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[flkraven]

After finding out that the game discussed in this thread was Rated T for Teen, I thought a topic on the ESRB may be interesting. I don’t want this topic to be about whether or not we need the ESRB or that it is the responsibility of parents to keep inappropriate content out of the hands of their children, since those are different points entirely. This thread asks a very specific question: What has the ESRB gotten wrong? What games have been rated far too harshly and which games got a free pass and lower rating? And what do you think are the reasons why this happened? Did a cutesy art style influence a more relaxed review or did a negative bias towards a specific genre lead to a stricter review? As a point of reference, here are the current ESRB rating categories:

More specific details can be found at this link:
http://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_guide.jsp

It seems clear to me that the ESRB prioritizes things like sexuality and nudity as being worse than violence. This is weird to me since nudity is just the human body, something that (hopefully) everyone will see and experience, while, knifing someone in the chest is far less common and something that I hope almost no one has to experience ever.

For me, here are some examples in games that I find very strange:

-Fight Night Round 3 and Round 4 are rated T because of violence while DOA Extreme Beach Volley Ball is Rated M because of some boobs

-I find it interesting that everything after Battlefield Bad Company is rated M while BFBC and everything before is rated T. What changed?

-Why the heck are all the Batman Arkham games rated T while other violent 3rd person action games are rated M? WB money hat?

So what say you GAF? Also, can a better system be put in place?

Some Games Mentioned So Far

• Ace Attorney 5 (Rated M) by Tagg9
• Shadow The Hedgehog (Rated E10+) by Zonic505
• Snatcher (Rated T) by Clov
• Halo (Rated M) by DNAbro
• Uncharted (Rated T) by Damian.
• Smash Bros (Rated T) by sn00zer
• Heart of Darkness (Rated E) by SolidSnakex

 

[fvng]

I would love to know how they determine the rating? Is there one guy that sits through an entire game and decides? Are they watching game excerpts?

 

[Cptkrush]

I would love to know how they determine the rating? Is there one guy that sits through an entire game and decides? Are they watching game excerpts?

From my understanding, the publisher tells them about the content in the game and they rate it based on that summary.

 

[Tagg9]

Ace Attorney 5 getting an M rating. I've played through the whole thing, and to me it seems like an E10+ game.

 

[Zonic]

Shadow The Hedgehog did not feel like a E10+. Granted, it WAS meant to be T, which it should have been, but because the E10+ rating was recently released, Sega figured by toning down some of the violence & stuff could earn them the lower rating & therefore market the game to more kids.

Also, I remember playing Z.O.E HD & thinking to myself this was the least M-rated game I ever played, but then I saw the version that didn't have the MGR demo was rated T, which I felt was much more fitting.

Ace Attorney 5 getting an M rating. I've played through the whole thing, and to me it seems like an E10+ game.

Ah yes, I was part of the group that was surprised it got a M rating after 5 T ratings. I guess the ESRB &/or Capcom felt the 3D models were more "realistic" compared to the sprites. & not gonna lie, the final trial had some moments, which I obviously won't spoil.

 

[Clov]

The one example that comes to mind is Snatcher. It was rated T, but there's a part where you investigate a decapitated corpse! Caught me off guard, for sure.

 

[VicViper]

I would love to know how they determine the rating? Is there one guy that sits through an entire game and decides? Are they watching game excerpts?

They get a ~30 minute Video-DVD (yes, that's 720x480 pixels max res) of a game showing materials deemed "pertinent" by the publisher.

They NEVER play any game first hand before release.

 

[Soulflarz]

Ace Attorney 5 getting an M rating. I've played through the whole thing, and to me it seems like an E10+ game.

Agreed. A 10 year old could look at the scene in question and be "whatever" about it.
I cant say i like the ESRBs inconsistencies much at all.

Edit: i can see some having issues. But a T rating is honestly not that bad of one for that. Seriously. If the scene OP showed is T, all of AA5 is T

 

[TimmiT]

Ace Attorney 5 getting an M rating. I've played through the whole thing, and to me it seems like an E10+ game.

While I don't think that it should be rather M, it being rated E10+ would probably be a stretch. Especially because of one particular fucked up part.

 

[hornetpie]

you guys need to get on down to australia and join the censors board if you want to see stuff early

anything rated MA15 or R (18+) has to be played in its entirity in front of the board

a friend of mine had to play MGS2 for 11 hrs straight (with a few breaks) to the board to show them the game

usually builds have cheats etc in to assist with this but apparently they refused to do that with MGS2 so yep, entire game.

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

From my understanding, the publisher tells them about the content in the game and they rate it based on that summary.

I believe the publisher has to submit a video showing some of the most extreme content in the game.

 

[DNAbro]

I've always wondered this but why is Halo rated M? Seems very tame, and suited for a T rating.

 

[Zonic]

Oh yeah, is it just me, or has the ESRB been more lenient towards language in T-rated games lately. I was rather surprised at some of the swears I heard in BlazBlue CSE & Persona 4 Arena.

 

[DagnastyEp]

The Halo games are typically M rated. There's very little blood/gore. And you're killing aliens, not people. And as far as dialogue is concerned, very little if any profanity. I never understood the M rating for those games.

 

[Damian.]

Uncharted rated T always seemed crazy to me. Game had M written all over it with the mass murdering and blood levels in the game.

EDIT: To the poster above me, these two games should switch ratings for sure.

 

[CastleRybread]

Every bad guy calls Catwoman a bitch. That is why games in that series are T.

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

Uncharted rated T always seemed crazy to me. Game had M written all over it with the mass murdering and blood levels in the game.

T is like the PG13 of games. A bond movie might have dozens of people killed but there isnt any blood and gore, really. Same thing with most T games.

 

[The Smoking Bun]

The Halo games are typically M rated. There's very little blood/gore. And you're killing aliens, not people. And as far as dialogue is concerned, very little if any profanity. I never understood the M rating for those games.

So that they appear cool, manly and badass to all the little tykes who want to play big boy games

 

[sn00zer]

smash bros brawl is the perfect e10 game but it got stuck with a t

 

[Rhomega Beta]

Great, so it's just like the MPAA?

 

[Sinatar]

Oblivion originally had a T rating, the ESRB was then forced to change it once the Brotherhood stuff got out.

 

[Frolow]

Ace Attorney 5 getting an M rating. I've played through the whole thing, and to me it seems like an E10+ game.

There was only that one moment in the last trial where I felt the game pushed the boundaries. But still, the game should have been rated T since there's nothing offensive in the game besides blood.

 

[BlackJace]

smash bros brawl is the perfect e10 game but it got stuck with a t

But Snake snappin necks yo.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Heart of Darkness receiving an E rating

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYyZfME5XYY

There's no blood, but the deaths are pretty damn brutal. And it's all happening to a kid.

 

[Mael]

you guys need to get on down to australia and join the censors board if you want to see stuff early

anything rated MA15 or R (18+) has to be played in its entirity in front of the board

a friend of mine had to play MGS2 for 11 hrs straight (with a few breaks) to the board to show them the game

usually builds have cheats etc in to assist with this but apparently they refused to do that with MGS2 so yep, entire game.

That's so hilarious, the whole concept, the execution and the randomness of the special case.
It's just too perfect.

 

[EGM1966]

Uncharted rated T always seemed crazy to me. Game had M written all over it with the mass murdering and blood levels in the game.

EDIT: To the poster above me, these two games should switch ratings for sure.

Tone and genre is taken into account with ratings. Uncharted violence is viewed in line with violence in Indiana Jones films - good guys vs clearly defined bad guys who are cannon fodder against a tone of action/adventure.

Like the Indy films themselves the games do get away with a reasonable amount of blood/violence but the tone and style balances it out - from a ratings perspective.

 

[Azure Dream]

E10+ was created to appease publishers who didn't like the idea of their franchises being marked T (and I assume a decrease of sales for that), but I feel like it muddied the waters a bit.

But at this point, since they've stuck with that, they might as well change M to a 15+ (compulsory rerating a few extreme games back higher), or create a new rating to accommodate that bracket, and then create a new Mature/Adults rating they'll ACTUALLY use (and not the black sheep AO that stores love to act superior for not carrying, console manufacturers love to not allow on their platform, that is literally a brand of death for your game if it's not to be sold on J-List), that can handle the contents of an average R-rated movie, especially when there's more than just violence in play.

TL;DR: If you're going to have an E10+, then Halo and Dead Space should be in separate brackets too.


Still, the ESRB has been way better about game ratings than many other boards. Remember Sega's classifications? Mega Man: The Wily Wars got a MA-13 rating because Mega Man "flinched when shot".

 

[Phediuk]

The original Zone of Enders had nothing warranting an M rating except the MGS2 demo packed with the game.

Also, Heart of Darknes was rated E, but I see that's already been posted.

 

[flkraven]

The Halo games are typically M rated. There's very little blood/gore. And you're killing aliens, not people. And as far as dialogue is concerned, very little if any profanity. I never understood the M rating for those games.

I felt the same way about Halo. Especially when I say that Bad Company 1 was rated Teen. I mean, what the heck is the different here?

 

[Zonic]

Heart of Darkness receiving an E rating

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYyZfME5XYY

There's no blood, but the deaths are pretty damn brutal. And it's all happening to a kid.

Was waiting for this game to get mentioned. Also OoT & its E-rating....with the Redeads, Shadow Temple, & that freakin' well.

The original Zone of Enders had nothing warranting an M rating except the MGS2 demo packed with the game.

Yeah, I felt the same way, but the HD ports without the MGR demo got re-rated to T for both games, which seems more fitting. I have no idea how they got the idea 2nd Runner was rated M, especially since there wasn't any MGS demo to go with it

 

[Big_Al]

After finding out that the game discussed in this thread was Rated T for Teen, I thought a topic on the ESRB may be interesting. I don’t want this topic to be about whether or not we need the ESRB or that it is the responsibility of parents to keep inappropriate content out of the hands of their children, since those are different points entirely. This thread asks a very specific question: What has the ESRB gotten wrong? What games have been rated far too harshly and which games got a free pass and lower rating? And what do you think are the reasons why this happened? Did a cutesy art style influence a more relaxed review or did a negative bias towards a specific genre lead to a stricter review? As a point of reference, here are the current ESRB rating categories:

More specific details can be found at this link:
http://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_guide.jsp

It seems clear to me that the ESRB prioritizes things like sexuality and nudity as being worse than violence. This is weird to me since nudity is just the human body, something that (hopefully) everyone will see and experience, while, knifing someone in the chest is far less common and something that I hope almost no one has to experience ever.

For me, here are some examples in games that I find very strange:

-Fight Night Round 3 and Round 4 are rated T because of violence while DOA Extreme Beach Volley Ball is Rated M because of some boobs

-I find it interesting that everything after Battlefield Bad Company is rated M while BFBC and everything before is rated T. What changed?

-Why the heck are all the Batman Arkham games rated T while other violent 3rd person action games are rated M? WB money hat?

So what say you GAF? Also, can a better system be put in place?

With Bad Company 2 there's a loooooot of swearing by your characters during multiplayer. It's very over the top and I loved it but I appreciate that it wasn't for everyone. Battlefield 3 and 4 has the multiplayer characters swearing as well. That's just a guess on my part but could be one of the reasons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTgNYukr-a8

 

[okayfrog]

Not the ESRB, but I know that in Australia, one of the Atelier games was rated either R18+ for "High Impact Sexual Violence".

EDIT: Here we go. Atelier Totori: The Adventure of Arland.

Japanese games really get a bad rap.

 

[Mister Chippy]

The Halo games are typically M rated. There's very little blood/gore. And you're killing aliens, not people. And as far as dialogue is concerned, very little if any profanity. I never understood the M rating for those games.

I've never understood how they managed to get those ratings. It's obvious that they were trying very hard to get the M rating because otherwise there's no way they'd be able to get that rating. I think the previous answer given to this is that it's meant to look cool to middleschoolers and their parents at the same time.

 

[Violence Jack]

Definitely Uncharted and Halo. Some have even suggested that the Batman Arkham games should be M-rated. Here's an article I came across about it back in 2012.

http://kotaku.com/5901423/two-video-games-two-age-ratings-whats-the-bloody-difference

 

[Jawmuncher]

The Halo games are typically M rated. There's very little blood/gore. And you're killing aliens, not people. And as far as dialogue is concerned, very little if any profanity. I never understood the M rating for those games.

Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if MS over embellished the content in the game to purposely get a M rating. Since they probably see it as more of a selling point. Then again Halo Wars is T so who knows.

 

[kewlmyc]

Not sure if related or not, but I find it weird that SMT: Nocturne got an all ages rating in Japan, but a M rating here. Not sure if Japan was being too lenient or the ESRB was being too harsh.

 

[Pikawil]

Anyone remember when the tie-in game of The Incredibles, being released pre-E10+, got slapped with a T rating? Wonder how Disney felt about that.

 

[Scrabble]

So that they appear cool, manly and badass to all the little tykes who want to play big boy games

what?

Anyway, Halo is most likely M solely because of the flood. There's some pretty heavy dismemberment there, all with it's own green goo. Also, in Halo 1, you can continuously melee enemies after they've been killed. After a while you'll be in a pool of blood that's almost comically large.

 

[……forgetit]

Batman games, the thread, based on what is given in those descriptions the entire arkham series should be rated M, but it gets a pass because Batman.

 

[LaunchpadMcQ]

While I don't think that it should be rather M, it being rated E10+ would probably be a stretch. Especially because of one particular fucked up part.

You mind posting and spoiler tagging whatever that particular part was? I beat the game but I don't know what part you guys are going on about. lol

 

[SykoTech]

Smash Bros consistently getting a T rating, yet Shadow the Hedgehog only getting a E10.

Oh, and one time at FYE I saw some Tom & Jerry game that was rated T. I was like wtf?

-Why the heck are all the Batman Arkham games rated T while other violent 3rd person action games are rated M? WB money hat?

I haven't played all of Origins, but I didn't find anything in Asylum or City that was worthy of a M rating. What makes you think that they should have been rated Mature?

Also, not all other, violent 3rd person action games get rated M? Both Uncharted and inFamous fit that description and are rated T just like Batman.

I will agree with Dead or Alive. Both the fighting and the volleyball games. Neither should have gotten an M rating to me.

 

[Zonic]

Not sure if related or not, but I find it weird that SMT: Nocturne got an all ages rating in Japan, but a M rating here. Not sure if Japan was being too lenient or the ESRB was being too harsh.

I recall one of the GBA Castlevania games got an A (E there) rating while we got a T rating. Guess it's part of cultural differences & such. Sometimes, M rated games get a Z rating (18+ or AO) over in Japan. Heck, Senran Kagura Burst got a D rating (17+ or M) in Japan & it amazingly got a T here in the US.

 

[Ridley327]

Not sure if related or not, but I find it weird that SMT: Nocturne got an all ages rating in Japan, but a M rating here. Not sure if Japan was being too lenient or the ESRB was being too harsh.

Explicit references to religions in the real world tend to get jumped on extra hard by the ESRB, particularly in the way SMT tends to handle them.

 

[twinturbo2]

The Soulcalibur games have boobs on the level of DOA, but gets away with a T instead if an M.

Am I the only one thinking something's wrong here?

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

Halo being M and Uncharted being T?
I will never understand this. Uncharted is worse then Halo in ESRB regards.
And AA5 being M is a gigantic what.

 

[Neuromancer]

Fun fact: comedy superstar Tim Heidecker used to work for the ESRB.

Tim worked for New York's Entertainment Software Ratings Board reviewing video games for content. Tim doesn't remember the job fondly. "I fucking hate [video] games. I didn't give a shit about the job and didn't spend one second of productive time on it."

http://clatl.com/atlanta/how-adult-swims-tim-and-eric-got-so-awesome/Content?oid=1277637

 

[LaunchpadMcQ]

Explicit references to religions in the real world tend to get jumped on extra hard by the ESRB, particularly in the way SMT tends to handle them.

Exactly what I was thinking. There's hardly anything truly violent in these games other than the occasional corpse or something, but the religious themes get the ratings boards' fired up.

 

[KojiKnight]

Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if MS over embellished the content in the game to purposely get a M rating. Since they probably see it as more of a selling point. Then again Halo Wars is T so who knows.

This is likely the case...

At least as to a few years ago this was how the ESRB worked...

Developer submits game X to be rated. They have to in written and video form, show the most "inappropriate or violent" parts of their game. The ESRB then takes the information and goes to a random (selection of?) malls where they get willing members of the public to view it and then ask them what age group they'd feel is appropriate for the game as well as what parts (if any) they find objectionable.

This is why ratings can be skewed... Developers could intentionally hold something back, they could over embellish the few "bad" scenes to try and get a higher rating, or it could simply be that the random people who viewed the content for that particular game were more (socially) conservative than others.

Not sure if this is still how they work or not.

 

[massoluk]

AA5 has some pretty fucked up stuffs. I'm surprised it got M-Rating, but I'm not that surprised.

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

Explicit references to religions in the real world tend to get jumped on extra hard by the ESRB, particularly in the way SMT tends to handle them.

That and some of the demon designs would definitely push a T rating.