posted
From another thread I didn't want to derail
quote: But as an industry professional, and an avid gamer, I'm really well-versed in the content of each major game that comes out, and I'm (quite luckily) not forced to use the ratings system as my sole guide. There are M-rated games I wholeheartedly endorse and T-rated games I wouldn't recommend for anyone's kids.
Mormonater, any chance you'd be willing to tell us what the ones you endorse and the ones you would not are? And the reasons?
Posts: 2183 | Registered: Feb 2005
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posted
The Mercenaries franchise being rated 'T' for Teen has always confused me. I mention it to other folks in the game industry, and they don't believe me until I physically show them a screen with the rating on it. That series is entirely about blowing things up and killing people with an extremely callous attitude. It's not cartoony enough for the violence to be silly and funny. It should be 'M'. Period.
I personally draw a line between "war violence" and "criminal violence" — I think that playing the role of a soldier gives a different moral message than playing the role of a sociopath, and I don't really mind the fact that some war games end up with 'T' ratings when similar levels of violence would deliver an 'M' rating in a different setting.
But the application of this standard is really uneven. The first three Call of Duty games are rated 'T', while the Halo series is rated 'M' .. even though the depiction of war in the Call of Duty games is much more realistic and hard-hitting than that in Halo. Also, in Call of Duty, you are always attacking other humans, whereas in Halo, you are almost exclusively fighting fictional aliens.
I have no problem with a teenager playing Halo. The violence is heroic and fairly sanitized.
I also have no problem with a teenager playing The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. The game is fantasical and unrealistic (though really fun), and it only received an 'M' rating due to some weird political flareup that had almost nothing to do with the actual content of the game.
I would, however, advise against letting younger teenagers play ANY game, regardless of rating, on Xbox Live with a headset mic. I'm less worried about desensitization to fictional violence (which is VERY different from real-world violence) than I am about desensitization to profanity and racial slurs (which are identical online and in the real world ... and which are the primary mode of communication on Live.)
There are a few other 'M' games that I would selectively allow some teenagers to play, with caveats. Mass Effect is an excellent game, with a very well-told cinematic story ... and one NYPD Blue-style sex scene that takes effort to unlock (and which is the most glaring reason for the M rating). Depending on a particular kid's play style and level of maturity, it might or might not be an issue. Fable II is in a similar category, as is The Sims 2 (which was rated 'T').
Saints Row 2 I would have a very hard time recommending to adults, at least in the Church. It's not our type of game, believe me.
[ January 09, 2009, 02:44 PM: Message edited by: The Mormonator ]
Posts: 806 | Registered: Feb 2000
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quote: I have no problem with a teenager playing Halo. The violence is heroic and fairly sanitized.
I was actually going to second pnr's request for your opinion, and it was specifically regarding this game. Thank you.
Posts: 1902 | Registered: Mar 2007
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hmmm my wife and I are hard core Diablo II players. Have you seen anything on Diablo III that may change our outlook on this game?
Posts: 1460 | Registered: Dec 2008
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I probably haven't seen much more of Diablo III than you have at this point, if you're fans of the series ... but given the backlash Blizzard suffers from their fans every time they release the slightest information that varies from Diablo II, I think you can assume that they'll stick pretty close to what you already know Posts: 806 | Registered: Feb 2000
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that's the game developer's curse. Even when you release a game that is an entirely different franchise than another, there are fans that are disappointed that your game doesn't have their favorite feature from some "classic" game.
We experienced this developing Age of Wonders, all three versions, people wanted us to make it into Master of Magic...
Btw, I wholeheartedly endorse Age of Wonders, cuz well... I wrote the story to all three games...
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