Marv\'s Blog

Dumb grannies, dumb parents, dumb ERSB (Hot Coffee)

Before you read this, I’ll let you know I wholeheartedly support developers rights to make games featuring violence and sex, as well as the right for individuals to play these games if they’re old enough, but developers rights to poorly translate games (All Your Base Belong Are Belong To Us), release crap games (pretty much anything released under the Disney name), or force said games upon the gaming world. I also don’t condone sex,violence or disturbing imagery for no good reason, which is why I find most porn amusing, and Wondershozen and Freddy Got Fingered to be funny in teeny tiny almost unidentifiable parts but otherwise a big pile of crap.

Dumb Grannies.

I’m not saying grannies on a whole are dumb (mine certainly isn’t), but those that decide to sue Rockstar because they bought their 14 year old grandson a copy of Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, which is was rated M by the ESRB. Now I can appreciate that the 81 year old didn’t know that M for Mature means suitable for persons aged 17 and over, as I suppose she might’ve assumed M for Mature means grown up in behaviour or thinking irrespective of age. El Reg reports that she found out the game was rated M, and had the game taken off her grandson. Which is sensible.

What is dumb is that it took her till she got home to find this out. Maybe it’s her fault, maybe it’s the store’s fault for not pointing it out, maybe it’s the stupid way the ESRB rates games with letters instead of the more appropriate, legally binding way the BBFC rates games with numbers eg. 18 not AO (which for arguments sake could mean AsshOles). In their report on the whole Hot Coffee debacle, Ferrago states that the ESRB isn’t legally binding “Unlike the ESRB ratings, BBFC certificates are legally binding”.

Nobody should ever be allowed to win when suing Rockstar because they bought a game for their under 17 year olds on any grounds, as it’s their own ignorance/negligence that made them buy the game in the first place, let alone purely on the grounds that it contains difficult to unlock adult content. As if drink, drugs, weapons, violence, murder, ploughing through a crowd of people with a freshly painted car isn’t adult content.

Dumb parents.

Dumb parents all over the world buy their kids things they aren’t supposed to see, whether their country’s rating system legally binding or not. To the morons (not necessarily the granny) attempting to sue Rockstar purely because they bought their under 17s a game with difficult to unlock adult content: “Grow the fuck up you stupid twats, if you do manage to go to court over this, I hope DCFS takes your kids off you for treating your kids in a neglectful manner by not giving a crap what you let them watch, and not being able to understand your kids seeing people being killed arbitrarily is just as bad, if not much worse than playing sex games on your console” (DOA volleyball anyone ?)

Dumb ESRB.

A rating organisation that treats its users as too dumb to count should be disbanded. Ferrago mentions that new legislation is being considered. I hope they have the sense to make it legally binding this time. On the other hand I hope don’t go overzealous on censorship, or give a game a higher rating because of in game advertising.

Edit

Found an article about All Your Base Belong Are Belong To Us on Wikipedia via Stumbleupon

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