave Race (EAD,) Super Mario Sunshine (EAD,) Animal Crossing (EAD) and The Wind Waker (EAD.) Do you see a pattern here? Nintendo needs to make its own game that pushes the ESRB’s system a little bit, and put it out. Having never touched a mature game directly, they could do so much. Why they don’t is why they’re dead last.
In Nintendo’s defense, I would like to point out that many people use ESRB ratings as a gauge of how good or bad the game will be. Think about it. You see a movie and it’s rated PG-13, it’s not as good as an R-Rated movie that can have sex and drugs and everything. Well that’s not always true, as Shrek, which is PG-Rated and one of my favorite movies is plenty better then some of the R-Flicks I’ve seen. In games, Pikmin is considered the most stupidly conceived idea and most immature game on the planet. Think about it, that comes out of people’s mouths all the time. My philosophy on that game: tell a six-year old to play it. See how easy they think it is. That game is suitable for everyone, but is a very mature, strategic game that can be placed in realms with Advance Wars and Starcraft.
Finally, I learned that the ESRB can actually tell you a lot… Not just about games and what’s in them, but of the changing culture of American society which allows these games to be rated what they are, with the given descriptors, and be ok for this group of people. It’s a tough job, but someone has got to do it, and the ESRB has done it very well, for almost ten years. Kudos ESRB. Your work is appreciated.