Is ESRB really needed?

[quigontcb]

lultor said:

@kasz

That may be the case, but thats why i said its not very likely and thats why i suggested that ratings be given in a less enforcing/softer way that wouldnt scare off retailers.

Of course theres no easy solution, but i dont like the way ratings are done currently.

Maybe online downloads will make it easier to sell adult games too, i could imagine a games original content being available online with a modified version in stores, that would be cool too :)

@quiqontcb

No need to be mean, i was just trying to point out flaws in the system and said how id prefer something less forceful, the topic of the thread afterall was wether you believe esrb is really needed and i said no i dont think so.

 Well, there is only so many ways to say someone is not grasping the logic of the issue. You complaing about the ESRB censoring, when they are what is preventing censorship. I'm guessing making the ESRB "less forceful" means that you want them to scale back on rating deserving games M or AO, which would make them lose all credibility as a rating system. If they were foolish enough to do that(which won't happen because it doesn't make sense to do that), it would be government intervention time.

The one year leap from M to AO is silly, but isn't that different than movie ratings. The issue with AO/NC17 is that you're basically branding a violent game(like Manhunt 2) as something akin to a hardcore porn movie, while many similarly violent movies are rated R(or M in the game world).

I'm not saying the ESRB is perfect, but it seems what you're arguing is just illogical. They apparently have overstepped their mandate at times, but THAT needs to be corrected...not closing them down, having them give improper/false ratings, or a needlessly complicated system of rated and non-rated copies of games.