Effect of Violent Videogames

[antimatter]

Yes, but see, that's not actually blood...that's flood-blood...

you know, it's not realistic blood, which is what gives the ratings most of teh time.

If that makes any sense...

Apologies for lack of sense, my brain is a bit...not well today (science exams...)

[Donut.Hole]

Halo:CE was rated too harshly. CS and Half-Life already had very bloody glibs with exaggerated splatters on the walls. And in Half-Life 2, the blood splattering effects got upgraded using the Source engine so that random patterns are rendered in real-time on the walls. Then there's the crossbow...it fires molten iron bars that pin the victim to the wall.

 

So is HL2 and CS deserve the M rating, (antimatter, they do and don't say I'm wrong) and Halo:CE was also rated M, it can't be in the same league if the violence and blood aren't up to specs.

 

So I'm thinking, shouldn't the ESRB have like a whole bunch of inappropiate aspects of games and give each aspect a grade from one to ten. Add up all the points and you get your rating. This way, it's more systematic than the raters jumping at every headshot or knife kill they see.

[antimatter]

I'm not disagreeing with you, in fact, I'm pretty sure I've already said that, and that we've discussed this before outside of SFN.

Half-Life 2 and the original are both very, very bloody and violent games, not to mention the horror factor in HL 2.

I've never played CS, but I did watch teh episode of Pure Pwnage where fps_doug is playing CS:Source...you know the one I'm talking about...

 

Right, good idea, a more efficient and logical approach, more rational, rather than opinion, that's much better.

[halogirl]

no i think halo was rated just right we know its not real but if it were the flood goop would seem pretty realistic i think. not only that but theres also some pretty harsh language have you listened to the marines when they talk?

[antimatter]

"flood goop would seem pretty realistic"

That is an oxi-moron, 'flood goop' isn't real, it doesn't even look remotely like anything you'd find in the real world.

 

Not to mention the worst thing I've heard a marine say was

"He's totally loco, man"

 

The AI in Bioshock and F.E.A.R. are much more explicit.

[Donut.Hole]

I agree with you all the way Antimatter.

You have a very good point.

[Dak]

I teach a few classes in a video games curriculum, and they really make me feel old. Most of the students were born after Star Trek: The Next Generation went on the air. No, really.

 

But the funny thing is, the games they all know are completely different from the ones I know. They're all console-oriented -- PS3, Xbox 360, or Wii. Their idea of video game history is the previous version of a long series that shipped three years ago for the PS2. Ugh.

 

I'm only 42, for pete's sake!

 

If it makes you feel any better, i'm only 26 and i can still remember getting a NES. and it being 'advanced'. oh, and i can remember before the internet existed. I may as well get a morris minor and wear my trousers up by my nipples (if that's too british for you: I may as well get a gun and sit of a rocking chair in my portch)

 

----

 

whilst i don't generally buy into the whole 'violent videogames breed violence' thing, what'd'y'all recon to the observation that we, as societies, have, over time, become more tolerant and desensitised to violence in videogames. I remember when games used to have to have green blood to avoid the censors; now you can blow peoples heads off.

 

Granted, you never had age-ratings back then, but still...

[halogirl]

"flood goop would seem pretty realistic"

That is an oxi-moron, 'flood goop' isn't real, it doesn't even look remotely like anything you'd find in the real world.

 

Not to mention the worst thing I've heard a marine say was

"He's totally loco, man"

 

The AI in Bioshock and F.E.A.R. are much more explicit.

 

 

i think i pointed out that flood goop is not real. either way you seriosly havn't been listening to the marines have you? check out halo 3 the graphics are very life-like for a video game, even the flood goop. also like i said the halos are probably a minimum for an M rating.

[antimatter]

We were discussing Halo: Combat Evolved, if you hadn't noticed.

[Donut.Hole]

I agree with you all the way Antimatter.

You have a very good point.

 

Okay everyone, when I was at antimatter's house, I went on SFN on his computer and made the fatal mistake of leaving it for a moment. This comment was made by antimatter, in fact.

 

i think i pointed out that flood goop is not real. either way you seriosly havn't been listening to the marines have you? check out halo 3 the graphics are very life-like for a video game, even the flood goop. also like i said the halos are probably a minimum for an M rating.

 

I'm wondering, how much does bad language count? I can't go through an entire day at my school without hearing at least two to three swears. And it seems like all the movies nowadays have to have swears as a requirement. It's all around us, so how much should it count in a game?

 

IMO, because we hear it all the time, it should only be half of blood and violence.

 

We were discussing Halo: Combat Evolved, if you hadn't noticed.

 

Ah, antimatter, you 350+ posts at the moment doesn't mean you have to make someone feel n00b.

 

To halogirl, What type of language do they use? I find that language varies in games. In HL2, the emphasis really isn't on them. In other games, they're a bit more noticeable.

[Pangloss]

I'm playing GTA4 right now and I'm actually kinda amazed at how graphic and vulgar it is. More use of the F word than a Quentin Tarantino movie. I agree with some of the posts above about undeserved M ratings, but this one certainly earns its M rating. Yowsers.

 

But quite creative and a major step forward in game technology, nontheless.

[antimatter]

PG-13 movies are allowed the F word twice.

All other swears acceptable, so T is essentially PG-13.

 

And Donut.Hole, no need to be patronizing, we were talking about Halo: CE for quite a while, and trying to make yourself be right by changing the topic is a very n00b thing to do.

By the way, you would know this if you bothered to read the thread.

[Donut.Hole]

PG-13 movies are allowed the F word twice.

All other swears acceptable, so T is essentially PG-13.

 

And Donut.Hole, no need to be patronizing, we were talking about Halo: CE for quite a while, and trying to make yourself be right by changing the topic is a very n00b thing to do.

By the way, you would know this if you bothered to read the thread.

 

Yeah, I do know the topic of the thread, I mentioned Halo:CE! But perhaps you didn't need to make her feel like a toal n00b?

 

Oh, and Half-Life 2 deserves the M Rating. Some parts may be a bit intense, like this part about a mutated zombie in Ravenholm:

 

This is what FEAR has, not too different

 

They really do deserve the M Rating.

[antimatter]

Yes, of course they do.

But Halo: CE definitely doesn't.

Half-life 2 just wouldn't be the same without the horror aspect of it, while F.E.A.R. could definitely do without some of it.

[Donut.Hole]

These are the current categories for ESRB ratings (I've whittled it down to what I think is best and have combined a few):

 

Violence/Blood- I suppose no explanation is needed. 15pts

 

Drug Reference — Reference to and/or images of illegal drugs. 10pts

 

Language — Profanity. 8pts

 

Mature Humor — Depictions or dialogue involving "adult" humor, including sexual references. 8pts

 

Gambling — Player can gamble. 8pts

 

Sexual Themes — Sexual references and/or depictions. 15pts

 

General Attitude Toward the Game - 12 pts

 

As you can see, sex and violence are the biggest point values. General attitude toward the game is asically what your gut tells you.

See, what the raters should do is actually spend a good hour or two playing the games. then they assign each game a point value. Depending on the total, you get your rating out of 68 points.

 

Now whose going decide how many points it takes for each rating?

[antimatter]

These are the current categories for ESRB ratings (I've whittled it down to what I think is best and have combined a few):

 

Violence/Blood- I suppose no explanation is needed. 15pts

 

Drug Reference — Reference to and/or images of illegal drugs. 10pts

 

Language — Profanity. 8pts

 

Mature Humor — Depictions or dialogue involving "adult" humor, including sexual references. 8pts

 

Gambling — Player can gamble. 8pts

 

Sexual Themes — Sexual references and/or depictions. 15pts

 

General Attitude Toward the Game - 12 pts

 

As you can see, sex and violence are the biggest point values. General attitude toward the game is asically what your gut tells you.

See, what the raters should do is actually spend a good hour or two playing the games. then they assign each game a point value. Depending on the total, you get your rating out of 68 points.

 

Now whose going decide how many points it takes for each rating?

 

Personally I don't think that gambling should even be relevant.

Kids gamble at very early ages. I was playing gambling for comics in the third grade, and I'm not...that...messed up....

[Donut.Hole]

Personally I don't think that gambling should even be relevant.

Kids gamble at very early ages. I was playing gambling for comics in the third grade, and I'm not...that...messed up....

 

Perhaps just 5 pts then?

Oh, and it's 76 points.

[antimatter]

Really, I think drugs and violence are the only things that ratings should be based on.

Kids are exposed to enough of everything else already for it to not make any difference at all.

[Donut.Hole]

Really, I think drugs and violence are the only things that ratings should be based on.

Kids are exposed to enough of everything else already for it to not make any difference at all.

 

Yeah, I agree, but the ESRB has to make all the adults happy, Without all the other categories, parents would swamp the ESRB with criticism.

[antimatter]

So?

Who cares what the parents think?

[Donut.Hole]

So?

Who cares what the parents think?

 

I'd like to think that way too antimatter, but ESRB would be facing pressure from the authorities if it wasn't parent apperoved. Kinda funny that parents and adults rate videogames when they haven't played them and aren't the ones that are going to.

[antimatter]

The world is a very ironic place...

I really don't think that parents should have an input on how a game is rated, they don't play them, they don't know for sure the psychological effects it has on a child.

I'm not saying that they should be rated by kids, because we all know how that would end (mahunt-E, half-life 2-E, GTA-E), but real gamers (mature ones) should use the point system that we've developed to accurately rate games.

[Donut.Hole]

The world is a very ironic place...

I really don't think that parents should have an input on how a game is rated, they don't play them, they don't know for sure the psychological effects it has on a child.

I'm not saying that they should be rated by kids, because we all know how that would end (mahunt-E, half-life 2-E, GTA-E), but real gamers (mature ones) should use the point system that we've developed to accurately rate games.

 

Yeah, raters should be between 18 and 25. They have to have played a wide variety of games spanning many ratings. And there should be specialized raters, like those for fps and others for rts and such.

[antimatter]

Maturity should also be a fairly important factor, and by maturity I also mean a sort impartial attitude. Just because I like Half-Life 2...a lot... doesn't mean I'll give it a lower rating. It deserves the M rating completely.

Gamers should be able to rate a game fairly, their own opinion shouldn't be considered at all.

[Donut.Hole]

Using my previous rating criteria, scores should be out of 88 points.

 

Violence/Blood- I suppose no explanation is needed. 25pts

 

Drug Reference — Reference to and/or images of illegal drugs. 10pts

 

Language — Profanity. 8pts

 

Gambling — Player can gamble. 8pts

 

Sexual Themes — Sexual references and/or depictions. 20pts

 

General Attitude Toward the Game (Must be decided as a single score for the rating group, not a vote/average) - 17 pts

 

This is my rating scale. A rating means the maximum number of points or under. For instance, Rated E would be between 37 and 25

 

3 points: Very young children

 

25 points: E

 

38points: E10+

 

44points: T

 

57 points: M

 

70+points: Adult Only

 

Before, I didn't have a section for general attitude towards the game. This would mean that a teen game could have full points in violence, sex and drugs but only rated teen. Therefore, the "General Attitude" fixes this; it's enough to get a game from T to M if it has such content. And to prevent individual raters from sabotaging the rating, the General Attitude must be discussed and decided on as a group; there is no voting. This is my rating for Half-Life 2:

 

Violence/Blood: 25 points

 

Drug Reference: 0 points

 

Language: 3 points

 

Gambling: 0 points

 

Sexual Themes: 0 points

 

General Attitude Towards the Game: 20 points

 

48 points...Mid-Range M. But it isn't a very heavy M game, except for maybe Ravenholm. Most of the violence isn't stylized. There should also be a meter on games that reads 48 points between 44 and 56 points in the M range.

 

I haven't actually played Halo: CE. Anyone want to rate that?