SapientWolf
Trucker Sexologist
I guess I mostly mean 2D and hand drawn games. They get away with murder (literally).
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Games Rated Incorrectly By The ESRB | This Thread is Rated 'M' for Mature
- Thread starter flkraven
- Start date
chaostrophy
Member
I wonder if they stay in the consciousness of gamers because they're displayed so prominently on game packages. I wonder why that is, compared to MPAA ratings which are in small print on the back of movie disc boxes.
BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO
Junior Member
giant dick monsters
I love that gaf poster who gets away with it being his avatar.
a Master Ninja
Member
Realistic depictions of events that actually took place. A solider gets shredded in a doorway right in front of you within the first 5 minutes of gameplay. T for Teen.
Space fantasy where you shoot goofy looking aliens and purple goo comes out. M for Mature.
I like how the first two Ratchet & Clank games were rated Teen for "Mild Violence" and that was it. At that time, the E10 rating didn't exist. It was introduced in 2005, so I think they would've been rated E10 had that rating existed. UYA mainly got its Teen rating from its Crude Humor (such as the banana joke).
The DOA games that got M ratings did so because the female characters could wear micro bikinis, which would made the characters nearly nude. Everything else was perfectly fine.
The DOA games that got M ratings did so because the female characters could wear micro bikinis, which would made the characters nearly nude. Everything else was perfectly fine.
Yeah, their pretty lenient with swearing now. I guess they realized much often PG-13 movies can use the word "shit" with no problems and decided that T-rated games should be the same way. As long as you don't go into F bomb territory, of course.
I honestly feel that most of that stuff Teen material, except for the obvious one
Mara
the child's "death"
permanent child deaths
I really don't think
the strip club or the implied rape would fly in a T rated game. I'm not sure even the Kanji dungeon stuff would be appropriate based on how the ESRB rates things.
Why would you do that?
Member
According to an interview with the ESRB in the Kotaku article on Batman Arkham City's and Halo CE's ratings posted earlier:
http://kotaku.com/5901423/two-video-games-two-age-ratings-whats-the-bloody-difference
So blood splatter that exists already is not grounds for an M rating, apparently. The article does list other reasons why Halo is rated M, though.
Chiaroscuro
Member
kill me if I am late, but Shadow The Hedgehog was rated E10+ because of the presence of guns in the game.The whole Halo controversy was about Bungie wanting to make the game they want, without any compromise, which MS support (even at the loss of console bundles, which could not contain M rated games at the time). The specific point that ESRB complain was the oddball game, where players use a human skull to play. That leads to the M rating, among other minor things.
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Agreed. I just finished the game last night, I have no idea how the game managed to get the rating it did.
And it was awesome!
Azure Dream
Member
You read what I said incorrectly. There was an M-rated Bionic Commando coming, so they may have decided or even encouraged the M rating. Maybe not, but I never said there was a "Whoops" moment. And I'm glad they kept the iconic ending. I just wish they could've had it both ways: gotten the sales of the T version, but still had the uncensored version available.
Wow, yeah, some of that is a bit extreme.
Robert at Zeboyd Games
Banned
I think you're remembering the first game. There's nudity in literally the first cutscene in Eternal Blue (the heroine wakes up from her crystal sleep & then walks around the temple a bit before getting clothes in a later scene) which makes the fact that the ESRB didn't care all the more surprising given how strict stuff like that usually is treated.
Sir Ilpalazzo
Member
Perfect Dark had blood splatters too (while Goldeneye only had blood decals on bodies), plus you had stuff like guards cursing at you and audibly choking on their own blood when you get headshots sometimes. It was at least a step above Goldeneye in that department.
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
I've honestly never seen a game whose rating I thought didn't fit at the time it was issued.
The biggest issue I see with the system is that M is forced to handle both the top end of what would be PG-13 in film and most of what would be R, so you get the sort of soft-M/hard-M issue that you see with Halo versus Gears of War. But, given that that's what the current rating system is, but deserve their ratings.
Personally I'd favour dismantling the ESRB, moving to an ad hoc platform-based rating system, and allowing companies to self-report with the platform holder being able to disagree or veto if necessary (IE exactly what Steam / Apple do). There's no incentive to lie about content, really.
The biggest issue I see with the system is that M is forced to handle both the top end of what would be PG-13 in film and most of what would be R, so you get the sort of soft-M/hard-M issue that you see with Halo versus Gears of War. But, given that that's what the current rating system is, but deserve their ratings.
Personally I'd favour dismantling the ESRB, moving to an ad hoc platform-based rating system, and allowing companies to self-report with the platform holder being able to disagree or veto if necessary (IE exactly what Steam / Apple do). There's no incentive to lie about content, really.
Call of Duty was a lot less graphic than it is now. It's definitely intense, but there's no gore and very, very, very little blood.
Hahahah, I'm looking at the box right now on my desk and all I can say is "Holy cow, how have I never noticed this?"
A Metal Gear rated E... Pretty much a Unicorn there.
My addition to the list is Final Fantasy Tactics. It's always been a real hard T (could have easily been M) for me since much of the plot goes to a very dark place. There's also some really... intense violence of people getting stabbed, spitting up blood, etc. In the original PlayStation version I remember Dycedarg Beoulve even dropping a S-bomb in his final scene. Shocked the hell out of 13-year old me.
Alcotholic
Banned
That's inconsistent. I know plenty of T games with dynamic blood splatter.
It seems like the big sticking point between an action game getting a T vs. M is blood/gore and I think it's a good metric but it's improperly applied strictly without context (example below)
Hence the original Halo has an M because of all the spurts of Covenant blood everywhere and Uncharted gets a T despite the graphic nature of watching an NPC react to a bullet to the head but with non-existent blood.
If I had one change to recommend, it would be putting a harsher rating on language in games (Batman includes frequent use of bitch and shit) and relaxing the rating on partial nudity/sexual themes.
I REALLY REALLY wish the Batman games had a language filter to cut out the nasty stuff. Even though they are super-fans of Batman, I don't let my boys watch or play because of the cursing.
Hence the original Halo has an M because of all the spurts of Covenant blood everywhere and Uncharted gets a T despite the graphic nature of watching an NPC react to a bullet to the head but with non-existent blood.
If I had one change to recommend, it would be putting a harsher rating on language in games (Batman includes frequent use of bitch and shit) and relaxing the rating on partial nudity/sexual themes.
I REALLY REALLY wish the Batman games had a language filter to cut out the nasty stuff. Even though they are super-fans of Batman, I don't let my boys watch or play because of the cursing.
Pardon me for the brain fart, must have been confounding Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 (which is rated T) with that wife brain reboot that's been only good for MvC3 Spencer in retrospect.
omnislayer
Member
All versions of the Guilty Gear series over the years have been rated T at the most, including XX Accent Core...until it got re-released on PSN and XBL where it mysteriously got bumped to an M.
Bonus points for it being a bloodless game, while previous entries in the series featured large amounts of blood in gameplay and still were rated T.
I am still baffled.
Bonus points for it being a bloodless game, while previous entries in the series featured large amounts of blood in gameplay and still were rated T.
I am still baffled.
twinturbo2
butthurt Heat fan
Then what would you call Ivy's default outfit?
cj_iwakura
Member
I'm surprised Raidou 1 got an M rating, apart from the demon designs(but I guess that's enough). Though it does have some dark subject matter.
Snatcher got an MA-13, which is a bit stricter than a T by today's standards, I think.
Snatcher got an MA-13, which is a bit stricter than a T by today's standards, I think.
There's nipple shots in guilty gear.
The ESRB doesn't have a problem with outfits like that in Teen rated games, they're considered "Partial Nudity." Fran in FF XII also comes to mind.
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
Ace Attorney 5 got an M rating? WTF? I should go play it.
RadioHeadAche
Member
Digimon World and the Digital Card Battle game for PlayStation were both given a "T" ratings for "comic mischief". It was some mild irreverent humor, if I recall correctly. All the other games were "E", I think. I always thought that was weird.
Metal Gear: Ghost Babel was really surprising too. Outside of that one particular boss, I recall there being a few mentions of "hell" and "damn" as expletives. I have no idea how that didn't get a "T".
Metal Gear: Ghost Babel was really surprising too. Outside of that one particular boss, I recall there being a few mentions of "hell" and "damn" as expletives. I have no idea how that didn't get a "T".
According to the halo 2 art book, it's the flood. They were originally aiming for a T rating (back then T was actually the sweet spot). The flood combat forms are pretty grotesque.
Cameron122
Member
I've killed an unfathomable number of children in Crusader Kings II but it is rated T 0_o
XANDER CAGE
Member
The issue I have with the swearing in Arkham is how out of place it feels. I love swearing but the goon dialogue in that game sounds like kids who just learned their first bad words.
I'm sort of surprised more games don't offer a bleeping option, considering how many have blood options. A few games have them but not tons.
omnislayer
Member
Very true but that apparently only mattered with the new release. It's just so inconsistent.
Why would you do that?
Member
It isn't really inconsistent because they didn't say that "dynamic" blood splatter would automatically raise the rating to M, but that it would help raise the intensity of the violence, i.e. it looks more violent.
Heck, Ocarina of Time had blood splatter in a few places, splatter that you actually create by swinging your sword at the end of the game, and that was rated E, haha. (Though I'm sure that was a mistake or wasn't shown to the ESRB... Plus, it was edited to green in later releases, anyway.)
Chet Rippo
Member
One of the demons is a giant penis riding a chariot.
Pickles Spill
Member
And then there are the infection forms which burrow into the backs of people's skulls. An M seems justified.
Gunstarheroes
Member
I actually have an issue of EGM where Halo did have a T rating, and then it seemingly got changed. So it was definitely the goal/on the border at one point. Or just a misprint on the ad.
XANDER CAGE
Member
The same reason MPAA has X.
SniperHunter
Banned
Xenosaga. They must not have actually played it, or they had a version with no Albedo in it.
yea there's some really disturbing stuff in this game. The evil guy touches little girls and then kills them. I was really disturbed by this game. some of the story bits in this game reminded of star trek voyager and the minor lesbianism between janeway and seven of nine
ambientmystic
Member
Crunchy20XX
Banned
Y'all already got it right. The two games that have bothered me the most on this topic are Uncharted and Halo. I mean, from the first moments of Uncharted 2, when Nathan Drake lifts ups a handful of blood, I was like, "How is this not M?" Meanwhile, the Halo series has zero profanity and you're shooting aliens with blue or green blood. Oughta be T.