Video Game Banned

[gaschamber]

suprising this topic has never came up...

the game i have been waiting for, "manhunt 2" was banned in europe so now it will not be released today anywhere. before there was a rating system i could see all the fuss about video games. now that there is a rating system, that pretty much gives the game companies to do whatever the fuck they want in a game, because now there is a sticker saying that kids shouldnt buy it. SO WHAT IS THE POINT OF THIS RATING SYSTEM?? its the same as a parental advisory for music. why arent the jello biafras and zappas of the video game world standing up to this bullshit, and not to turn this thread political but if al gore became pres, and that cunt tipper is back in the spotlight, i might as well burn my PS2 in effigy.

the warning is there, its time for parents to be parents and THEM decide if their kids get it, and in that process not fucking me over with not releasing the goddamn game.

 

[Evil Dead]

suprising this topic has never came up...

the game i have been waiting for, "manhunt 2" was banned in europe so now it will not be released today anywhere. before there was a rating system i could see all the fuss about video games. now that there is a rating system, that pretty much gives the game companies to do whatever the fuck they want in a game, because now there is a sticker saying that kids shouldnt buy it. SO WHAT IS THE POINT OF THIS RATING SYSTEM?? its the same as a parental advisory for music. why arent the jello biafras and zappas of the video game world standing up to this bullshit, and not to turn this thread political but if al gore became pres, and that cunt tipper is back in the spotlight, i might as well burn my PS2 in effigy.

the warning is there, its time for parents to be parents and THEM decide if their kids get it, and in that process not fucking me over with not releasing the goddamn game.

No shit bro. These forms of media get banned because people are too freaking weak minded to make decisions on their own, they must have a higher authority pointing out the way that is "right". Sadly when left to their own, most folks cannot formulate a competent decision on their own and that is why the rating system doesn't mean shit. Anyone can buy the damn games. Its up to the parents to actually know what their kids do which a lot of them are to lazy to do.

I like those V-chip commercials on TV, where the mom tells the gangsters they are too violent so they have to be blocked. That is what is supposed to happen, not ban shit from being on tv! I wish we had television like Europe.

 

[Dawson]

No shit bro. These forms of media get banned because people are too freaking weak minded to make decisions on their own, they must have a higher authority pointing out the way that is "right". Sadly when left to their own, most folks cannot formulate a competent decision on their own and that is why the rating system doesn't mean shit. Anyone can buy the damn games. Its up to the parents to actually know what their kids do which a lot of them are to lazy to do.

I like those V-chip commercials on TV, where the mom tells the gangsters they are too violent so they have to be blocked. That is what is supposed to happen, not ban shit from being on tv! I wish we had television like Europe.

the reason why you still see this crap come up is because unlike music, video games are interactive. you dont see marines trained by iron maiden.

the problem isnt tipper gore in this situation, joe liberman is the only real politician involved. jack thompson is the real problem. he is an atty from florida who is doing the exact same thing as tipper. talking about shit he has no knowledge of.

you have to take into consideration that while there is a rating system in place, parents are too busy/uninformed/uncaring to research this stuff for their kids the way they are supposed to. but games have been banned since the early 90s. thrill kill, postal, project overkill, etc...we dont even have the real bad ones. in japan, they have "blue rooms" in video game stores to separate the adult games from the kid games.

bottom line, if there was a group inside gaming that actually policed the industry and set standards and properly communicated awareness to families, this wouldnt be so bad. because the issue isnt interpretation of lyrics. its the action of taking a bat to an old lady for no reason. theres no way to misinterpret that. and, ultimately, there is no way to defend it.

 

[Dawson]

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=26529

------

Still no decision to challenge Manhunt 2 rating

Answering questions in a conference call related to the company’s restructuring, Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick referred to the current ratings system as “somewhat nonsensical.”

"Having a rating that we don’t think is appropriate is one issue, obviously, and a separate issue would be if we feel the rating is appropriate and we can’t bring it to market…that seems somewhat nonsensical," Zelnick explained.

Take-Two's Manhunt 2 was recently given an AO rating by the ESRB, which effectively bans it from being sold as major US retailers will not carry any software with an AO rating. The chairman did not blame the retailers, however.

"I don't think that issue falls at the doorstep of the retailers. I think the retailers are acting responsibly, frankly, and I think a retailer has a right to say 'This is what I am prepared to put on my shelves' and I don't think it is correct to be critical of the retailers at all," said Zelman.

Even if retailers agreed to carry the product, Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft have indicated that AO titles are unacceptable for their consoles and will not grant a license to such games.

"I think, because this is a voluntary ratings organisation in the US, we have to be critical of ourselves if we've allowed a system to develop that prevents us from bringing a title to market that we want to bring to market," Zelman explained. "That's something we do need to address."

"We don’t see ourselves in the AO business," he continued. "Having said that, if we find ourselves in the AO business, it would be because we have a title that we consider art and entertainment, that we consider is appropriately labeled AO, and that we would like to bring to market and I am prepared to stand behind and Ben [Feder, Take-Two’s CEO] is prepared to stand behind.

"In that instance, one does have to ask oneself, what is the purpose of a rating if it means effectively a title cannot be released?" Zelnick asked.

Take-Two has still not announced whether the company plans to challenge the ESRB's rating or whether it plans to alter Manhunt 2 and resubmit it for a new rating determination.

 

[gaschamber]

the reason why you still see this crap come up is because unlike music, video games are interactive. you dont see marines trained by iron maiden.

the problem isnt tipper gore in this situation, joe liberman is the only real politician involved. jack thompson is the real problem. he is an atty from florida who is doing the exact same thing as tipper. talking about shit he has no knowledge of.

you have to take into consideration that while there is a rating system in place, parents are too busy/uninformed/uncaring to research this stuff for their kids the way they are supposed to. but games have been banned since the early 90s. thrill kill, postal, project overkill, etc...we dont even have the real bad ones. in japan, they have "blue rooms" in video game stores to separate the adult games from the kid games.

bottom line, if there was a group inside gaming that actually policed the industry and set standards and properly communicated awareness to families, this wouldnt be so bad. because the issue isnt interpretation of lyrics. its the action of taking a bat to an old lady for no reason. theres no way to misinterpret that. and, ultimately, there is no way to defend it.

you are right, there is no way to misinterpret that stuff. but movies will have that stuff in it, and they slap an nc-17 on it if its bad enough, and it takes A LOT to get an nc-17, most of the time, its sexual content, not violence. the thing about parents being uninformed and too busy, fuck that, then that is saying they are too busy to be interested in their kids. when little freddy is playing the playstation, look at what hes playing (if he snuck it past you from a friend, or stole whatever) and decide if he can play it, and a step before that is looking at it and researching it before he buys it. All im saying is dont punish everyone because the world is now made up of uncaring selfish deadbeat fuckin parents. fuck em, give me my game.

 

[Dawson]

you are right, there is no way to misinterpret that stuff. but movies will have that stuff in it, and they slap an nc-17 on it if its bad enough, and it takes A LOT to get an nc-17, most of the time, its sexual content, not violence. the thing about parents being uninformed and too busy, fuck that, then that is saying they are too busy to be interested in their kids. when little freddy is playing the playstation, look at what hes playing (if he snuck it past you from a friend, or stole whatever) and decide if he can play it, and a step before that is looking at it and researching it before he buys it. All im saying is dont punish everyone because the world is now made up of uncaring selfish deadbeat fuckin parents. fuck em, give me my game.

The only issue I have with the NC-17 and AO ratings for movies and games is that, while they aren't necessarily censored, retailers and moviehouses won't carry them. Thats part of the American double-standard with interactive media. Japan doesn't have that problem. They sell games where you can tentacle-fuck a 14 year old girl while cutting open her head. But the Japanese openly share how fucked up they are. They don't claim to be morally perfect.

Parents aren't 100% to blame. Society these days doesn't give parents a whole lot of time to check out every thing their kids are bombarded with. The American society has demanded that both parents work long hours in order to provide for their kids. I've managed quite a few video game stores and worked in many more...When parents don't have the time to investigate every aspect of a game, they have to know where to go to get the real deal on that game. I would say that video game stores were the answer, but they pay almost nothing and require ridiculous amounts of cold-selling to customers. So, after the parent waits for a half-hour for their kid to make up their mind, they have to wait in line and listen to 5 minutes of sales pitches for whatever is hot that month....then to listen to the dude behind the counter give an unbiased and critical assessment of the game, most parents just dont have the attention span or time to hear it.

The ESRB is falling way short on its descriptions, video game stores focus more on monthly sales and performance over customer service and communication, and parents already have enough on their plate to deal with everyday. Again, the only way for this issue to stop is for the video game industry to establish some kind of board (a mix of developers, retailers, consumer advocates, analysts, and reviewers) which monitors publisher's activities and flags inappropriate games with a red flag. A blacklist from the industry is more hurtful than a lawsuit or settlement. Rockstar is a fine example.

But I find it hard to argue for such a steaming pile of crap like Manhunt. Ripping of The Running Man is one thing, but to try and convince people that killing people several different ways is somehow a value when spending 50$ is bullshit. That's not gaming, that's pulling wings off of flies. My opinion: if you have to argue for a game like that, you're retarded. So far, every game that has been banned has deserved it...with the exception of Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude. You should never censor the female form.

 

[gaschamber]

if it makes me retarded for liking gory brutal shit, then so be it.

 

[Evil Dead]

The only issue I have with the NC-17 and AO ratings for movies and games is that, while they aren't necessarily censored, retailers and moviehouses won't carry them. Thats part of the American double-standard with interactive media. Japan doesn't have that problem. They sell games where you can tentacle-fuck a 14 year old girl while cutting open her head. But the Japanese openly share how fucked up they are. They don't claim to be morally perfect.

Parents aren't 100% to blame. Society these days doesn't give parents a whole lot of time to check out every thing their kids are bombarded with. The American society has demanded that both parents work long hours in order to provide for their kids. I've managed quite a few video game stores and worked in many more...When parents don't have the time to investigate every aspect of a game, they have to know where to go to get the real deal on that game. I would say that video game stores were the answer, but they pay almost nothing and require ridiculous amounts of cold-selling to customers. So, after the parent waits for a half-hour for their kid to make up their mind, they have to wait in line and listen to 5 minutes of sales pitches for whatever is hot that month....then to listen to the dude behind the counter give an unbiased and critical assessment of the game, most parents just dont have the attention span or time to hear it.

The ESRB is falling way short on its descriptions, video game stores focus more on monthly sales and performance over customer service and communication, and parents already have enough on their plate to deal with everyday. Again, the only way for this issue to stop is for the video game industry to establish some kind of board (a mix of developers, retailers, consumer advocates, analysts, and reviewers) which monitors publisher's activities and flags inappropriate games with a red flag. A blacklist from the industry is more hurtful than a lawsuit or settlement. Rockstar is a fine example.

But I find it hard to argue for such a steaming pile of crap like Manhunt. Ripping of The Running Man is one thing, but to try and convince people that killing people several different ways is somehow a value when spending 50$ is bullshit. That's not gaming, that's pulling wings off of flies. My opinion: if you have to argue for a game like that, you're retarded. So far, every game that has been banned has deserved it...with the exception of Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude. You should never censor the female form.

All of the leisure suit larry games ruled, even the text based.

 

[Jurched]

All of the leisure suit larry games ruled, even the text based.

Except for Leisure Suit Larry 3! it promptly vanished because it was impossible to play. Fortunately, I bought Police Quest 3 instead...

Jurched

 

[Evil Dead]

Except for Leisure Suit Larry 3! it promptly vanished because it was impossible to play. Fortunately, I bought Police Quest 3 instead...

Jurched

Haha police quest RULED!!

Didnt they just skip a number on one of em? I remember playing a game, came on 2 3.5 floppies. You had to answer questions to verify your age before playing..started in a hotel. And I could NEVER get out of the damn place.

 

[Jurched]

Haha police quest RULED!!

Didnt they just skip a number on one of em? I remember playing a game, came on 2 3.5 floppies. You had to answer questions to verify your age before playing..started in a hotel. And I could NEVER get out of the damn place.

Yeah, that was #4 (not 3)! Thanks for jogging my memory. It never made it to the general market even though Sierra Online did a majour advertising campaign at the time!

Some said #4 was too outrageously filthy to risk the marketplace, but I know differently. Its because it was impossible to play, and they admitted it in Sierra's magazine.

I read the creators of the game were asked by Sierra Online's magazine editors how to get on in the game, and those guys couldn't even do it! Oops! By then, the release date had come and gone, and they decided to rework the whole damn mess as a new game in the series.

Jurched

 

[Dawson]

if it makes me retarded for liking gory brutal shit, then so be it.

I do believe that if any game has a redeeming quality or offers something that hasn't been offered before, then I will respect that.

But the majority of the violent games coming out, especially from Rockstar, do nothing more than push buttons. Rockstar is like a spoiled little kid who tries to get a rise out of his parents by drawing peckers on the living room wall. Sure, they want him to be creative and inspire that talent, but at the expense of having their home covered in dicks? How does a parent find a way to balance that out?

"Oh yeah, Victor's latest work is a painting of the Virgin Mary with elephant shit smeared all over it."

Sure, on one hand, that's creative. But to smear elephant poo on a religious figure? Thats Rockstar. They wipe their shit on EVERYTHING. You see, Rockstar does have a couple of games that don't have killing. Problem is that these games are just like games made by other developers. The only time they really bring something to the table is when it involves killing people. Here is a list of Rockstar Games:

Grand Theft Auto: 1, 2, London '61, London '69, 3, Advance, Vice City, Liberty City Stories, San Andreas.
Midnight Club 1, 2, 3, Dub Edition (and the stupid Remix)
Thrasher: Skate and Destroy
Surfing H30
Smugglers Run: 1, 2, Warzone
Oni
Max Payne: 1, 2
The Italian Job
State of Emergency: 1, 2
Manhunt
Red Dead Revolver
The Warriors
Table Tennis
Bully

So when I look at their game list, I see the majority of their focus (with the exception of Midnight Club--which sucked compared to Need4Speed) on games that deal with being the anti-hero or villain. I played GTA first on the PC and thought it was awesome. Max Payne was great, too....and nothing compares to GTA: SA. But, honestly, the rest of these games either sucked ass or were a redo of another game that was done waaaay better by someone else. Also, with the exception of the GTA and Manhunt series, the majority of these games were developed by studios under the direction of Rockstar, but I digress a bit....

My point is that trying to defend companies who willfully put out gory and mindless murder-filled crap is a lose-lose. I'm not saying that you can't like it, but for every bloody game that you name, I can name 10 that had little or no killing that are much better examples of the industry. My issue is the focus is all wrong. No kid ever tried to kill a cop by attacking him with an empty tortoise shell.

Rockstar isn't in it for the game or promoting the industry, or even for the sake of creativity. They know this shit will sell anyway. So they go more and more over the edge to outdo their last piece of shit game (not including GTA San Andreas--that's the best game they ever did). They are that little asshole redhead kid from the movie Problem Child. They are here to make money off this industry and refuse to take any responsibility. They aren't the Marquis de Sade, they aren't Lenny Bruce or George Carlin, and they aren't Alfred Hitchcock. They are the creepy guy at the video store who always mentions the "blue room" in the back when you are checking out your videos.

Tell you what, if they put all that ridiculous gore-loving creativity into a video game based on Beowulf, I'm in.

 

[Dawson]

Yeah, that was #4 (not 3)! Thanks for jogging my memory. It never made it to the general market even though Sierra Online did a majour advertising campaign at the time!

Some said #4 was too outrageously filthy to risk the marketplace, but I know differently. Its because it was impossible to play, and they admitted it in Sierra's magazine.

I read the creators of the game were asked by Sierra Online's magazine editors how to get on in the game, and those guys couldn't even do it! Oops! By then, the release date had come and gone, and they decided to rework the whole damn mess as a new game in the series.

Jurched

yeah i never knew that. i do remember trying to get into #2 several times when i was a kid. those questions really pissed me off.