From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
Remember video-game rating systems? We're all probably old enough that
we rarely pay attention to them (unless you have kids) but they are a
useful tool to help limit certain games from being played by certain
age groups.
[Although, man, was there a fuss when the idea was first
introduced back in the 90s! Any old-timers on Usenet
remember that era, or just me?]
Recently, the European video game rating system --PEGI-- announced
that it was going to start taking into account things like lootboxes
('paid random items') and whether games offered unrestricted
communications (e.g., open voice chat where that foul-mouth 12 year
old, can be solicited to by a creepy libertarian ;-) when deciding
what rating they gave the game. That way games with gambling
mechanics or pedophiles are marked as inappropriate for the kiddies.*
Seems reasonable to me. More information is good information.
But The USA rating system, ESRB, says no to the idea. Only content is important, they say. Also, it would just be too much work, what with
games being updated all the time. Heaven forfend they actually earn
their licensing fees.
Mostly, though, I suspect it's the ESRB is painfully aware that a lot
of their partners depend upon selling lootboxes to kids and they'd
lose a lot of revenue if they started locking out gambling. ESRB is a self-funded organization, see. PEGI is more like an industry
self-regulation based on government agreed-upon standards but ESRB
gets paid for its services by publishers. The latter group depends on
the good will of its partners to stay in business.
Telling those partners to give up a hugely profitable part of their
revenue probably won't go down well. So ESRB just turns a blind eye.
Lootboxes are out of their purview, they say. It's only content that
matters.
Do you think ESRB should take lootboxes into consideration with their
age ratings, or should PEGI back down on the idea?
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* Hi! I'm the required link to the article
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/esrb-will-not-adopt-pegi-age-rating-changes-in-the-us-as-it-could-be-confusing
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