(Mod)ifying The ESRB Guidelines
By: Pablo Mojica
Georgia Institute of Technology
Pmojica3@mail.gatech.edu
1. INTRODUCTION
With a cultural stand against profanity, drugs, alcohol, gore, and other aggressive
tendencies, a rating system based on video games containing varying degrees of this
graphic content has been established. Thanks to the ESRB (Entertainment Software
Rating Board) in the U.S., there are general guidelines to be followed. The distinction
between intensity of the content is subjective, and with the free online game websites
(addictinggames.com, newgrounds.com, et cetera) establishing their own regulations and
protocol, there is practically no limitation as to how far the gaming industry can reach.
Games entitled Adult Only allow for most gratuitous and depraved acts to be available in
the PC market anyway though. With console game companies (Nintendo, Microsoft,
Sony) stranglehold on the home market, much of these Adult Only rarely come into the
limelight. Because of the console companies’ restriction to hold only as high as Mature
games, games rated Adult Only are poised to fall to the wayside or be edited to fit into
the Mature category. Manipulating the rules, gaming companies find loopholes to the
restrictions, and comparisons between other mediums (film, novel) reveal their technique
in establishing in rules to work within the ESRB’s guidelines.
2. RULES OF INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Regulation of video games in the United States is controlled by the ESRB. They assign
ratings to games given their content; there are seven rating options they may grant onto a
videogame. The seventh rating is Rating Pending (RP), and is given to unfinished titles,
or titles that have yet to be reviewed by the ESRB. All these titles do not legally bind
retailers from denying annoy, regardless of age, to purchase a game, despite it’s rating
[1].
2.1 Early Childhood (eC)
eC is a title designated to games that offer educational value intended for infants. Games
with this title have no content that would upset parental figures.
2.2 Everyone (E)
E is a title given to games for which everyone can play and enjoy, excluding the prior
demographic (children less than six years old). These games contain very little violence
or mysticism.
2.3 Everyone 10+ (E10+)
E10+ material is intended for those that are older than ten years of age. These games are
more intense with their usage of violence and fantasy.
2.4 Teen (T)
T-rated material typically contains some explicit humor, gorier cinematic, and is limited
to those who are 13 years of age or older.
2.5 Mature (M)
M-rated material may contain gratuitous violence, explicit language, nudity, and topically
sensitive issues are addressed. Games with this title are intended for those 17 and above.
2.6 Adult Only (AO)
Games awarded this title are either filled with gratuitous acts of violence or of a sexual
nature. These games are strictly intended for those 18 and above. This distinction
between M-rated games and AO-rated games is comparable to the NC-17-rated films and
X-rated films.
3. CONTROVERSIES
There are incidences in which the industry is obligated to reformat content based on
public opinion, in order to avoid a backlash. These controversies test the limits and also
find loopholes for the industry to utilize in the future.
3.1 Grand Theft Auto: Hot Coffee Mod
Spawning a heated debated among public, outraged parents and congressmen petitioned
to warrant the game with a new rating of AO, instead of M. Because of a sexually
explicit act hidden in the game, which required the user to hack their game or mod their
console, the game was required to go through another distribution process.
After
removing the act all together, the game was allowed to keep its M-rating.
This
forgiveness shows that game distributors may test the waters of questionable material
with little recourse [4].
3.2 Mortal Kombat
As one of the earliest demonstrations of game formatting to their demographic, Mortal
Kombat had to create two versions of its game; one with blood, and one with a gray
liquid, presumably sweat (specifically for the Super Nintendo Console). This has been
thought of as the prelude to the AO-rating seen today [3].
4. FOREIGN REGULATION SYSTEMS
Foreign entities control through creating super medias to regulate, or through legally
regulating the sales from the media.
4.1 The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC)
The BBFC has been thought of as the legally accountable bar for both films and
videogames to be passed under. However, in July of 2009, the UK's Department of
Culture, Media and Sport ruled that the Pan European Game Information system should
regulate the videogame medium.
This ruling established videogame as their own
separate entity from other mediums and to be regulated as such.
4.2 Pan European Game Information (PEGI)
The PEGI is an organization that acts as the ESRB; the PEGI rates the videogame and
assigns it into one of five categories for a demographic. As with the ESRB, the PEGI is
not a legally binding factor for retailers to consider during sale. Since the industry is
young, the rules are not concrete, and require more sample material to materialize.
5. ALTERNATE MEDIA REGULATIONS
As the medium is young and subject to comparisons, the following demonstrate future
possibilities in the direction gaming may take as a medium.
5.1 Online Game Websites
With the advent of home-made games appearing online, the gaming industry has expand
freely into a market with seemingly no bounds or limitations. There is always an avenue
to distribute this media, whether through torrents or through websites as
newgrounds.com. Newgrounds is host to a plethora of games; all of which are rated
primarily on violence, subject matter, and language. There is an entire separate category
for content which showcases nudity and sexual explicit content, and it is entitled Mature.
5.2 Cinema
Similar to the online game websites, cinema has a division line to exclude pornography
from the mainstream. Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is film-rating
system used in the States. There are even more specific distinctions in the between with
X, XX, and XXX-rated films. These films, for a short time during the 1960’s, were
available to the modern public. Re-classification of X-rated films to NC-17 occurred in
the 1990’s as they carried a poor stigma with their old title. Although cinema is over a
century old, new genres and rating criteria are created for it constantly. This medium,
while still altering, is legally regulated to deprive minors from viewing content without
parental consent [2].
6. CONCLUSION
Paying attention to other mediums, the possibilities for videogames as a medium have
been clearly defined by the cinema and the online game websites. There is one major
contrast between these two mediums; one is legally regulated and the other is typically
self-regulated to some extent. Videogames are handled loosely, but if history shows
anything, specifically cinema’s history, there is slow process to constructing a strict form
of rules for a medium [5]. As videogames become more widely accepted as a tool to
relay a message as film and television, the rules will hold more bearing and power. There
narrative merit is growing to point where movie adaptations of games are becoming a
regular occurrence. The separation between mediums is justified, but abandoning a firm
structure for the medium to operate within is unfair to the society. There will always be
black-market material (hacks, mods, and un-regulated online games) out in society to
subvert the establishment, but these are also available in cinema.
Because of the
micromanagement of the ESRB (the small degree of age separation between ratings),
there is confusion as to distinction between what is exceeding the parameters. This is due
to the subjective nature of the rating system. Although the structure behind cinema
regulation was not applicable in the dawn of videogames with Pong, there has been an
evolution to where they coincide. The BBFC had the right approach on regulation;
however, videogames do deserve their own board to be reviewed by. Even though the
basis of the MPAA rating is based off social stigmas, these stigma have been cemented
into the society and are here to stay.
7. REFERENCES
[1]
Entertain software rating bureau. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_guide.jsp
[2]
Hofmeister, S. (2005). Adelphia's explicit porn. Los Angeles Times, Retrieved from
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-adelphia2feb02,0,7840216.story?coll=lahome-headlines
[3]
Anderson, C. A. (2003). Violent video games: myths, facts, and unanswered
questions. APA Online, Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/science/psa/sbanderson.html
[4]
Adams, D. (n.d.). Rockstar, ftc settle over hot coffee. IGN, Retrieved from
http://ps2.ign.com/articles/711/711788p1.html
[5]
McNulty, T. (2005). You saw it here first: pittsburgh's nickelodeon introduced the
moving picture theater to the masses in 1905 . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Retrieved
from http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05170/522854.stm