Since the moment video games became a commercial success there have been people who have pushed for unfair amounts of censorship to be placed upon the content of the games and its availability to children. These groups push for increased regulations on content but there is already an appointed group to handle this issue, the ESRB. Even though there has been an increase in mature content in the video game industry, increased censorship is not necessary because the current rating system and current censors make it nearly impossible for kids to reach this content without the help of a parent.
A lot of the people who complain about violence and other mature subject matter in video games are parents, but parents need to buy or at least be there when a game rated “mature” is purchased. When a game is labeled with an “M” the game has been noted as having mature content and cannot be bought by anyone under the age of seventeen. The ESRB notes that games rated “M” have “content [that is] generally suitable for ages 17 and up” and this “May contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language”. Ironically enough, the conditions to enter and watch R rated movies are the same as buying a M rated video game. Now even though the requirements for viewing are the same, the list of things that could be in an R rated movie are far worse than the content of an M rated game, the Motion Picture association Of America states that an R rated movie may contain “adult themes, Adult activity, hard language, intense or persistent violence, sexually-oriented nudity, drug abuse, or other elements”. All of the possible content for an R rated movie is far worse than an M rated video game but yet games get all the flak for indu...
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...e content by children and teenagers nearly impossible without the help of a parent or elder. In the end, if a child is exposed to content that is to mature for them; it is in no way the fault of the ESRB, the games developers, or the games publishers, the blame for that is solely on the ones who purchased the game for them.
Works Cited.
"ESRB ratings." www.esrb.org. Entertainment Software Rating Board , n.d. Web. 17 Oct 2013.
"rating process from ESRB." www.esrb.org. Entertainment Software Rating Board , n.d. Web. 17 Oct 2013.
Majoras, Deborah. united states. Federal Trade Commission. Marketing Violent Entertainment. 2007. Print.
Walters, Lawrence. "Sex, Lies and Videogames." www.gamecensorship.com. Lawrence G. Walters, Esq., n.d. Web. 8 Oct 2013.
"What Each Rating Means." www.mpaa.org. Motion Picture Association of America, n.d. Web. 10 Oct 2013.
A young mother has decided to take her children to see the latest blockbuster to grace the silver screen. Her two children, both boys, are aged 9 and 11. She is aware that the film they are going to see, the critically acclaimed Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises, is rated PG-13 but sees no problem with her kids seeing it. The rating states that “some material may be inappropriate for children under 13” and that “parents [should be] strongly cautioned” (Ratings Posters). But what could be so inappropriate in a Batman film that would require her parental guidance? For the following two and a half hours, images of dead bodies, grisly gun violence, and murder as well as implied sex, numerous profanities ranging from damn to a partially enunciated use of fuck, themes of terrorism and a world absent of law and order are shown to the gleaming, action hungry eyes of pre-teens. The mother leaves in utter disbelief that she had just witnessed numerous neck-snappings, head shots, and brutal beatings alongside her children. Movies these days are not what they used to be. Even the modern superhero film can be filled with graphic violence, ear splitting profanity, an abundant amount of sexual material, increasingly dark themes, and still be given a PG-13 rating. As a result of the excessive tolerance exhibited by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), films are being allowed to contain more explicit material than ever before and younger generations are being exposed to mature subject matter outside of their understanding.
Although Valenti and the Rating System's advocates claim that parents should have the final choice in what their children view, the system may, in practice, obstruct that purpose for parents who decide that their children should see some films. For films with the controversial NC-17 rating, the theatre is prevented from letting young John Small and his under-aged ilk from seeing a film despite his parents' permission. In fact, had John actually been accompanied by his parents, the theatre would have had every right -- some would even say responsibility -- to refuse his admission. The printing of the NC-17 rating often does not read -- as would be reasonable -- "Intended for Adults Only" but rather the more rigid "Not to be Attended by Children Under Seventeen.
The MPAA rating system is outdated. The recent advances in technology allow children to see movies regardless of the rating. The rating system worked well for the early years, but recently “kids slip into the movies they want to see. . . . They also see them at home on widely available DVDs, on cable, and via popular streaming services like Netflix and Amazon” (Ebert 2). Even when kids go to the theater to see movies they can “theater hop” or buy a ticket to a low rated movie and slip into the R rated film of their choice. DVDs and the Internet both provide ways for kids to watch movies that contain objectionable material. Websites that offer the o...
Recently, the MPAA has been receiving complaints on how they rate movies. To give you some background, there 5 basic ratings for movies: G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17. Today, the issue is between PG-13 and R. The PG-13 rating stands for Parents Strongly Cautioned and R means Restricted and if you’re under 17, you have to be accompanied by a parent or guardian. People are complaining that violence shouldn’t be allowed in PG-13 movies and that they should be as hard on violence as they are with other themes. MPAA points out often that they do not police films and instead assign warning labels so parents can choose what they want their kids to watch. Joan Groves, head of MPAA’s ratings board said parents often object to language in movies more so over violence and that, “they feel they’re getting the correct information about violence.”
The ESRB rating system was created in 1994 in response to violent video games like Doom, Mortal Kombat, and Night Trap. The ESRB rating system is meant to protect those under the ages of each rating, eC (Early Childhood) through A (Adult, 18+). While it is not illegal to sell Adult or even Mature games to minors, most retailers like Gamestop and Target refuse to sell them to those under 18. Also, console manufacturers will usually not allow a game to be produced if it is unrated, or if it refuses to be rated. The ESRB rating system is a system that rates games based on how ‘adult theme...
In 1900-1950 every movie in the world was rated before being released. The government, of the country in which the movie was made always did this. In 1956 the rules were changed. Each movie’s script was now required to go before a Film Board, before being produced. If approved the company was allowed to go on with production. In 1968 the Film Board of the Motion Picture Association of America adopted a new classification system. Instead of the scripts being read, the movies were made, rated by the Board and then put into a category. In 1968 the motion Pictures Association, the National Association of Theater Owners, and the International Film importers all gathered for a meeting about an organization called CARA (classification and rating administration). The main objective of this organization was to educate parents on the films and television that their children watch. This rarely changed any movies or television shows it just put an age limit on the people to be able to watch them. Anyone over seventeen years of age was allowed to watch anything they chose.
The first reason video games are an issue is that many video games made today possess content that many people would consider to be obscene. The term obscene covers violence, profanity, and sexual images (obviously). Such videogames are usually branded with the M (mature audiences only) rating on the front of the videogame cover. This means that only players seventeen or older should be playing such games. However, many children around the ages of twelve and under are acquiring these video games as gifts or are purchasing the games themselves. Therefore, it can be assumed that the parents are purchasing M-rated games for their children, and that stores are willingly selling these young children M-rated games. As Paul Keegan says, parents are not following these ratings and stores are not enforcing them, thus allowing young children to view content that is considered obscene (6). Thus, if parents understand and follow the various video game rating labels, and if stores enforce the videogame rating system, then young children will not be as easily able to view mature material.
Although childhood video games are not uncommon, there certainly are video games parents should be concerned about. In
...t that a 9 or 10 year old can have easy access to games such as Grand Theft Auto is just scary. I found option number 3 to be too extreme. Regulations are necessary, but option 3 would leave companies very restricted in terms of creativity and set a sense of fear in the game developers. Also, option 3 will impede one’s right to purchase the game one wants, without the eyes of big brother watching. Overall, option 2 is the most balanced, it deals with the weakest part of the rating system, and that is the enforcement of the ratings. Most retails now do not enforce the ESRB’s rating system; almost anyone can buy whatever game they want without fail. With option 2, the retailers are now more responsible than before in watching what their customers buy. This way, we can keep Mature games out of the hands of young children, yet adults can buy them if they wish to.
Video games are a rapidly growing industry. There are nearly two games sold for every household in America each year (Anders 271). The vast majority of these are sold to adults, but there is no national law that prohibits minors from buying violent video games. A few states have legislation pending that will prevent this, but the fact is that minors do have access to violent video games. There is a voluntary rating system implemented by the ESRB, where games are rated based on their content. The games that are rated Mature are not supposed to be sold to anyone under seventeen and Adults Only titles, but “some retailers do not impose such limitations” (Anders 271). The bottom line is that minors do have access to these violent games.
Just like movies and TV shows, video games have the same rating system based on age.
...any laws and children now days aren’t afraid of taking risks. To make the world a better place violent video games should be censored or banned because it’s not about what type of world we leave our children, it’s about what type of children we leave for the world.
They use ratings such as E (Everyone), T (Teen), and M (Mature) to help consumers know what games are age appropriate. They also use content descriptors such as Intense Violence, Strong Language, and Drug Reference to point out some possible areas of concern (ESRB Ratings Guide and Definitions). The ESRB was formed in response to many violent games such as Doom, Mortal Kombat, and Wolfenstein 3-D (Update: Video Games and Violence). Of th...
The biggest issue in censorship currently is video games. Violence and content is the major issue and dispute about video games. Games are currently rated EC (Early Childhood) to AO (Adults Only). (ESRB) The basic argument was that the ratings system should enable parents to make good rental and purchasing decisions. With this system, parents can check the front and back of the game box and see the rating and what content makes this game get the rating it has. However, parents are just too busy to check into what their kids are watching or playing, most simply don’t have the time or resources to keep up with what their kids could be viewing on the television, or to monitor what video games they may be playing at home. Most parents, grandparents, family, etc., have no idea what to look for a box and just end up getting any title their child asks for. Moreover video games present a large problem with the potential for violence or sexual references contained within them which makes the need for censorship even more of a necessity. This argument is especially directed to single parents who have work and may not have a lot of time to spend monitoring what their children are playing. However, single parents may not do not have the time or resources to know what exactly their children are playing or what type of content is in the games.
...nst TV violence; they only regulate language and sexual content (Brown,2). The American television industry and movie industry are very prude regarding sex and language, but very permissive on the topic of violence. Many movies that have brief glimpses of nudity, or more than one use of profane language get rated R, yet action flicks with thousands of killings in them are rated PG-13 (Horn and Zeitchik, 2). Some question if the ratings would be more appropriate if the government established the regulations rather then the voluntary industry. Movies are rated by the Motion Picture Association of America, know also by the acronym MPAA. Television shows are rated by the network or broadcaster, that the show plays on. The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) rates video games but there are no set laws that prohibits children from buying games rated for adults.