CCGR
Member
didn't see one on Google
Petition
- Thread starter iamscott
- Start date
you need to look harder
http://www.petitiononline.com/
agreed i checked out the site and it seemd like there were more anti christian petitions then there were pro christian stuff. i would agree having it seperate. and ur right there is a lot of clutter, i saw a petition for stoping wombat abuse:laugh:
Before you all rush about getting the infrastructure laid down and whipping up zealous fervour, don't you think you should agree on what it is, precisely, that you intend to achieve.
I mean, despite increasing the amount of influence that the government already has on parenting. And do you intend to keep this petition secular, or are you bound on enforcing your religious opinions as well as your moral ones?
I mean, despite increasing the amount of influence that the government already has on parenting. And do you intend to keep this petition secular, or are you bound on enforcing your religious opinions as well as your moral ones?
CCGR
Member
secular, I don't want them commenting on religous stuff, not their scope, but they should mention more than violence when there is more than just violence. The did not mention the sexual and nudity references in Duke Nukem:Manhatten Project for example
they do miss a lot, as in the nudity in XIII, nothing said, as well as for its over use of certain words starting with f and s, and many others, while saying its rated m for intense violence and blood, when the violence, well ive seen more violent t rated games, and that xii looks like a comic book, and the blood is as fake as can be, being at most 2 shades of red, and the way it was odne makes it obvious that they intended to make it look fake, so they rated the game m for false reasons while missing the ones that actually would make it m, just becasue they did not play thru the whole thing. if u play thru some other games, u will find similar anomalies in the rating descriptors compared to the actual content of the game itself.
Fair enough. In Europe we use a different organisation, and they have rating criteria for various issues - including language and nudity. IMHO the voluntary rating system works quite well over here - It sounds as if commercial pressures have been brought to bear more in the US (surprise, surprise!) and perhaps a drive to have existing criteria more properly enforced is in order.
I noticed that US Retaillers have adopted a system whereby they are working harder to ensure no minors get M rated games. Perhaps if parents took a hand too, this might be stopped without legislation. You should always be careful about creating new laws - if you legislate once on a subject, you will always need to legislate on it in the future, and the whole place goes to the lawyers!
Eon
I noticed that US Retaillers have adopted a system whereby they are working harder to ensure no minors get M rated games. Perhaps if parents took a hand too, this might be stopped without legislation. You should always be careful about creating new laws - if you legislate once on a subject, you will always need to legislate on it in the future, and the whole place goes to the lawyers!
Eon
well ya know the Rated M thing doesnt really work since u always have a parent buying the product, the product easly gets into the hands of minors. i saw in a video game rental store this kid bout 10 years old renting GTA3 and played it since his dad rented it. it was really sad
Hey, Eon. I was wondering what happened to you. I really started to miss those heated debates we had back in the day....
Anyway, I'm just fed up with the ESRB in general. You have their misleading rating occurring all over the place, affecting buyers and their decisions, and then you have the politicians, saying things about different games based, partially, on the ESRB's no good rating system. I'm really tired of ratings just being so...general. I mean, you never would have known that State of Emergency had decaptitations in it, unless you saw screen shots, or read the reviews.
Here's some 'news' from the ESRB website:
New York, NY—The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) announced advances to the computer and video game rating system today designed to provide parents and other consumers with a new and unprecedented level of detail about game content. The changes include the addition of four new ESRB content descriptors—short, standardized phrases printed on the back of game boxes that alert consumers to content elements that may be of interest or concern—and new, bolder labels intended to draw consumer attention to those content descriptors. The rating system changes were developed in consultation with experts from both inside and outside the interactive entertainment software industry, including child development experts and family advocates.
“The ESRB is continuously searching for ways to make computer and video game ratings even more helpful to parents. These changes ensure that consumers have the information they need to make informed purchasing decisions,” said Patricia Vance, President of the ESRB.
New Content Descriptors
Effective immediately, ESRB has added four new content descriptors to the 26 that already exist. The new descriptors will help consumers more precisely evaluate the extent and intensity of violent content in computer and video games by distinguishing between the kind of animated violence that frequently appears in children’s cartoons and the realistic-looking violence that may appear in advanced M-rated (Mature) titles intended for gamers 17 and older. The new content descriptors are:
Cartoon Violence, defined as “violent actions involving cartoon-like characters. May include violence where a character is unharmed after the action has been inflicted.”
Fantasy Violence, defined as “violent actions of a fantasy nature, involving human or non-human characters in situations easily distinguishable from real life.”
Intense Violence, defined as “graphic and realistic-looking depictions of physical conflict. May involve extreme and/or realistic blood, gore, weapons, and depictions of human injury and death.”
Sexual Violence, defined as “depictions of rape or other violent sexual acts.”
Consumers using the ESRB web site’s rating search feature may incorporate these content descriptors into their game search parameters. For example, parents can generate a list of M-rated games that did not receive “intense violence” or “sexual violence” content descriptors. Last year, 63 percent of games rated by the ESRB received an E (Everyone) rating, 27 percent were rated T (Teen), 8 percent were rated M (Mature), and 2 percent received an EC rating (Early Childhood).
Professor Kimberly Thompson, Director of the Harvard School of Public Health’s KidsRisk project and the author of several studies about entertainment rating systems, advised ESRB on the rating system changes, adding, “the specificity of the ESRB’s new violence-related content descriptors is a major advantage of the computer and video game rating system. Armed with this new level of detail, parents are better equipped than ever to exercise their own judgment and decide which games are appropriate for their children.”
New Rating and Content Labels
The ESRB also announced that effective September 15, it will require the placement of new labels on the back of game boxes. The new labels draw consumer attention to both the age rating and content descriptors assigned to game titles by the ESRB. The new labels are more prominent, visible, and informative than the labels they will replace. In addition, ESRB rating symbols will continue to be published on the front of all game boxes.
“This change is designed to ensure that parents can't miss the critical content information printed on game boxes, which frequently provides greater insight into why a game has received its rating,” explained Patricia Vance, President of the ESRB. “To get the most from the ESRB rating system, parents should check both the rating symbol on the front of the game box and the content descriptors on the back. When parents check the rating and the content descriptors, they know exactly what they’re getting.”
Changes to M and AO Rating Icons
Also effective September 15, the ESRB’s “M”(Mature) and “AO” (Adults Only) icons will be modified to include the minimum recommended age for each rating category. The categories themselves are unaffected by this modification, only the icon design will change to ensure that consumers better understand the designated age ranges for these categories.
And more:
WASHINGTON B U.S. Senators Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT) today commended the new, voluntary computer and video game ratings improvements announced by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) to give parents and
retailers more information about violent content of games. The new guidelines include more precise descriptions to alert consumers to violent content - distinguishing between cartoon and more graphic violence -- and bolder labels to make it easier for consumers to determine whether games are appropriate to sell
to and be used by children under 17.
"The changes announced today will help parents make more informed decisions when purchasing games for their children. And we are hopeful that the addition of specific age guidelines to the rating icons will make it easier for retailers to enforce the rating system, as many have committed to do but which few are doing
reliably," Kohl said. "It's important that parents check the rating
information on every box before bringing computer and video games home to their families. Although the ESRB rating system contains the most information of any rating system in the entertainment industry, it can only be effective if retailers recognize and enforce it and parents understand and use it."
"I have always said the ESRB system was the best rating system in the entertainment media, and these changes will make it even better - more informative, more precise, and more enforceable for retailers," Lieberman said. "I appreciate the ESRB's ongoing commitment to helping parents make smart choices for their kids. I hope parents will return the favor by making better use of these better ratings, for in the end they have the primary responsibility
to protect their kids from potentially harmful games. And I hope retailers will finally accept their responsibility to help parents do that job, and commit as an industry to stop selling adult-rated games to kids."
For nearly eight years, Lieberman and Kohl have been working with the video and computer game industry to help keep violent, graphic and adult videos out of the hands of kids. At their insistence, the video game industry has developed entertainment's best rating system, has applied that rating system uniformly to the packaging of every video game sold in stores, and has promulgated aggressive anti-targeting provisions aimed at keeping the advertisement of violent, Mature-rated games away from children.
Sorry, folks, but if Lieberman was truly knew what the mistakes that the ESRB are, then he wouldn't feel that way. I'm all for keeping violent games like Manhunt out of the hands of minors, but I think that if he wants to really see what is going on, Lieberman needs to play the games. Nothing against Lieberman. I just find it...kind of pathetic, really.
Anyway, I'm just fed up with the ESRB in general. You have their misleading rating occurring all over the place, affecting buyers and their decisions, and then you have the politicians, saying things about different games based, partially, on the ESRB's no good rating system. I'm really tired of ratings just being so...general. I mean, you never would have known that State of Emergency had decaptitations in it, unless you saw screen shots, or read the reviews.
Here's some 'news' from the ESRB website:
New York, NY—The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) announced advances to the computer and video game rating system today designed to provide parents and other consumers with a new and unprecedented level of detail about game content. The changes include the addition of four new ESRB content descriptors—short, standardized phrases printed on the back of game boxes that alert consumers to content elements that may be of interest or concern—and new, bolder labels intended to draw consumer attention to those content descriptors. The rating system changes were developed in consultation with experts from both inside and outside the interactive entertainment software industry, including child development experts and family advocates.
“The ESRB is continuously searching for ways to make computer and video game ratings even more helpful to parents. These changes ensure that consumers have the information they need to make informed purchasing decisions,” said Patricia Vance, President of the ESRB.
New Content Descriptors
Effective immediately, ESRB has added four new content descriptors to the 26 that already exist. The new descriptors will help consumers more precisely evaluate the extent and intensity of violent content in computer and video games by distinguishing between the kind of animated violence that frequently appears in children’s cartoons and the realistic-looking violence that may appear in advanced M-rated (Mature) titles intended for gamers 17 and older. The new content descriptors are:
Cartoon Violence, defined as “violent actions involving cartoon-like characters. May include violence where a character is unharmed after the action has been inflicted.”
Fantasy Violence, defined as “violent actions of a fantasy nature, involving human or non-human characters in situations easily distinguishable from real life.”
Intense Violence, defined as “graphic and realistic-looking depictions of physical conflict. May involve extreme and/or realistic blood, gore, weapons, and depictions of human injury and death.”
Sexual Violence, defined as “depictions of rape or other violent sexual acts.”
Consumers using the ESRB web site’s rating search feature may incorporate these content descriptors into their game search parameters. For example, parents can generate a list of M-rated games that did not receive “intense violence” or “sexual violence” content descriptors. Last year, 63 percent of games rated by the ESRB received an E (Everyone) rating, 27 percent were rated T (Teen), 8 percent were rated M (Mature), and 2 percent received an EC rating (Early Childhood).
Professor Kimberly Thompson, Director of the Harvard School of Public Health’s KidsRisk project and the author of several studies about entertainment rating systems, advised ESRB on the rating system changes, adding, “the specificity of the ESRB’s new violence-related content descriptors is a major advantage of the computer and video game rating system. Armed with this new level of detail, parents are better equipped than ever to exercise their own judgment and decide which games are appropriate for their children.”
New Rating and Content Labels
The ESRB also announced that effective September 15, it will require the placement of new labels on the back of game boxes. The new labels draw consumer attention to both the age rating and content descriptors assigned to game titles by the ESRB. The new labels are more prominent, visible, and informative than the labels they will replace. In addition, ESRB rating symbols will continue to be published on the front of all game boxes.
“This change is designed to ensure that parents can't miss the critical content information printed on game boxes, which frequently provides greater insight into why a game has received its rating,” explained Patricia Vance, President of the ESRB. “To get the most from the ESRB rating system, parents should check both the rating symbol on the front of the game box and the content descriptors on the back. When parents check the rating and the content descriptors, they know exactly what they’re getting.”
Changes to M and AO Rating Icons
Also effective September 15, the ESRB’s “M”(Mature) and “AO” (Adults Only) icons will be modified to include the minimum recommended age for each rating category. The categories themselves are unaffected by this modification, only the icon design will change to ensure that consumers better understand the designated age ranges for these categories.
And more:
WASHINGTON B U.S. Senators Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT) today commended the new, voluntary computer and video game ratings improvements announced by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) to give parents and
retailers more information about violent content of games. The new guidelines include more precise descriptions to alert consumers to violent content - distinguishing between cartoon and more graphic violence -- and bolder labels to make it easier for consumers to determine whether games are appropriate to sell
to and be used by children under 17.
"The changes announced today will help parents make more informed decisions when purchasing games for their children. And we are hopeful that the addition of specific age guidelines to the rating icons will make it easier for retailers to enforce the rating system, as many have committed to do but which few are doing
reliably," Kohl said. "It's important that parents check the rating
information on every box before bringing computer and video games home to their families. Although the ESRB rating system contains the most information of any rating system in the entertainment industry, it can only be effective if retailers recognize and enforce it and parents understand and use it."
"I have always said the ESRB system was the best rating system in the entertainment media, and these changes will make it even better - more informative, more precise, and more enforceable for retailers," Lieberman said. "I appreciate the ESRB's ongoing commitment to helping parents make smart choices for their kids. I hope parents will return the favor by making better use of these better ratings, for in the end they have the primary responsibility
to protect their kids from potentially harmful games. And I hope retailers will finally accept their responsibility to help parents do that job, and commit as an industry to stop selling adult-rated games to kids."
For nearly eight years, Lieberman and Kohl have been working with the video and computer game industry to help keep violent, graphic and adult videos out of the hands of kids. At their insistence, the video game industry has developed entertainment's best rating system, has applied that rating system uniformly to the packaging of every video game sold in stores, and has promulgated aggressive anti-targeting provisions aimed at keeping the advertisement of violent, Mature-rated games away from children.
Sorry, folks, but if Lieberman was truly knew what the mistakes that the ESRB are, then he wouldn't feel that way. I'm all for keeping violent games like Manhunt out of the hands of minors, but I think that if he wants to really see what is going on, Lieberman needs to play the games. Nothing against Lieberman. I just find it...kind of pathetic, really.
lieberman is only trying to win votes by using an issue that most ppl are misinformed on, u can tell he really dont give a care about the issue other then the votes it mite win him next year. politics these days are thoroughly sickening, and b4 u know it, esrb will be some government agency, and unless somethin is done about it soon, this will keep going on for a long time
Hold on, man. This isn't about politics, and this isn't about whether your political loyalty lies in the Democratic or Republican parties. (Me? I'm a Whig.
Just kidding.) Anyway, the truth of the matter is that what we are seeing here is the fast decline of family and moral values. You can't say that Lieberman or Kohl are incorrect because they just want votes. If that is the case, then they are alienating themselves from the younger set that is just starting to vote. No, I believe that Lieberman is on the right track with what he says, he just doesn't see the problems that the ESRB has because he doesn't play video games. What Lieberman wants, I think, is to see a change in the way the media presents itself in the mediums that it uses to reach the general population. What I don't want to see is the ESRB becoming a government agency: that is exactly what I believe that Lieberman will try to do if he gets into the presidency. At the present time, however, Lieberman is just trying to preserve the well-being of the youth of this nation, and that is a noble cause. Maybe we can try and contact him to show him what is wrong with the ESRB; he might just change his tune a little. What we cannot do, however, is become hostile to him. That would be very tactically unwise, and will thus cause us to take a step backward. No one here wants that, right?
im not, i was just replying to the other message, he has the rite intentions and motives probly, wouldnt know unless i was him for sure, but unknowingly chooses to listen to a not very good source of info on the subject, as do many ppl, and it just goes to show that its not only parents falling for wht esrb claims to be doing. trying to come up with a solution to this problem is to keep it away from the political side bcuz of wht some ppl would do with it, and to keep it as voluntary ratings, but ones that actually stand up to the product that they are put on. i mean, i looked at all the games i own, quite a few, round 50 or so, then compared the rating and descriptors to the actual content of the game, and sadly enuf, most of them were far off towards the worse side, as in it would say mild violence, but ave a lot of blood and gore, yet this was never said and vice versa for some games that were rated higher for things not even in the game, such as in ghost recon, rated m for violence blood and gore. there s violence, yes, and some pixelated blood, but no gore wht so ever. a lot of games like this have been misrated also. again, all this has been said, by all of us, and i think now we all know wht we are trying to do, so it would be best if we actually start doing something now probly.
S
Serpentine_Cougar
Guest
hey, this is my post! nice site and forums, really 'preciate a good christian gaming environment.
About this ESRB petition, here's an article you may want to read, it's related to this, see what the author says:
http://gamespy.com/editorials/december03/reportcard/
About this ESRB petition, here's an article you may want to read, it's related to this, see what the author says:
http://gamespy.com/editorials/december03/reportcard/
CCGR
Member
good article and welcome! glad you like the site!