Video-games are not ‘toys’

February 19, 2009

Video-games are not ‘toys’
by Michael Lafferty

When it comes to inappropriate
content in the hands of children, who is failing – retailers, parents or the
ratings system?

During
SCEA’s God of War III event, Stig Asmussen – the man who is directing the
production of the game – made a comment that, on the surface, seemed like a “no
duh” line, considering the content of GoW3.

What he
said was that God of War III was not a toy intended for children.

Ok, let’s
think about that for a moment …

Of course
he is right, but maybe the perception is that video-games are, after all, games
and in the verbiage of our language, games are often equated with meaning
something for children.

Perhaps it
is because we are inundated with the idea promulgated in clichés that as we grow
older, we put aside fun and games and take on ‘more adult’ endeavors.

Quite
frankly, the world has changed … a lot. We cherish our play time and look
forward to the downtime from the hectic pacing of work. And we demand that our
leisure activities entertain us, in spite of any other benefits.

Video-games are definitely not toys and some of the titles recently produced
have no business being in the hands of minors. And yet, having said that,
accounts of mothers buying the latest Grand Theft Auto title to appease a
screaming 10-year old (or in one case, a five-year old) continue to surface.
Shame on that parent! In fact, shame on any parent who slaps down $50 for any
game they know nothing about, ignoring the rating – as poor as it may be in
warning parents about the depth of game content – and tossing the title to a kid
just to get them occupied with something and out of the proverbial hair of the
parent for a given time.

The
video-game industry is a mature industry, guided by talented game designers who
are not limiting themselves to much other than the extent of their imagination
and the latest programming strides. As far as game designers are concerned,
there are few boundaries. The boundaries are supposedly imposed by the ESRB when
it puts its rating on the box. However, the ESRB is operating in the past, and
has not matured along with the industry. The ratings system is antiquated and
poorly designed.

If the
ESRB thinks that a little letter on the box and a black box on the back that
‘details’ what the ratings are for adequately give information, it is deluding
itself. What is “comic mischief?” That is about as broad-based as it comes and
really only serves to show how detached the system is from the actual industry.

It’s time
for some major restructuring in the ESRB ratings, just as it is time to put the
blame for kids playing titles they should not be playing where it belongs – on
the supposed adults who bought them the game in the first place. Video-games are
not baby-sitters and too few parents spend time to become aware of their
children’s behavior in online venues or even in the choice of the games they
play.

But what do
you think? Who is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the ratings and
are the ratings adequate enough as they currently stand? Are developers going
too far in the content of games?