Poll: Should there be and ESRB rating between T and M?

[Woodsey]

The system in the UK seems to be going from bad to worse with the change from the BBFC to PEGI. I already can't buy 15's in stores like GAME (even though I am 15 and bloody look it) because they've been forced to ask me for ID for any games 15 or over. PEGI go from a 12+ to a 16+ (as opposed to the BBFC's 12+ to 15+).

The problem is non-gamers trying to take control of gamers. Non-gamers in the government and general public are insanely hippocritical; on the one hand they'll say games are for kids and laugh at adult gamers for being immature, but then they'll rate everything higher then it deserves because they are 'murder simulators'.

Sort of on topic though ( ), the ratings are too broad. In the PEGI system for example, there is a LOT of difference between a 12 year old and a 16 year old person, but hardly any between a 16 year old and an 18 year old. At least the BBFC system made more sense, hit the middle ground better and was a system that people could recognise as it's used for films aswell.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

There is one, it's AO or "Adult Only", you just normally don't see games that get that rating in regular retail stores.

 

[Robert632]

i love how the "these buttons are fun to click" option is one of the higher option's right now.

O.T:there should be, but there won't be(at lest for a while anyway.)

 

[HotShooter]

I think there should be another rating but it would probably just make things more complicated and people would just ignore the ESRB like they always will. And Fallout 3 being more T? I agree with the other examples but FO3 is the most violent/arousing game I've ever played! My mom wouldn't even let me play it so I had to ignore her and the ESRB and buy it from a friend.

 

[WaffleTron]

No, there should only be ACTUAL PARENTING.

 

[Monshroud]

Also, I wish stores would stop "enforcing" the ratings. There is a reason that they are not law.

You must not be old enough to buy "M" rated games then. I also think you don't understand how incredible it is that there isn't a law. The reason why there isn't a law is because stores and game companies alike are doing their best to enforce these ratings. If stores weren't stopping kids from buying Manhunt, Jack Thompson might have been successful in passing a law, then you would really be screwed. "M" rated games would be in a separate room of the store or heck even in a separate store.

I think it is great when I go into a Gamestop or even Best Buy and the clerk says to an adult "Do you realize you are purchasing a game that is rated "M" and may contain graphical sexuality and/or violence?" I have seen adults put the game down and not buy it. Granted I have also seen idiot Mom's buying little Johnny GTA3 because his friend said it was 'cool' and completely ignoring what the clerk was saying...

I don't think there needs to be another rating between T and M. I think the stigma behind the AO rating needs to go away.

 

[ssgt splatter]

Maybe, but what would they call it?
PM for Pre-Mature?
OT for Older-Teen?

 

[Jast]

I think ratings are more for the parent's benefit than the person buying it. The ESRB ratings are apparently really confusing though to parents as I have determined by where I work so I don't think there really needs to be another one.

 

[Yokai]

Perhaps. It certainly seems reasonable. Many games don't really deserve the rating they got. At the very least, game ratings should be equivalent to film ratings. Alien vs Predator was far more violent and terrifying(and some would say more sexually suggestive) than, say, Oblivion, but any five-year-old could go see AVP with its PG-13 rating, and you have to be 17 to buy Oblivion. Games like Manhunt or Dead Space definitely deserve the M rating, but something with little blood and gore or sexual content like Assassin's Creed could pull off a T if the ESRB weren't such prudes about it. Besides, any teen interested in gaming ends up playing all the M-rated titles anyway, so it's a waste of effort. If the ESRB were a little more lax with their content ratings everything would be fine.

 

[Lord_Jaroh]

I don't know why they just don't use the same rating system movies use. It would cause less confusion in the long run if all "Entertainment" were rated under the same system.

 

[HardRockSamurai]

Yah, there SHOULD be a rating between T and M. We could call it TeeM, and Halo 3 would be the only game to use it.

 

[ProfessorLayton]

Fallout 3? Are you serious? If anything, Halo 3.

I think there are enough ratings already. Really, it doesn't matter. "M" and "T" are vague terms, but I think they cover enough. If you want to know the... uh... degree of "M", then just look at the back of the box. It tells you what's in the game, and that's really all we need. It's up for the parents to decide what they're children play and if you're over 18, none of this should really matter to you.

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

I think there should be a 15 rating for games. Games like Batman: Dark Asylum are too low rated (it seems to be a bit darker than, say, Crimson Skies), and games like Dead or Alive are too highly rated (seriously, why is DoA 4 rated M? Maximum cleavage?). A middle rating would be nice.

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

Fallout 3? Are you serious? If anything, Halo 3.

I think there are enough ratings already. Really, it doesn't matter. "M" and "T" are vague terms, but I think they cover enough. If you want to know the... uh... degree of "M", then just look at the back of the box. It tells you what's in the game, and that's really all we need. It's up for the parents to decide what they're children play and if you're over 18, none of this should really matter to you.

This and then some

 

[yaik7a]

Halo 3 is over rated bull shit its just Generic FPS with to much boom and not even any blood
but the fourge mode is okay

 

[this_was_a_mistake]

Any T rated game that uses the word "Shit" more than once should be rated T+ or something. I'm looking at you, Mirror's Edge.

 

[blazinwings]

No, there should only be ACTUAL PARENTING.

true. this is all the solution we need. myself, i just turned 18, and honestly? i did just fine with e's and t's throughout my childhood. m games are great, and honestly comprise about half my library, but they aren't something that can't be waited for, and they aren't going to be less fun just because you had to wait a few years to play them.

 

[DaMan1500]

There is one, it's AO or "Adult Only", you just normally don't see games that get that rating in regular retail stores.

Yeah, but most big retailers refuse to carry them, so they have no chance of becoming profitable. They're so rare that it's almost like they don't exist.