Korea Challenges Blizzard with Adults-Only StarCraft II Rating

[VitusPrime]

And I thought PEGI was a dumb ratings board...

Personally I like the PEGI board. There ratings actually give evindence on the box why a game has such a rating.

As for Korea, Im not going to hold it against them if they want to rate a game an 18, seeing as game addiction is a problem and the first iteration kinda of had something to do with it.

 

[Icehearted]

Seems like an attempt to control the masses more then anything else.

That was my first thought as well. I hate that the ratings board has that kind of power over a video game maker. It's like companies hobble their products just to pander to these people's crooked sense of personal moral values.

Crooked sense of moral values? So what a game that shows violence and drug use is "good" morale values?

Howabout this instead, the Government is elected to serve the interests of the people.
Corporations don't give a shit about people, they just want to make money. Game companies are no different.


I mean hell people have died playing Starcraft:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4137782.stm

Most people think "oh, this guy's a dumbass" but the fact is, that without starcraft he wouldn't have spent 50 hours playing that game. You think the game isn't a factor? Of course it is. How can it NOT be a factor in his death? Maybe incidents like this are affecting the South Korean government's policy on video games. And with good reason. It's not like any of the people raking in the cash at Blizzard are really going to care when someone goes and dies playing one of their games.

They'll just think "oh, what drives this guy to play for so long? He must have been stupid! Oh well, let's continue making starcraft 2. We're gonna make shitloads of money! Woooo!"

So it's the car's fault the driver was too tired to pay attention to the road and hit the other car? It's the gun's fault the owner decided to go on a trigger-happy rampage and kill someone for cutting in line at a ticket booth?

Honestly, that's not even what I was getting at.

Morality is a subjective issue. For example, I'm a Christian, but I swear like a sailor. Why? Because I believe in free speech, and the bible doesn't tell me a thing about using a term like ***** is a sin. The context, perhaps, but the word, not at all.

So why was it such a controversy when a word like Sex was so taboo in the eyes of ratings and censors that the 80s hit "I want your sex" was threatened to be removed from the airways because it used the word too often and "promoted promiscuity"?

That's my point. Artists, game makers, writers, anyone involved in entertainment of any sort has or will face an irrational, one-sided, subjective censoring or ratings. Just because some asshole thinks it's impolite to put elbows on the table while eating, but can't say why it is impolite, and so a scene in a movie with someone placing their elbows on the table during dinner winds up on the cutting room floor. It's nonsensical, and it's controlling what we get in any finished product.

I don't want to see what the ratings board approved of, I want to see what the game makers had in mind, free and absent of fear and pandering.

 

[theownerer]

Those damn marines and their stimpacks...

 

[acosn]

Don't worry, I'm not insane enough to suggest that South Korea has a corrupt government based on this one little thing, I'm just saying that government officials using their powers in a way not intended when they were granted the powers is dangerous, and yes, it is a corruption OF government, because they are part of the government, and whoever made that decision is corrupt.

What exactly is corrupt about making Starcraft 2 a 18+ rated game? Seriously? CORRUPT? Where the hell do you even get that from? Governments are elected to serve the people. If the government official deems that it should be an 18+ rated game then it's an 18+ rated game. If they feel they need to protect younger games from the depictions in SC2 then how is it corrupt???

Seriously try looking up definitions to words before you start throwing them around. A government acting in the interests of its people is DOING ITS JOB. If you don't think their actions are in your best interests then elect someone else and/or petition your local politician.

Oooh and I'll use a lot of caps to help ridicule people and berate them for being bad!

In all honesty if they've upped the rating like this there's two explanations:

1) Its purely political.

2) Its got something to do with what's been added since the alpha when it had a 15+ rating tag on it.

Since none of us have played its rather hard to know for sure.

 

[PhantomCritic]

Could have been worse, like getting banned from Korea altogether.

 

[RatRace123]

More gaming politics, why do we seem to attract nothing but hate from people with legislative powers? At any rate, I feel for all of the Koreans. But it's not like a mature content rating will stop people from playing it.

 

[Keava]

It seems, uh well, at least understandable when you look at it from their point of view. You need to realize asian mindset and perception is slightly different from the way western people percive things.
Gaming in most of the eastern countries does get out of hand a little with people getting too attached to virtual worlds, enough to mention the guy who married a pillow or several reports of people ignoring their real lifes in favor of virtual worlds.
You cant really simply transfer the stuations you know form western culture onto the asian mindsets because that just doesnt work.

From the article it seems pretty obvious that its not really the content they are that worried about when setting such rating but rather trying to minimize the effect it has on their society and thats well within the goverment rights.
Issue of addiction to virtual reality in asian countries is actually closer to serious than the western one, which is pretty much just residing in the extremist politicans minds.

 

[Mr. Samson]

The government over there is seriously risking a revolution

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

Pfft, just a few politicians desperately clutching at straws, going for the soft target of videogames once again. Funny though, reminds me of when I bought the original Starcraft - my mum kept lecturing me about how bad for me it was because of all the 32bit exploding deaths and Vultures saying "I don't have time to f*ck around" if you clicked on them enough. Yeah, and I really grew up to be a mass murderer.

 

[Asehujiko]

Most people think "oh, this guy's a dumbass" but the fact is, that without starcraft he wouldn't have spent 50 hours playing that game. You think the game isn't a factor? Of course it is. How can it NOT be a factor in his death? Maybe incidents like this are affecting the South Korean government's policy on video games. And with good reason. It's not like any of the people raking in the cash at Blizzard are really going to care when someone goes and dies playing one of their games.

They'll just think "oh, what drives this guy to play for so long? He must have been stupid! Oh well, let's continue making starcraft 2. We're gonna make shitloads of money! Woooo!"

Yea, let's get rid of everything that can harm a human! Exterminate all animals larger then a cat because they can maim somebody, limit building height to 5ft so falling from the room isn't lethal, shut down the power grid to avoid people electrocuting themselves, de-orbit the moon so that nobody drowns because they didn't keep track of the tide and disable the earth's magnetic core to get rid of all those dangerous volcanoes!

Blizzard is NOT at fault for somebody elses lack of self preservation. If starcraft hadn't been there, he would have gotten himself killed in another stupid manner. It is completely impossible to predict these events and wether or not people learn from it so there is absolutely no sense in planning for things that might not ever happen again.

 

[Danpascooch]

I know this not because of comparing their criteria to an outside source, but from comparing their own criteria to their own criteria, that is to say, their own past precedent. For the level and category of mature content in the game, there has never been an 18+ rating in South Korea.

It's quite clear from your other posts that you're not Korean. Nor do you live in Korea. So how do you know this? Have you done an indepth study of similar games and their various ratings in the korean market? Or are you pulling this out of thin air? Or worse, believing some other random guy who knows just as little as we do on some other forum? Don't give facts unless you have evidence to back it up.

and in this case, the complete violation of all South Korean past precedent in video game ratings with no viable explanation whatsoever forces the conclusion that this was done to curb the massive popularity of this game in Korea. And since the ratings board was not created with the authority to ban games from age groups based on popularity instead of content, the people who made that decision in my opinion are corrupt.

Ban is not the correct word at all. There's a difference between a ban and a restriction. Starcraft 2 is not banned in korea, it's restricted to adults.

And again you're making assumptions based on no apparent evidence. You say they're [restricting] games based on popularity? How do you know this exactly? You don't. And why would they restrict a game based on popularity? Even if the issue of morality is coming into question, popularity is a non-issue. It's not relevant.

Maybe they're restricting the game to adults because of the fact people get completely addicted to playing the thing. And would that not make sense? Other addictive substances/activies like alcohol, cigarettes, gambling are restricted to adults. Why should a video game be exempt? Why should a gambling video game, ie a VLT or Video Lottery Terminal be restricted to adults but not a video game which has shown itself to be highly addictive?

What's the difference between someone who blows their paycheck on a VLT gambling video game, and someone who loses their job because they spent too much time on Starcraft or some other non-gambling game? There's no difference in my opinion. They're both as harmful. People have died playing starcraft, I'm sure lots of people have lost their job or otherwise ruined their life because of it too. I don't have any facts for it of course, but its a safe assumption. Hell I knew people who ran home at lunch break from work to play Everquest. Same thing, just as unhealthy.

Is it not reasonable to restrict a sequel to a game that has a track record of being highly addictive???

You should reread my post, I did not say "ban" I said "ban FROM AGE GROUPS"

And I said they banned it due to their popularity, which as far as I'm concerned is the reason it's addictive. I think if the board wants to restrict the game because it's addictive, they need to find out why it's addictive first and report that as a reason for it's rating, rather than blaming it on the violence and other non-18+ warranting themes within. They have a responsibility to report why they are restricting the game, and they didn't mention addictive nature. That said, restricting it for its addictive nature sets a dangerous precedent of restricting games because they are TOO good, and thus are popular and addictive.

My point is, they didn't report addictiveness as a reason for their rating, and since the themes within the game violate past precedent for an 18+ rating, someone fucked up in the ratings board. If you're going to restrict a game for an unorthodox reason, report it as your reason, don't make up something else.

 

[Danpascooch]

While I don't agree with the South Korea Government's decision, I can see why they would slap an AO rating on SC2. Video game addiction is a huge problem there, so they're trying to address the problem directly, just like some America states are trying to curb obesity by placing restrictions on fast foods restaurants.

It certainly sucks for the under 18 Koreans that CAN employ self-control. They are the ones getting shafted.

So basically you're saying the game needs to be rated 18 and up because it's TOO GOOD?

Wow, what a load of crap on South Korea's part, the board is there to rate games based on level of mature content, not how popular it is

No, I clearly said I DON'T agree with the rating. I just happen to understand the government's reason for the rating.

I never said you did, I think that if South Korea wants to start restricting games because they are addictively popular, they should at least put that in the reason for rating, rather than blaming it on some other thing, like the violence in the game (which is less severe than many under 18 games in South Korea)

 

[Jared]

Not sure what to say about this one. That sucks..?

Suppose only thing that can be said...but, with what has happened with first one I bet government is watching release of this somewhat

 

[theSovietConnection]

I know this not because of comparing their criteria to an outside source, but from comparing their own criteria to their own criteria, that is to say, their own past precedent. For the level and category of mature content in the game, there has never been an 18+ rating in South Korea.

It's quite clear from your other posts that you're not Korean. Nor do you live in Korea. So how do you know this? Have you done an indepth study of similar games and their various ratings in the korean market? Or are you pulling this out of thin air? Or worse, believing some other random guy who knows just as little as we do on some other forum? Don't give facts unless you have evidence to back it up.

and in this case, the complete violation of all South Korean past precedent in video game ratings with no viable explanation whatsoever forces the conclusion that this was done to curb the massive popularity of this game in Korea. And since the ratings board was not created with the authority to ban games from age groups based on popularity instead of content, the people who made that decision in my opinion are corrupt.

Ban is not the correct word at all. There's a difference between a ban and a restriction. Starcraft 2 is not banned in korea, it's restricted to adults.

And again you're making assumptions based on no apparent evidence. You say they're [restricting] games based on popularity? How do you know this exactly? You don't. And why would they restrict a game based on popularity? Even if the issue of morality is coming into question, popularity is a non-issue. It's not relevant.

Maybe they're restricting the game to adults because of the fact people get completely addicted to playing the thing. And would that not make sense? Other addictive substances/activies like alcohol, cigarettes, gambling are restricted to adults. Why should a video game be exempt? Why should a gambling video game, ie a VLT or Video Lottery Terminal be restricted to adults but not a video game which has shown itself to be highly addictive?

What's the difference between someone who blows their paycheck on a VLT gambling video game, and someone who loses their job because they spent too much time on Starcraft or some other non-gambling game? There's no difference in my opinion. They're both as harmful. People have died playing starcraft, I'm sure lots of people have lost their job or otherwise ruined their life because of it too. I don't have any facts for it of course, but its a safe assumption. Hell I knew people who ran home at lunch break from work to play Everquest. Same thing, just as unhealthy.

Is it not reasonable to restrict a sequel to a game that has a track record of being highly addictive???

A reasonable, thought out argument on a political subject?

*head explodes*

I tip my hat to you good, sir. You have largely surmised my thoughts on this issue and as such I shall now bow out of this thread.

 

[Delock]

Blizzard is NOT at fault for somebody elses lack of self preservation. If starcraft hadn't been there, he would have gotten himself killed in another stupid manner. It is completely impossible to predict these events and wether or not people learn from it so there is absolutely no sense in planning for things that might not ever happen again.

You think that a game like WoW isn't made to be addictive? Of course it is. All of those MMO online games are designed such that people keep playing and more importantly keep paying. So in the case of World of Warcraft, Blizzard is entirely at fault for getting people addicted to playing it. Why should an addictive game be exempt when other addictive products are not?

I mean you don't see people watching the same movie over and over for 50 hours. Not even the nerdiest Naruto fanboy watches 50 hours of it back to back. But people play stupid games for days on end. Forget about their newborn babies at home and let them die. So on and so forth. You cannot call that not problematic.

Let's see, maybe that's because they view the pleasure they get as more important than their own childern, meaning they've got problems with both priorities, selfcontrol, and their own selfishness. People play games because they provide a sense of pleasure, more so than a simple story does due to their interactivity. However, not everyone becomes dependent on the pleasure and lose self control. Hell, most normal people quit when they feel tired, or when they know they have to do something else. It's the tragic cases of those without such self control, who continue playing because they themselves become dependent on that pleasure due to either their personality or the fact that they don't get the same sort of pleasure elsewhere, that make the news. If you want to simplify things (and judging from your posts, you do), these people are hedonists, who have become so self obsessed with their own wants, they neglect anything besides their pleasure. They don't care about their needs or the needs of others so long as they're having a good time. They're self destructive and have problems understanding priorities.
Allow me to provide a comparison here: Some people become addicted to cigarettes to the point that they're buying them on money they don't have and spending money that should be used for food on those cigarettes. Yet, not everyone who smokes does this, and some even give it up all together without a problem (yes those people do exist. I have one living next door to me). You can't just go out and say that all smokers are addicted to the point that they're selling their furinature for cigs.

 

[Woodsey]

And I thought PEGI was a dumb ratings board...

Personally I like the PEGI board. There ratings actually give evindence on the box why a game has such a rating.

As for Korea, Im not going to hold it against them if they want to rate a game an 18, seeing as game addiction is a problem and the first iteration kinda of had something to do with it.

They gave the GI Joe game a 16+ !

The government should have gone with the BBFC, PEGI wanks off 18's like nobody's business it seems.