Unified Ratings: Not the Solution But a Start

Why a unified ratings system for games will help but it isn’t the whole answer.

 

We are in the age of the video game nasty. What is happening to the games industry just now is comparable to the trouble that the film industry experienced around 20 years ago with films like Child’s Play. Of course, every generation needs a boogieman to blame it’s ills upon and that responsibility has fallen squarely on the shoulders of the games industry. It has not helped itself with issues like the ‘hot coffee’ mod for GTA: San Andreas but on a whole video game developers are trying to act as responsibly as they can whilst trying to explore what can be done with the medium.

Each country has approached the issue slightly differently. In the US there is, and has been for years, a unified ratings system with clear indications of a game’s suitability printed on the front and back of games boxes presided over by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB). The UK has just decided on a new single system for rating games based on the Pan-European Games Information system or PEGI. In fact PEGI will become fully legally enforceable in the UK some time in early 2010. Germany has gone a more extreme route and are exploring criminalising developers that produce violent video games and punishing them with jail sentences if they produce something deemed unacceptable.

It is widely accepted (Germans aside) that the most reasonable approach is to introduce ratings systems like the PEGI and ESRB systems which are very similar. Alongside the age ratings on the back they also carry content indicators to give an idea of just why the game has earned its age rating. It marks things like violence, drug abuse, bad language and even sex and gambling. The latest rating systems are the most comprehensive we have ever had on entertainment products so why are there still shockingly high numbers of underage gamers getting their hands on mature titles?

Picture the image, it’s a hot Saturday afternoon and shopping malls and town centres are bustling with consumers happy to be away from work for the weekend. Parents will be dragged to the nearest game stores and nagged to buy the latest games or even just something cheap pre-owned. Formerly big titles like Manhunt, GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas are all in the £5-£10 ($7.50-$15) bracket on PS2 now making them a prime target for kids’ pocket money. In the bustle and the heat many parents will not even notice red circle in the bottom-left-hand corner of the box informing them that the game is not suitable for anyone under the age of 18 and will bow to pressure because £5 will buy them a bit of peace when they get home.

After spending any length of time working in mainstream retail this is an image that is repeated many times over the course of a busy weekend. Furthermore, as it is not illegal for parents or guardians to purchase mature games for their own children, major retailers train their staff to believe that this is a “moral choice” that is down to the parents and it is only up to them to inform the customer of what they are purchasing.  If we super-impose this “moral choice” in the context of a busy weekend where the staff are stretched and either poorly trained or unfamiliar with the games in question then it is easy to see why mature titles are falling into the hands of children who are unable to process the violent content properly.

Currently, there is still a large group of parents who either think of games as toys for kids or simply just don’t know enough about games to make an informed choice and don’t know where to start. Most of these people will rely on their local games retailers to help them make an informed choice.

Sadly, many employed in the games retail trade are as poorly informed about the products they are selling as their customers despite retailers’ claims of expertise. There is a new generation of parents appearing who have grown up with games and understand the difference in maturity levels between Grand Theft Auto and Super Mario. It will be a few years before they become the majority though. In the meantime there needs to be a better way of informing consumers about games and their content.

There is a wealth of information and expertise out there but there is a huge gap between those that have the knowledge and power to inform and the consumer. Games journalism still remains a niche in consumer journalism and while the games industry on a whole is on   the rise, certain sectors like games journalism are on the wane. Magazines are closing all over the world and, despite the internet remaining stable, many of the parents mentioned above would never consider picking up a traditional games magazine or even looking at the reviews in the newspaper let alone logging onto the internet to check out reviews of the latest games.

This block between the consumer and traditional games journalism coupled with the ignorance of games retail staff has resulted in the problems that we have seen in recent times. With games only mainstream retail exposure being in the form of scandals such as ‘hot coffee’ and blame for incidents like Columbine, the games industry has a long way to go before it can sit comfortably as a major mainstream form of entertainment alongside TV and cinema.

The industry is projected to catch up and indeed supercede cinema in financial terms in the next few years and games journalism is still way behind the curve in being able to cope with such growth. With comprehensive ratings systems we are now equipped to deal more effectively with the problems that come along with producing mature titles. Now, though, the industry needs to be more effective at educating the consumers about the content of their titles.

Firstly, retailers need to improve their staff training to include a good knowledge of the content of the games they are selling. Retail staff must be better informed about what they are selling because they are the on the front line dealing with the people who buy the games.  This is a must as games journalism is still struggling to find a mainstream outlet that will allow them to communicate with the rapidly widening consumer base.

Games journalism itself has to change as well. It is no longer acceptable for it to exist in its own niche. There will always be a place for the niche reporting and the core gamers will always want the likes of IGN, Gamespot, Edge and Joystiq but even IGN, with the resources of Rupert Murdoch behind them, have struggled to get their make the sort of inroads into mainstream journalism that the Wii and Guitar Hero have made into mainstream audiences.

As games journalists we have a responsibility to find new ways to share our knowledge of the industry with as many consumers as possible. There will be a point where the bulk of consumers i.e. parents will be clued up enough to know where to find information about games and what is suitable for their children but that is still some time off. In the meantime for the sake of the industry, its consumers and even our own jobs we need to find a way to reach those that still see video games as a mystery they will never understand. Finding an effective way to bridge this gap can only help the games industry grow out of the video game nasty era and blossom fully.