Video Game Rating - Essay Example

Video game rating Introduction The debate on whether the video game industry should be appropriately rated or not,remains an emotive issue for society and policy developers as those involved in the debate share different viewpoints. One fraction involved in the controversy on whether the video game industry should be rated are for the idea that these games tend to influence the behavior and attitudes of the players through the video culture presented. On the other hand, activists supporting the video culture argue that video games are educative tools that can help in learning and also serves as a tool for promoting freedom of expression hence encouraging more people to tap on their creativity (DeMaria 306). The predominant question that begs is why those that advocate for video games not to be rated are defending the violence portrayed in the same as this has spilled over into the real world. Based on this, the existing ratings attached to video games has failed to meet purpose as the mature ratings have been abused in some quarters as this does not provide any restriction to children. The solution to this societal problem would be the adoption of the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) ratings and abolishing the ESRB (Entertianment Software Rating Board) ratings, as the former is more regulated as applied in the film industry. Therefore, the adoption of an effective rating system can help protect minors from accessing adult content in video games through age appropriate labeling of video game boxes. For many years, the focus has been on protecting children from watching video games because of the portrayal of violence, but research has proven that video games also tend to influence violent behaviour in minors hence explaining the need to have the correct labeling and rating. One argument embedded here is that the ESRB rating fails to inform consumers or buyers, especially parents, of the video games contents, meaning that they buy without having adequate information that can influence the making of an informed decision (Scales 11). Essentially, Scales tries to explain that correct labeling through the MPAA rating would enable retailers to know the video games that they should not sell to minors as these tend to indicate the age rather than the M (Mature) label. I think retailers tend to capitalize on the fact that the video games that contain the M label can be sold to minors as this is ambiguous while serving as an avenue for increasing profits for them irrespective of the. The unspoken rule of society is that children cannot be exposed to violent scenes, those that contain sexual elements of profanity to which video game developers and suppliers have completely ignored when labeling their products. In my view, the developers of such contents that do not prohibit their sale to minors are guilty of committing child abuse and should face the law accordingly. Year in, year out, the ratings attached to violent video games appears to be heading towards the side of ineffectiveness.This is only because they fail to provide parents with the proper warning over the content as they only buy based on the inappropriate age guide provided by the ESRB ratings (Rifon, Royne & Carlson 192). Rifon, Royne and Carlson imply that the ESRB ratings tend to create an aspect of confusion to the because most of the video games are inappropriately rated for the targeted the market. An example of such a video game is the Max Payne 2 video game whose rating is seventeen years plus or for an M (mature) audience, to which some critics argue that is inappropriate rating. According to them, the reason for this is that it contains heavy aspects of sexual themes, mature language, and intense violence which is not appropriate for teenagers especially 17 year olds. Essentially, these writers explains the failure of the existing ratings by the ESRB in regulating the content that teenagers can access and play as this video game have an AO (Adults Only) rating in the context of the MPAA. In comparison, ESRB ratings have remained unchanged for many years as compared to the MPAA rating system applied in Hollywood films, hence provoking the need to have the ratings changed to suit the appropriate age groups. In most cases, the video game contents that ESRB approves of tends to include themes such as those of violence against women and police officers, vulgar language, and promotion of the use of drugs to which children are allowed to play (Calvert & Wilson 237). Calvert and Wilson suggest that parents have been subjecting their children to violence unknowingly because of the failure of the ESRB to make changes to its rating system, meaning that it does not take matters of regulating video contents seriously. The writers suggest that the ESRB needs to review these contents and make them inaccessible to children through an accurate rating system that is only for the 18+ audience, which is the more mature audience. However, these authors fail to include the fact that the changes should not only be similar to those applied by the MPAA, but should also be better as much as the contents in video games and movies might be similar. I also think that labeling should be clearly visible to the buyers at the time of purchase as most of the labels tend to be of a negligible size in which many parents tend to ignore. This means that the revised labels should be clearly visible to the buyers of the video games at the point of purchase before they can acquire them for their children. Borrowing the ideas and ratings applied by MPAA may not be possible as they are copyrighted meaning that they cannot be used by ESRB unless permitted by the same. The alternative for this would be ESRB joining MPAA in order for them to enjoy the unlimited application of the MPAA rating system as it not possible to use them in any other context. The fact that the labeling on the video games might not be as accurate or informative to buyers, it is also the responsibility of parents to go through the contents of the video game by trying to play it themselves before handing the same to their children (Sclafani 162). This means that parents also have the right to vet the types of video games that their children can play instead of placing the entire blame on ESRB for not rating the video games appropriately. Therefore, before parents can take home the video games that their children ask for them, it is their responsibility to make sure that the content is appropriate for their children. This can also include the checking of the games that the children may acquire from their friends as it is their responsibility to ensure that their minors do not gain access to inappropriate video game content from any possible source. The argument presented here is that ESRB and video games retailers are not entirely to blame when it comes to minors accessing video games with adult content as parents also have their role to play in this process. In my view, this does not also absolve ESRB and retailers from blame as they should also ensure that the video games are appropriately labeled as per their suited audiences as a way of protecting children from accessing adult related content. In conclusion, video game rating is an essential way of ensuring that minors do not access violent content as much as activists claim that video games can help in learning. This is not entirely wrong, but it inclines towards the aspect of providing appropriate content to the appropriate age. My suggestion is that this requires that ESRB revises the ratings that they currently apply that have proven to be ineffective. Presently, parents rely on the rating labels on the box of video games, which at times tend to be misinformed as the contents that they restrict their children from accessing in the normal media might be in the video games (Strasburger n.p). As per research, violence displayed on video games tends to influence those that play them to adopt violent behavior as to them this could be the appropriate culture (Straubhaar, LaRose & Davenport 398). As a result, it is pertinent for ESRB to apply the rating system similar to that applied by the MPAA without copying everything because of copyright infringement in order to make their rating system to be effective. As per the arguments presented above, the improvement of the ESRB rating applied in regulating the video game content can go a long way in ensuring that minors do not gain access to violent themes, sexual scenes and vulgar languages that can influence them to adopt these behaviors in their real lives, which is unacceptable. Work cited Calvert, Sandra L, and Barbara J. Wilson. The Handbook of Children, Media, and Development. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011. Print. DeMaria, Rusel. Reset: Changing the Way We Look at Video Games. S.I.: ReadHowYouWant.com Ltd, 2010. Print. Rifon, Nora J, Royne, Marla B & Carlson, Les. Advertising and violence: concepts and perspectives. Armonk, New York: M.E Sharpe, 2014. Print. Scales, Pat. Protecting Intellectual Freedom in Your School Library: Scenarios from the Front Lines. Chicago: American Library Assoc, 2009. Print. Sclafani, Joseph D. The Educated Parent 2: Child Rearing in the 21st Century. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger, 2012. Print. Strasburger, Victor C. Children, Adolescents, and the Media. Philadelphia: Saunders, 2012. Internet resource. Straubhaar, Joseph, LaRose, Robert and Davenport, Lucinda. Media Now: Understanding Media, Culture, and Technology. Boston, Massachusettes: Cengage Learning, 2013. Print. Read More