tagged w/ esrb
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The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) -- which assigns the age and content ratings found on computer and video games -- announced the upgraded version of its free mobile app, which features the ability to search for rating summaries using the phone's camera. Now parents can quickly and easily look up a game's in-depth rating summary by simply snapping a photo of the game box with their iPhone or Android phone.
To view the online video announcement and learn more about the app, please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gs_BRexfrYThe Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) -- which assigns the age and content... more
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"Recently I read an interview on WoW.com with a mother of a child that has Asperger’s Syndrome. She talked about how she allowed her 8-year-old son to play the popular MMORPG World of Warcraft for 30 minutes in the evening as long as he didn’t interact or chat with anyone he didn’t know. In an MMORPG, not interacting with others takes away most of the intent of playing the game in the first place, and the game’s ESRB rating is Teen. Why on earth would he want to play the game in the first place, and why would his mother want to spend $15 a month for only part of the experience?""Recently I read an interview on WoW.com with a mother of a child that has... more
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The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) provides brief descriptions of games and their levels of violence, drug references and foul language, often long before a game is released, and sometimes even before it is announced. An ESRB listing shows an unannounced PS3 title called “Anarchy: Rush Hour” which features “intense crashes, loud explosions” in “demolition-style events”, what’s more, the game is only listed for PS3.The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) provides brief descriptions of games... more
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I’m a huge fan of the collaborative efforts between Masaya Matsuura and Rodney Alan Greenblat, specifically PaRappa the Rapper and Um Jammer Lammy. I previously did an interview with Greenblat regarding some of his creations here on Spawn Kill, and it was quite enlightening, however this discovery is as well, via our very own ESRB. It looks like we could be seeing the famous lamb-turned-rocker on our PSPs or the PlayStation Network very soon.I’m a huge fan of the collaborative efforts between Masaya Matsuura and Rodney... more
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The Bender this week is not filled with too many serious/controversial laden topics as the past couple of episodes have. Unfortunately mild mannered Intern Perry was able to join us because the city of Metropolis needs this man, but he should be back next week. iPhone talk attempts to invade the show, we gush over Disney, and give birthday wishes to the ESRB plus more. Enjoy!
Listen Live/Stream through iTunes here: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=287404133
Download mp3 directly here: http://www.bingegamer.net/podpress_trac/web/14876/0/TheBender_Episode_051.mp3
Show Notes | Topics
TMNT: Turtles in Time XBLA gets price drop!
James makes it in the Xbox Live preview
Happy Birthday, ESRB
NEWS:
Valve Responds to Racist Accusations in L4D2
Call of Duty fans squat on ModernWarfare4.com, Demand Copies of CoDMW4 (yes, 4) for their community
Deus Ex Creator Working on ‘Epic Mickey’ Steampunk Disney game (Click here for some more pictures)
iPhone More Powerful Than the Wii?
QUICKIES
SEGA sez… In Time, Sonic Won’t Suck Anymore
Microsoft Feels the Power of Attorney… again
The Matrix Online Goes Offline, People Shocked that The Matrix Online Was Still Up
Uncharted 2 Needs NO Install
Bethesda & Bungie? Probably Not, But Damn
Dead Space Becoming a Movie
…so is inFAMOUSThe Bender this week is not filled with too many serious/controversial laden topics as... more
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PacoDG
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added this
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2 years ago
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Today the Entertainment Software Ratings Board turns fifteen. Take a look back at the fifteen years of ESRB history with Wired.com:
1994: A coalition of game publishers presents Congress with its proposal for the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, a voluntary industry-wide standard for age ratings on videogames.
A joint congressional hearing in December 1993 took up the growing concern that the game industry was irresponsibly marketing violent videogames to minors. Spearheaded by Sens. Joe Lieberman (then D-Connecticut, now an independent) and Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin), the hearings were largely a response to the popularity of the fighting game Mortal Kombat. The game’s use of digitally captured actors and bloody, violent “fatality” moves caused a stir when it was released in arcades in 1992, and home versions of the game appeared on the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis 16-bit game machines in September 1993. http://www.totalgamingnetwork.com/main/showthread.php?t=200923Today the Entertainment Software Ratings Board turns fifteen. Take a look back at the... more
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MrKLM
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added this
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2 years ago
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Mature-rated videogames are often subjected to harsher restrictions than R-rated films — ironic, since a close look at the ratings’ boundaries shows that movies could contain far more graphic content.
When the Chicago Transit Authority banned the advertising of M games but continued to allow advertising for R movies, the Christian Science Monitor pondered whether or not violent videogames are worse than violent movies.
Judges have consistently thrown out such measures as unconstitutional. In Feburary, a California appeals court struck down such a law. It ruled that targeting violent or sexual video games, while not expanding the law to cover R-rated movies or suggestive books, unfairly singled out the free speech rights of a particular industry.
Taking the question posed by the Monitor, the Technologizer blog looked at the Entertainment Software Ratings Board’s definition of a “Mature” game and compared it to that of the R rating for the Motion Picture Association of America.
Both the ratings recommend that the media deemed Mature or Restricted is for people ages 17 and older. An R-rated film may contain “adult themes, adult activity, hard language, intense or persistent violence, sexually-oriented nudity, drug abuse or other elements.” On the other hand, titles given an M rating may have content that includes “intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.”
However, given the nudity aspect, Mature-rated games may actually be less explicit than R-rated movies. Note that the M rating doesn’t include nudity — that’s reserved for Adults Only titles, according to the ESRB:
Titles rated AO (Adults Only) have content that should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.
One could argue that there are plenty of R-rated movies with “prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.”
Unless the Chicago Transit Authority has some legitimate reason for treating games differently than films, they’re probably on the losing side of this fight.
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What do you think fellow Currenteers? Is the double standard just or do we need to show society that video games need to be rid of their demonized title?Mature-rated videogames are often subjected to harsher restrictions than R-rated films... more
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Nettle
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added this
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2 years ago
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It seems the Chicago Transit Authority has decided to deny the 1st amendment right of free speech by banning specific ads.
As announced by GamePolitics.org earlier today, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has filed suit against the Chicago Transit Authority over the Authority's decision to ban advertisements for M or AO rated games from all Authority properties and transportation vehicles.
Mike Gallagher, head of the ESA, had this to say:
"The CTA’s ordinance constitutes a clear violation of the constitutional rights of the entertainment software industry. Courts across the United States, including those in the CTA’s own backyard, have ruled consistently that video games are entitled to the same First Amendment protections as other forms of entertainment. The CTA appears unwilling to recognize this established fact, and has shown a remarkable ignorance of the dynamism, creativity and expressive nature of computer and video games. The ESA will not sit idly by when the creative freedoms of our industry are threatened."
Read More: http://www.totalgamingnetwork.com/main/showthread.php?t=200466It seems the Chicago Transit Authority has decided to deny the 1st amendment right of... more
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The battle for control over U.K. game ratings rages on...
The quasi-governmental British Board of Film Classification has released survey results which indicate that 74% of UK parents want video games to be rated by an independent (i.e., non-industry) body.
Like, say, the BBFC...
The content rating body, which has been locked in a bitter struggle for control of UK game ratings dominance with the PEGI system favored by the industry, reports that its figures come from a poll conducted on the British YouGov portal. Among its other conclusions:
* 74% of parents are concerned about the content of some video games.
* 79% of parents think video games may affect the behaviour of some children.
* 74% of parents believe video games should be regulated by an independent regulator.
* 77% of parents believe video game ratings should reflect the concerns of UK parents.
* 82% of parents believe it would help them if video games used the same ratings as films and DVDs.
BBFC head David Cooke commented on the survey data:
"This poll clearly shows parents support a regulatory system for games that is independent of the industry and UK based, reflecting UK sensibilities and sensitivities... The BBFC has been classifying games for over 20 years and our decisions reflect the views of the public. Our classification systems and symbols are known and trusted by the public and in a converging media world they want to know what their children are playing as well as watching."
Meanwhile, website techradar takes the BBFC to task, dismissing its survey as "hokum," The site criticizes the sample size (1329 parents) and suggests that leading questions were employed.
For its part, UK game publishers' trade group ELSPA promised to throw money at the problem:
"Our first concern is to protect British children... The independently administered PEGI system is the right solution for child safety.
Naturally we will support the PEGI system with a multi million pound campaign that helps parents understand that the right system for real protection of their children is PEGI."The battle for control over U.K. game ratings rages on...
The quasi-governmental... more
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Nettle
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added this
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3 years ago
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The National Institute on Media and the Family (NIMF) has critized parents for buying M rating games for their kids under 17. This year's report gave parents an 'Incomplete' for not paying enough attention to ratings and failing to use parental controls built into game consoles.The National Institute on Media and the Family (NIMF) has critized parents for buying... more
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KefKef
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added this
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3 years ago
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Connecticut's attorney general said Monday that a video-game-rating board's decision to approve a game called ``Beer Pong'' for children as young as 13 shows the organization needs to take the issue of teen drinking more seriously.Connecticut's attorney general said Monday that a video-game-rating board's... more
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