One of gaming's darkest moments might come true

[dunno001]

Hmm... I can't say I'm a huge fan of it, but I can also see why we might need it. Yes, the gaming industry, like other entertainment ones, is self-regulated. However, it is only the gaming one, where, despite repeated efforts of the regulators to educate parents about the ratings, still has a majority of them just not caring (or even knowing) what those ratings mean. A parent who would think twice before letting their 12-year old into an R-rated movie won't bat an eye at buying an M-rated game, because, after all, games are "just for kids." (This, obviously, highlights another problem the industry has not been able to shake, but that could be a whole new topic for discussion.) Thus, why the government would step in. The gaming industry is unable to overcome these hurdles, and is thus, the only entertainment industry that will sell (or grant access to) certain content before any other entertainment to minors.

I really don't care what way the law goes; I'm of age to make my own informed decisions. But there are 3 things that need to happen for me to see this law as not needed. First, the gamers. We need to stop acting childish about things; it is these actions that perpetuate that gaming is for kids. There have been threads on this here before, so I won't delve deep into that. Second, is that many makers of 'mature' games know damn well that they're targetting the pre-17 demographic. They're the easiest to get hyped about an M-rated game- it makes them 'mature' to play it. This leads to my third point: use of the word 'mature.' I see this as the biggest problem, as games in this category tend to fall into 2 completely different categories. First, you have the legitimately mature games, things like Shin Megami Tensei. These do deal with some serious topics in a serious manner, sometimes in ways that require intellectual thought to fully grasp everything going on. But the majority of M games fall into the latter category- mature for the 'duh-hur's.' Things like GTA fall squarely in this category. There is not a 'mature' concept in this, it basically comes down to "run around and blow shit up." In neither case can I make an argument for an average 12-year old to play these games, but one of these type is definitely more mature than the other.

So how can we fix things? Well, gamers can't be regulated as people- we have to fix ourselves. I guess we have to write that off. Second is that the industry needs to properly target who they market to. I suspect this will take government intervention, like was required to get cigarette companies to stop marketting to children. And the third... I'd almost suggest that ESRB and MPAA could work together to apply the movie ratings to games- parents know what an 'R' rating is, but not an 'M.' And the ratings line up quite well- eC=G, E (and E10)=PG, T=PG-13, M=R, and AO=NC-17. If that won't work, then M would need to be changed, maybe just change the word, if you will, to 'moderated' instead of 'mature.' Casting off that one has to be 'mature' to play these games is essential, since, as many gamers of many M games know, there are always a few players online who don't have any maturity...