Rating Our Rating System

Today, I want to talk to you readers about a subject that I feel very strongly about; the rating system used for video games. I have always felt a very strong hatred towards those people who want to blame games for all of society's ills. The recent backlash towards Rockstar's Manhunt 2 has forced me to revisit this hot button topic. Now as a gamer, I have always believed that games shouldn't be censored. We should be allowed to experience the creator's entire vision. But as the father of a 2 year old girl, I am starting to understand the mindset of some of the detractors. The problem I have with most of these crusaders is two-fold. I hate the fact that most of their arguments are very hypocritical in nature and I also don't like the fact that gamers always take 100% of the blame no matter what. Before I continue, I must tell you that this isn't my solution to the problem. It's more of my rant about the problem. I would offer a solution, but I don't have to because it's my column. So there.

For gamers in my age bracket, Mortal Kombat 2 was our Manhunt 2.The amount of controversy that game created is still astounding to me, especially after playing it on my PS3 recently (it doesn't even seem as gory as it did then.) The first Mortal Kombat was controversial enough to force Nintendo to remove the blood from the SNES version. But Mortal Kombat 2 upped the gore and violence in every way, so naturally the war cries of the censor force grew louder. My mother never told my brothers and I that we weren't allowed to play a certain game. If we wanted it, she would let us play it. We were also allowed to watch any movie or show we chose. You see, she was confident that we could separate fantasy and reality. Her judgment was correct, although we did imitate our favorite wrestlers which led to a few minor injuries. However, in today's world of "reality" TV and the internet explosion, young minds are exposed to much more graphic content than I was. If I was raised in today's climate, I think my mother might not have opted for the methods she did.

So back to the problem I have with the situation. My first issue is with the rating system itself. Now in most cases, the system itself works pretty well. I have 2 major gripes. The first is that the rules aren't being enforced enough. It is way too easy for a M rated title to end up in the hands of someone under 17. The store must share the blame, but in most cases there isn't much they can do. The parents are mostly at fault for not caring or knowing what their kids are playing. The second gripe I have is this AO phobia. I don't understand why an AO rated game can't be sold. Maybe I'm missing something, but I thought AO meant the game was for Adults Only. Last time I checked, adults played video games. But this problem is more than likely directly related to the first one: these companies know there is no way to feasibly keep an AO rated game away from kids without the parents help. So that tells me they would rather scrap the game than trust parents to keep their young ones away from it. Score 1 for responsible parenting. End sarcasm.

The second problem with this whole situation is the blatant tunnel vision going on by most parties involved. It's obvious to any level headed person that the world we live in is full of violence and mayhem. Any artistic medium is naturally going to reflect that. Whether it be art, TV, movies, video games or music, the fact still remains. Creativity will always use reality as inspiration. Having said that, I find it hard to believe that these crusaders against gaming think that video games are more psychologically harmful than any other form of entertainment. Honestly that notion is laughable in my opinion. Video games are interactive, meaning you determine the outcome. That alone should let you know its not real. You can't do a quarter circle motion and push the triangle button in real life to throw a Hadoken. I will acknowledge that some individuals claim their actions were inspired by video games. But that can be said for all forms of entertainment. People such as Jack Thompson tend to overlook these type of opinions even though they are based in both truth and logic. But we all know that hatred blinds the best of people.

I know I have been hard on those who fight for more censorship, but I do believe they have good intentions in some cases. As a father, I do worry about what my little girl is exposed to. But I don't want anyone telling me what she can or can't do. If I choose to let her play a rated M game, it's my choice. All parents aren't as knowledgeable as myself when it comes to gaming. And I know most parents are too busy to see what little James has in his PS3. But eliminating games with a violent theme will solve nothing. There will still be violent tv shows, music and movies. I don't have a problem with violence in games if it is needed. But if it's not needed, maybe it shouldn't be there.

Most of the people for more censorship aren't gamers at all, so to them this issue is black and white. They don't care why the lead character in Manhunt 2 is decapitating victims or why corpses are being used for sexual acts in the background. They don't care if these images are absolutely necessary for the story to be told properly. They only care that their son or daughter may play it at a friend's house and then decide it would be fun to try and make fantasy a reality. But if that did happen, how is it the game's fault? The game didn't purchase itself. The game didn't tell the parents to let their child play an AO rated game. The game didn't place itself in that Wii console. The game didn't tell that individual that it would be fun to try this in real life. But hey, it should have never been made in the first place according to some. And I bet that right after the ESRB made the decision to rate Manhunt 2 an AO, they all took their families to the movies to celebrate. I'm sure they saw a nice family movie like Hostel 2. Just the way it is I guess. Until they shut us down, game hard and live easy!

Jerzee