I wanted to clear up some of the potential confusion about why we make these reviews and what we hope to get out of our work here. This post will hopefully explain things even more thoroughly than our "About" section. Ever since I came up with the idea for this site I have had a nagging concern that keeps cropping up in the back of my mind. I feel like I am constantly between a rock and a hard place when writing my reviews. On the one hand, I completely understand the need for parents to be aware of what goes on in video games. Everyone should know what they’re about to encounter before they play a game, not after. How can a concerned parent keep children from being exposed to excessive violence, sexuality, substance use/abuse, and gambling if the very games they buy their kids include this content? It would be hypocritical for a parent to tell a child “Don’t hit your sister” but then let the kid shoot, dismember, maim, and otherwise violently attack things in a video game. On the other hand, I love these video games and don’t want them to change. Many of these games, even the ones with excessive adult content, are released the way that the developers intended them to be seen. Yes, making Grand Theft Auto or Dante’s Inferno more kid-friendly would solve the problem of kids being exposed to too much adult content, but it would also inhibit developers from including adult content even if the content is necessary for the game. My concern specifically surrounds Dante’s Inferno, of which I wrote a somewhat cynical review of the adult content within the game. I believe that the content within the game is extremely adult and that no child less than 16 should ever be exposed to it. But the content within the game was designed around the developers’ interpretations of the epic poem, Dante’s Inferno. The “Lust” section was particularly adult but particularly appropriate. As a sin, lust is supposed to be a perversion of love, sex, and passion. It is supposed to be something that makes people go “ew” rather than “ooh”. It is supposed to be disgusting. Those of you who have read the review or played the game know that the “Lust” section definitely achieved this. A lot of the elements in that section were definitely sexual but definitely disgustingly perverted. Had this section been watered down, it would have lost a lot of what made it such an appropriate interpretation of lust as a sin. Dante’s original interpretation was an interesting metaphor but not visually stunning and definitely would not work for something as interactive as a video game, so the developers did an excellent job trying to take that original idea and visualize it in a way that would communicate how twisted Hell is supposed to be. But obviously something as adult as Dante’s Inferno or Call of Duty: Black Ops should not be played by children. There are systems put in place right now to try and prevent children from getting games, but these systems are so dysfunctional that many games (such as Black Ops) are played by thousands of teens and preteens every day. The two-fold problem that parents are faced with is intimidating. First, parents cannot trust the ESRB ratings. We have demonstrated already that a “Mature” rating can span anything from something as tame as Oblivion to something as violent as Black Ops. The ESRB does not provide a detailed account of the video games they rate because of the way their rating system is designed. For the most part, the ESRB forces developers to police themselves, which results in a lot of abuse of the system. Secondly, whether or not parents know that rating systems like the ESRB are broken is irrelevant, because there is no alternative right now. There are very few people who have the time and energy to try and show parents the true nature of the content in these games. This site is designed to solve these problems. I want parents to know what they’re buying before they even get to the store. I want to make it simple enough that when a kid asks their mom or dad to buy them Assassin’s Creed or Gears of War that, within a few minutes, a parent can know if that game is appropriate for their child. I don’t want the current system to change. I like being able to play adult titles with adult content. I don’t support activist groups that push for games like Grand Theft Auto to be censored. I don’t support the idea that games should include less adult content so that children are protected. I don’t support the idea of more government regulation of the video game industry. I support parents who want to make informed decisions for their children. I support the idea of a parent who is concerned enough about what their child plays that they would be willing to go online for a few minutes to do some background research. I support parents who want to learn enough about what their kids do for fun even if they don’t know who Master Chief is or why the Locust are fighting the Cog. I support you, the reader of this page and member of this site.
2 Comments
7/1/2012 07:01:18 pm
I am happy to find so many useful information here in the post, we need develop more strategies in this regard, thanks for sharing.
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The Legendary Carmine
Andrew Clayton (a.k.a. The Legendary Carmine) is SSG's Executive Editor. He toils at the stone to make sure this site brings its readers valuable content on a daily basis. Like what we do? Want to see more? Donate to the site using the button below!
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