Game Ratings

I recently had a conversation with my nearly 13 year old brother and one of his friends. Both have PS3s and have parents that limit what games they can play by the ESRB ratings. This got me wondering about some of these ratings and whether I agree with my Dad and Stepmom's decision to make judgments purely on these ratings.

The main game that has come up between myself and my brother is Call of Duty: World at War. This game is a very fitting choice for our discussion since my Dad is really into military history, especially WWII. My family even donated money to the Pacific Aviation Museum in Oahu. On any given day you could find my Dad watching a show on The Military Channel or The History Channel or reading a book on the subject. I bring this up because I am not sure that watching a video of a Japanese kamikaze pilot flying into a U.S. ship while it's crew scatters in panic is much better. Sure the video might not be the quality of today's video game graphics, but it is my opinion that the reality of it is far worse than a fictional account.

It also seems to me that video games are still being treated unfairly. Not that this news is new. It has been going on for over ten years. Those who never played a video game before the happy-go-lucky Wii, seem to have this idea that teens playing video games will lead to some horrific school shooting. Guess what, those kids were messed up before they started playing video games.

I also do not understand why just because something has blood it makes it anymore violent or upsetting than something that doesn't. There are some kids movies with scenes I find far more upsetting than shooting aliens/Nazis/zombies in a video game. For instance the Harry Potter movies seem for more upsetting to me than Halo 3. Killing children vs killing aliens. Hm. Sure there isn't blood in HP which means it is PG-13 even though they are killing off poor Harry's friends and father figures. Oh, and the "nearly headless" thing is pretty gross. (By the way, I LOVE Harry Potter. Yes, you can find me at midnight showings with all the other crazy people. I'm the one NOT dressed up though!)

I really do feel that video games are rated harder than movies and television. I mean you can swear on network television. If Disney (ABC) is ok with it than the ESRB might want to rethink things a little. Have you ever watched television in the middle of the day? What would General Hospital be without at least one shoot out a week? And that is on at 3pm after kids get home from school! Obviously, there is no one standard for all media.

I am not saying that we should get rid of ratings. When the time comes, I know I will also be strict about what games my son plays and movies he sees. I also know that there will be a time when ratings should be a guideline and not law when I make decisions for my child. My brother has watched me play Guild Wars since he was 9 or 10 and no one had no problem with it. Is it because they had seen the game play themselves and thought nothing of it instead of seeing an actual rating for it? Yes, I think so. While the game is rated Teen and not mature, when I started playing the difference in my brothers age to the recommended age is the same as he is now from the mature rating. I think it is up to us as parents to know what our children are playing and watching. There is plenty of information out there on games. Parents can look for videos of game play on YouTube or look at screen shots. The staff at GameStop almost always seem more than happy to help people out and give advice. Parents should also considering giving the game a try. Most of what they need to know in a game they would find out fairly quickly. Isn't it generally best to make decisions for yourself and your family anyway? Isn't that why we are parents?