Mature 17+ means 18+ now?

[Gunjester]

I've been anticipating the release of Deus Ex: Human Revolution for almost a year now, and I come to the escapist and see a new trailer for it, or at least I was checking to see if I'd seen this one.
This game is going is going to be rated Mature, which means legally, as a Seventeen-year-old I can buy it, so why when I enter my actual birthday on the escapist, it blocks me out?
If you ask me it makes no sense that in a few weeks I can view the content, but apparently online only 18 and up can view it.

I think it's retarded. Any thoughts?

EDIT: Thanks for Intel, I kind of wrote this in Frustrated contempt so I didn't think about the International change. Still though, bugs me because Canada-USA M is the same age and rating.

 

[Woodsey]

It might be to apply to other countries (most of us, I believe) where 17s are 18s. Map borders don't mean much on the internet, so they need to cover themselves. And, you know, pretty sure it says "you must be 18 to view this material" at the top, so that's a clue.

 

[Stealthygamer]

Yah, it's just because the escapist is an international site

 

[New Troll]

Because playing the game isn't nearly as daunting as watching someone else play the game!

 

[CrystalShadow]

For most countries, the equivalent of 'mature' is 18+.

So yes. Because the escapist is international, 18+ it is, because that's the majority around the world. (and otherwise it'd require location detection and special code for each country and it's respective rating system.)

Just be glad 21+ for various things isn't a lot more common than it is... XD

 

[Total LOLige]

It's probably because in the UK the mature equivalent is 18+. Although I'm pretty sure Deus Ex is going to be a 15+ here in the UK.

 

[Merkavar]

18+ is mature here. 17+ seems stupid to me. 18+ = mature games, porn, beer, voting etc.

 

[Aidinthel]

18+ is mature here. 17+ seems stupid to me. 18+ = mature games, porn, beer, voting etc.

Yeah that does make a lot more sense. But no, 17 you can buy mature video games, 18 you can vote and look at porn, and 21 you can drink. Hurray for needless bureaucracy complicating things!

IIRC, the voting age was 21 until sometime during the Vietnam War. There was an understandable outcry about 18-20 year olds being old enough to be drafted but not old enough to help decide if the country should even be at war. But of course the drinking age thing doesn't have quite the same appeal so no one bothered to change it.

 

[mornal]

I was informed from an Xbox live something-or-rather (mod on the forums I think) that while a game is rated 17 and up, that's only for the game. The ESRB has no control over advertising material. This includes trailers, demos and the like. As a result whoever governs those materials gives it their version of the mature rating, which is 18+.

So, in the U.S. at least, at 17 you can purchase and play an M rated game but not watch a trailer or play a demo of the game.

 

[Gunjester]

18+ is mature here. 17+ seems stupid to me. 18+ = mature games, porn, beer, voting etc.

Alcohol is usually 19+ buddeh

 

[fletch_talon]

18+ is mature here. 17+ seems stupid to me. 18+ = mature games, porn, beer, voting etc.

Alcohol is usually 19+ buddeh

Its 18 in Australia, 21 in America and I'd imagine its 18 in the UK too.
I've never heard of a 19+ drinking age.

 

[Hikikomori Ookami]

If it makes you feel any better, I've seen some stores in the US where mature games are marked as 18+. It was always aggravating, because I could I could go across the street and buy the same game marked 17+.

 

[dystopiaINC]

you know what worse? i live in Massachusetts and when i looked AT THE BACK OF THE BOX it clearly stated 17+ up, so i went to buy the game and they requested an ID i provided my driving permit with my age on it and they turned me away saying i had to be 18, i pointed it out that the box clearly read 17+ but they still kept me from buying the game. i had to wait a week until i could get a parent to come with me to get the damn game. love being 18 now.

 

[wench]

18+ is mature here. 17+ seems stupid to me. 18+ = mature games, porn, beer, voting etc.

Alcohol is usually 19+ buddeh

Its 18 in Australia, 21 in America and I'd imagine its 18 in the UK too.
I've never heard of a 19+ drinking age.

Most of Canada, apparently. A couple provinces are 18+.

 

[Merkavar]

18+ is mature here. 17+ seems stupid to me. 18+ = mature games, porn, beer, voting etc.

Alcohol is usually 19+ buddeh

ive never heard of it at 19. here its 18.

18 just seems like a much better age to become an adult under the law. well atleast it does in australia. you have finished highschool recently or are just about to, you have your provisional license, you can vote, so why not at 18 be allowed to play any game or movie you want.

 

[Gunjester]

It's nineteen in Canada and a bunch of European countries.
And I don't really care, I drink either way.

 

[Kale Vetna]

as far as i can tell, it's always meant 18 even though it has said 17. i grew up thinking that you had to be 18 to buy an M rated game in the states, and that was when they first changed over to the rating system they use now.

 

[Laser Priest]

The Escapist is international.

As I am aware, most countries have an 18+ more often than a 17+.

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

Just put in a different birthday?
Does anybody actually bother putting their real birthday in those things? I just scroll and click. It takes too much time to actually put in my date of birth.