Yes they are needed, but it's always gonna be the parents ability to check a game out before buying it for their kids.

I vote against ratings, or make them optional and i know in some countries you dont actually have to have them, but if you dont the shops wont sell them so you actually do have to have them.

Also i dont think ANYONE should force censor something out of a game or movie.

If the ratings had to stay, id at least say categorise anything teen+ in the same category and put the rest as universal.

A better system yet since from what i notice the majority of families dont care about ratings they should not even post them on the game but put a notice in the shop and online with a very short description of the content, this could be done by developpers even instead of by a independant organisation.

Yes, they are needed. No, developers/publishers should not be responsible for rating their own content, because no company will voluntarily limit its audience. Tobacco companies have been lying about nicotine for decades, because the alternative is lost business - next to that, slapping a T rating on Manhunt is something that no executive will lose sleep over.

This thread is fail. Why? Because kids these days don't know why certain things exist. Are you only thinking about yourself, CaptainPreferences?

The thing is, parents have a real concern about the issue of rating.

As an aside, there's something hypocritical about the anti-rating arguments. I'm sure the same people would scorn those who worry about inappropriate content reaching children with smirks of "lolz, bad parents," but they simultaneously want to deprive parents of the one of the best educational tools available short of researching each and every game that is released.

Yes its needed, otherwise the politicans will be rating your games and the most mature game you'll ever play will be a risque version of carnival games.

Most definitely needed.
If only for you, children (and a lot of legally 'adults' too...) to know that what you're going to play contains materials that needs to be consider with cautious.
You never know you have crossed the line unless someone told you, or you hit the wall.

A reminder too : the rating does not define the content of the game but is rather a condition on its audience. A Mature rated game does not equal a mature game (far from it actually).
Maybe they should use a numerical rating (7+, 10+, 18+). That would cut a lot of those 'Mature' nonsense.

Im not saying they should put a audience limiting rating, im saying developpers should write a very short description that can be publicly viewed instead of having a rating (could be a third party too, who writes it is besides the point), then concerned parents can look at for what their kids play, and those who arent concerned wont bother, and no i dont think ID should be required with buying games, its just wrong.

I think there should be an ESRB that classifies games and lets the consumer know the content, but I don't believe there should be a system like what's in place that can be the decider on what game gets released. It appears a lot of things in the US (as well as other areas of the world) experience this bullshit censorship and it's an insult to the consumer. With that said, I agree with CP that parents should take a more active role in their child's life and know what types of games their kids are playing while letting them know there is a difference of fantasy and reality, what should and shouldn't be. Most of us will turn out alright, but some have obviously flown over the cuckoo's nest and made things bad for all of us. Edit: While not everyone will agree, there should be a REASONABLE age limit of what person is allowed to purchase a game, such as GTA, so that the person is at a stage of mental development and can treat the subject matter with maturity and discretion.

Ratings are good kids should not play games suited for adults , same thing with movies. I'm one of the people who think that it could "damage" them. I did not care about ratings when I was younger but my mom never bought unsuited games for me. Retailers that time did not look after age that much but it could not be too big age difference like selling 18+ games to kids under 10.