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***UPDATE***
http://gamepolitics.com/2007/06/26/e...s-nothing-new/
Quote:
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3160544
Quote:
The thing they are forgetting to realize is the only people going to these game websites for individual games want to see the violence and what they can expect in the actual game....
It's finally happening, game are being censored left and right. NY is supposed to pass a bill next month making selling a m rated game to a minor a FELONY....
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it's one thing to sell it to a minor but then compare them to serious law offenders is pathetic since around 60%+ of the people buying the games are parents for underage children so it isn't the retailers who should be punished...
If anyone is interested, i just watched a movie called "This Film is Not Yet Rated" which is about movie censorship and how the mpaa works, it really shows how facist these "regulators" really are...
Also if anyone wants to vent to the actual ESRB organization go here: http://www.esrb.org/about/contact.jsp
http://gamepolitics.com/2007/06/26/e...s-nothing-new/
Quote:
An ESRB directive to withdraw online trailers for a pair of upcoming games caused a bit of a stir yesterday, but such action by the video game industry's rating board is not without precedent. GameDaily, for example, initially reported: In a significant move that would seem to indicate that the [ESRB] is now rating publishers' trailers for video games, GameDaily BIZ received warnings from two separate companies today stating that their trailers were found to be inappropriate. The trailers in question were for D3's Dark Sector and 2K Game's The Darkness (left). As GDB subsequently reported, ESRB president Patricia Vance issued a statement later in the day clarifying: The ESRB's Advertising Review Council (ARC) regularly monitors game ads and trailers to make sure that they adhere to industry-adopted Principles and Guidelines for Responsible Advertising Practices, which were established in 2000. Since 2005, ARC guidelines have required that trailers for M-rated games on publisher websites be displayed behind an age gate to help restrict viewing to those visitors who are 17 and older… However, the mere presence of an age gate does not permit a publisher to simply put whatever content it wishes into the trailer. All trailers must still conform to ARC's Principles and Guidelines, which prohibit the display of excessively violent content or any content likely to cause serious offense to the average consumer. While we haven't heard much about ESRB enforcement of trailers recently, it has happened in the past. As GamePolitics reported in August, 2005, an obscure RPG from Atlus, Samurai Western, provoked a similar response from the ESRB. What's more, a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report issued in April of this year criticized the game industry for excessive violence in its web-based marketing practices, which may in part have triggered additional watchfulness from the ESRB. From the FTC document: Entertainment industries continue to market some R-rated movies, M-rated video games, and explicit-content recordings on television shows and Web sites with substantial teen audiences. Whether the timing of the ESRB's move is related to publicity over last week's Manhunt 2 controversy or represents a more generalized crackdown is not known. |
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3160544
Quote:
In the last week, 1UP has received notices from publishers 2K Games, Microsoft and D3 about videos already online or coming soon that had content flagged by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board. In the case of Gears of War, the footage had been online at GameVideos since January( and is still available online at Brightcove and Team Xbox), yet Microsoft and Epic apparently only recently received notice of a violation, requiring the offending video to be completely removed. 2K Games' statement about The Darkness acted more of a warning to ensure age gates were in place, whereas D3 was forced to request Dark Sector videos actually removed. "We recently received a ruling from the ESRB stating that the two officially released Dark Sector gameplay montages have been deemed to contain excessive or offensive content; and to this end are not to be available for download or viewing, regardless of being placed behind an age gate. In order to comply with this ruling, the ESRB has requested that the two Dark Sector gameplay montages be pulled immediately upon receipt of this notice and no longer made available for view by consumers." Just a few moments ago, the ESRB issued a notice about the recent rash of violations. The organization pointed to their Principles and Guidelines for Responsible Advertising Practices, established back in 2000, which added the need for an age gate on mature content in 2005. ESRB President Patricia Vance said this is standard practice, but that doesn't explain why they're just now getting to videos from January. "All trailers must still conform to ARC's Principles and Guidelines, which prohibit the display of excessively violent content or any content likely to cause serious offense to the average consumer. When ESRB notifies a publisher that the content in a trailer is in violation of these ARC requirements, or that there is an age gate issue on a third party site, that publisher then must notify third party sites to rectify the problem," said Vance. "The notices issued recently by game publishers to third party websites are simply that - steps in a chain of publisher compliance with ARC guidelines and the ESRB enforcement system that have been occurring since their establishment seven years ago." The ESRB's outline for adhering to the ARC Principles and Guidelines is extensive, and details how the ESRB examines "ESRB ratings and truth and accuracy in the selected content, violence, sex, alcohol and drugs, offensive verbal or bodily expression and sensitivity to people's beliefs or handicaps." In the above examples, violence was the issue. There, the ESRB's criteria are extensive. As it judges a piece of media, the group considers: Graphic and/or excessive depictions of violence Graphic and/or violent depictions of the use of weapons Graphic and/or excessive depictions of blood and/or gore Allusions or depictions of acts of verbal or physical abuse toward children Allusions or depictions of violent or degrading behavior toward women Allusions or depictions of torture or other violent acts toward animals Allusions or depictions of torture, mutilation or sadism Violence toward a political or public figure Allusions or depictions of acts of arson or fire play We've contacted the ESRB for further clarification on how, for example, the Gears of War video was flagged so late, but the timing of the ESRB clamp down isn't so peculiar, given the Manhunt 2 incident last week. Is this a knee-jerk reaction to the recent media frenzy that's shined another spotlight on the industry's tango with interactive violence or just a wacky coincidence? The latter seems a bit much, don't you think? |
It's finally happening, game are being censored left and right. NY is supposed to pass a bill next month making selling a m rated game to a minor a FELONY....
If anyone is interested, i just watched a movie called "This Film is Not Yet Rated" which is about movie censorship and how the mpaa works, it really shows how facist these "regulators" really are...
Also if anyone wants to vent to the actual ESRB organization go here: http://www.esrb.org/about/contact.jsp
