Kotaku
The Entertainment Software Ratings Board today cracked down on a handful of notable violent game trailers, enforcing its advertising policy on trailers produced by video game publishers. In accordance with the ESRB's Principles and Guidelines for Responsible Advertising Practices, notices from 2K Games and D3 Publisher went out to multiple outlets today reflecting the ESRB's enforcement of these guidelines.
We received the following notice from D3 earlier today regarding the recently released advertisements for Dark Sector, a PLAYSTATION 3 and Xbox 360 release.
We recently received a ruling from the ESRB stating that the two officially released Dark Sector gameplay montages have been deemed to contain excessive or offensive content; and to this end are not to be available for download or viewing, regardless of being placed behind an age gate. In order to comply with this ruling, the ESRB has requested that the two Dark Sector gameplay montages be pulled immediately upon receipt of this notice and no longer made available for view by consumers.
2K Games only requested in their media update notification for The Darkness that "2K requests an age gate limiting the access to video footage to ages 17 and up." This is standard practice for all Mature-rated games since 2005.
In a statement, reports GamesIndustry.biz, ESRB president Patricia Vance clarified by board's policy, stating that:
All trailers must still conform to ARC's Principles and Guidelines, which prohibit the display of excessively violent content or any content likely to cause serious offense to the average consumer. The notices issued recently by game publishers to third party websites are simply that - steps in a chain of publisher compliance with ARC guidelines and the ESRB enforcement system that have been occurring since their establishment seven years ago.
Following last week's news that Manhunt 2 was issued an Adults Only rating by the board, one might speculate that the ESRB is making a more publicly visible and concerted effort to ensure that its policies are more strictly enforced, keeping inappropriate content from reaching the wrong audience.
Comments
Wow, the ESRB are sure getting uppity all of a sudden.
My god, these people were put there to safeguard our rights as gamers in front of the government and maintain some level of control over the content of games.
What the hell is wrong with the ESRB? They've gone batshit insane over rating games and censorship of gaming.
I honestly want them out of the picture after all this.
they need to place a check box with an agreement that says, 'If I feel that the content I am about to view is offensive in anyway I will hold myself resposible and will only sue myself for damages I feel I have experienced and will blame noone but myself'
@Neon:
Most likely, some politico's were starting to breathe down their necks about not being strict enough or something.
Government has been threatening oversight for years now, claiming that the ESRB hasn't been doing enough, though I don't know what they really expect of them above what the movie industry does.
Well... maybe console makers should decide to make their own ratings and tell the ESRB to screw. Plenty of movie trailers have more violence than this. Forget what you can find online... I say that this is idiotic. Censorship to the extreme. Keep the trailer up cause I want to see it guys.
Games aren't for little kids anymore.
oh man is someone named Jack running the ESRB now?
games are under attack by their own ratings board!
WTF!!!
IT BEGINS...
How can the ESRB ban a company from releasing a trailer on the internet? I thought their authority was limited to publishing.
Or does this ban only reflect the trailers released over XBL and PSN?
How about we just switch to a system like TV? Where it lists, in no uncertain terms, that it contains sex, nudity, violence, adult language... Whatever.
Make it stupid proof to those that can't be bothered to look at the box and see what the rating is (Adults Only, anyone?) That way, when some "THINK OF THE CHILDREN" group wants to claim they had no way of knowing what their kids were playing, you have only to point to the game case.
well can you really blame them. they have taken a heap of flak from the media lately for not doing a good enough job. personally i dont think it has been the esrb at fault rather than the parents. however i kind of expected this to happen.
this is getting scary...it's the "not to be assecible AT ALL" thing that is a little strange with totalitarian shadows. eetch.
Will all arguments present, I fail to see how this is a big deal or even a bad thing as some of you would have it.
@PapaBear434: Hell the title should be a dead give away. Manhunt, Grand Theft Auto, this sounds like happy fun with bunny rabbits and rainbows. So many bad parents these days.
This is outrageous. I don't know what else to say. Except all of a sudden the ESRB have become commie bastards.
So after I state that I'm an adult I still can't download a video of a violent game? I wasn't aware the ESRB had censorship powers. If they think a trailer is too violent, why don't they put an age rating before it?
Shouldn't this work just as easily as the movie industry's system? The MPAA rates a film, and that's that. It can be resubmitted after editing for a new rating, but I don't think the MPAA has ever tried to block downloads of violent film trailers. In fact, traditionally, the internet has been the place where uncensored exclusive trailers have been made available.
I'm pretty sure they don't have authority over game trailers. Game trailers aren't "entertainment software" and are more the job of whoever the hell regulates TV or the Internet. It is like the FDA trying to shut down a Doritos Commercial because it pertains to food.
Are you kidding me?
What next? A Videogamer Registration Act?
@PapaBear434:
Yes... It's "for the children" as Nancy Pelozzi (sp?) said.... It's like saying the DVD in your house is used by kids, therefore no NC-17 movies can be put on DVD. Media is seen by EVERYONE not just kiddies. Video games and movies are seen by EVERYONE.
Oh, and there is that small portion that can't handle the blood so expect Dark Sector to get an AO rating too...
Does anyone actually put their age on these "age gates" either if they are under 18?
WTF?
Can children view trailers by accident? This is starting to annoy me...
It's not like children can be randomly subjected to video game trailers the same way they are movie trailers. We aren't seeing these in movie theaters. And besides, how will ESRB ratings help parents prevent their kids from watching a trailer on the internet?
@ninjapirate:
well i think it's a fact that we really can't rely on the parents to regulate movies, music, and games for their kids - not much we can do about that
but the ESRB was put in place to do pretty much what the movie industry does, to have them buckle under government and media pressure over something as absurd like game trailers is only the first sign of problems to come
what i want to know is where are OUR lobbyist and special interests groups?
dammit Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft need to start spending some of that cash we give them and stary lobbying and bribing (yes i said it!) these ignorant politicos because that's the only way it seems to "work" in today's U.S. gov't it seems
Good for the ESRB. Sorry kids, but only adults should be playing mature games. I know you really, really want them, and you've been saving your allowances for weeks, and your parents probably don't have a clue about what you're doing, but we need ratings, and we need them to work.
If this keeps up i think a protest group or something needs to be started against the insane lengths the ESRB is going to lately. It seems to me they've gone insane with power with lately. I dont understand how they can do all this. Everything is complete bullshit they complain about violent games but when it comes down to it you've released a new law that makes it a felony to sell mature games to people under 18 but we still have parents buying games like Gears of War for their kids. if anything if they're gonna go crazy just make it illegal for people under 18 to own Mature games. I know this sounds crazy but at least that way they can leave the majority of gamers alone. Just like pornography you have to be at least 18 to legally own it...eh i've lost my focus in my rant.
@Atheist Jew:
They threaten the dev's with an AO rating on their game unless they do everything they say. They've already proven that they can pull the AO rating out to effectively ban a game in the US whenevery they want.
I predict this will hit over 100 comments within the next 30 minutes, any takers?
This is getting out of hand. Videogames are being specifically targeted because the government doesn't know how to handle the gaming revolution.
no wait, 15 or even 10, i'll stick with 15 mins.
You know, this might not be such a bad thing. It's already a little silly how much the industry gets away with (in terms of game trailers) anyway. Movies with excessive violence do not advertise with inappropriate images and neither should games. Can anyone remember a single movie trailer that featured footage showing people being dismembered, shot, or otherwise killed?
Sure, they might be littered with explosions and heroes firing at unseen opponents, but how often do you see said enemy receiving the damage?
Honestly, something like this was bound to happen. The Age Gates are a joke (any child with half a brain can circumvent them) and I won't miss the old trailers anyway.
@Havok154:
It's not so much they can ban a game in the US. They basically can't. Pretty much every other country has "safeguards" (if you can call it that) to ban games like manhunt 2, which actually didn't seem so bad once I saw it... Anyways, you would have to ban Reservoir Dogs and half the movies on the IFC channel. When you do it with movies put stuff like that in movies, it's for the sake of "art". When you do it in games, it's apparently because you're evil and hate children.
@TheNatural:
"IT BEGINS"
I agree. this is the beginning of a gaming revolution where the ESRB has gotten enough foothold that it thinks it can be a monarchy over the industry. Well thats gonna change cause Developers are not going to stand for this bullshit.
Its about time that producers put their own gawd damn rating on their own games, as honestly as they can. The rating can then be reviewed and approved of by the company WHO'S SYSTEM IT WILL BE APPEARING ON.
This ESRB bullshit has got to end, for one thing, it's too vague, and if the ratings insist on being the way they are set up now, make them the same as Movies are with PG-13 and R ratings.
wait.. so the ESRB is not even rating things anymore? ITS BANNING them?
WHAT THE FUCK.
WHAT
THEEE
FFFUUUCCKKK.
someone needs to stand up to these bastards, and tell them to shut the fuck up.
i mean seriously.
..FUCK OFF.
What legal powers does ESRB actually have over content published on the internet? I'd be kind of surprised if they had any say at all.
Is ERSB being ruled by jack thompson lately or what?!
I think jakc thompson is laughing at us.Jack is the energizer bunny...he keeps going and going and going and going....,etc...
When I read the topic I thought this was going to be about the ratatouille trailer.
I'm curious what exactly it takes to constitute "excessive or offensive content." I can't say I've ever been shocked or offended by a game trailer.
@Last_Raven:
No, they can't "ban" a game officially, but once that AO rating hits the game, it is unofficially banned. No console manufacturer will allow the game onto their system and no retailers will carry it, which means, if the ESRB doesn't want a game to see the light of day in the US, they just have to use those 2 magic letters and it is 100% canned until their demands are met.
@Havok154: Yeah, the douches.
@Havok154:
There is always the PC they can release it on still.
Yay for the MPAA of the gaming world.
i doubt this'll get anywhere but i started a petition. [www.ipetitions.com]
@Havok154:
the sick part is its not even a game..
its a trailer.
...on the internet.
I like how comic books have pretty much dumped the Comics Code over the last 10 years, due to its out of date nature, and have pretty much regulated themselves in a mature manner since then.
But yet video games are still beat to death like a red headed step child.
@ED209: OMG you just gave me an idea...
why not call the mature video games "interactive graphic novels" and start selling them at Barnes & Nobles
hmmm
@BigChiefSmokem: Yeah, Barnes & Noble sells adult manga to kids- they should sell games.
@Last_Raven:
@HappyWulf:
The difficult part here is getting that "new" system to fly at retail, and with the gub'ment. I mean, if we're having frivolous law-making with ESRB stuff, you think it will be that much better with console maker-made ratings? It's possible that you'd see even more censorship that way since in that case, the console makers would be the ones "responsible" for "bad/improper ratings". With the new focus on casual gamers, this would start to cut off the mature end of titles in all likelihood.
I find minigames highly offensive, so let's ban them too.
Microsoft is already trying to side step the ESRB, but not for the right reasons. Just another way to tack on more publisher fees, yay!
Dons tinfoil hat....
Does anyone notice a coincidence that the ESA has new leadership and this stuff rolls out a short time later? i.e. They "walk the walk" by scapegoating a few easy targets(Rockstar) to get into a position to "talk the talk"(negotiate) Congress off the ESA and it's members backs.
People need to get themselves in check, these are trailers, things publishers will openly use to advertise their product. Using the same logic the majority of you are expressing, it would be an outrage if Strip Clubs and Adult Stores could not advertise topless women on bilboards. Grow some spines, some of you.