Contrary to popular belief, there really aren't enough violent games out there to justify all the flak the video game industry's been getting recently. According to the ratings chart for 2007 released by the ESRB, only 6% of all titles released last year was tagged with a Mature rating. Find out more about this in the full article.

Several influential individuals and groups have already called for the reinstating of the Adults Only rating of Rockstar Games' Manhunt 2 (PS2, Wii and PSP). Now even the senators are on the case. Four US senators sent a letter addressed to ESRB requesting a "thorough review" of the game. Check out the full article for more details.

After ESRB president Patricia Vance released her statement standing by ESRB's decision to re-rate the controversial Manhunt 2 to Mature, California senator Leland Yee had this to ask: "What is ESRB trying to hide?"

Yee recently questioned ESRB's move to grant Rockstar's Manhunt 2 (for Wii, PSP and PS2) its much-desired M rating, suspicious about what he apparently deems as a shady dealing between ESRB and Rockstar.

To be more specific, what upset Yee was that the ratings board refused to disclose the details why they changed their minds and took off Manhunt 2's previous Adults Only rating, letting it slip by with M for Mature.

It should be noted at this point that Vance already explained the reason behind ESRB's secrecy: game content is confidential, especially if the game in question is not yet released. Simply put, ESRB does not have the right to disclose such details.

It looks like the Manhunt 2 controversy just won't die down, at least not yet. With the way things are going, Manhunt 2 may just be the tip of the iceberg, and the attention may soon shift to yet another game. What do gamers think? What do you think? Do hit the comments button below to share your thoughts.



Buy: [Manhunt 2 (PSP)]
Buy: [Manhunt 2 (Wii)]

After Leland Yee and CCFC's (Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood) demand for an explanation why Manhunt 2 was re-rated to Mature - despite the fact that Manhunt 2 was already modified to fit the standards - ESRB now decided to break its silence and released a statement regarding their decision to take off the Adults Only rating from Rockstar's controversial game.

Here's an excerpt from the statement of ESRB's president Patricia Vance:

Upon reviewing the modified version of Manhunt 2, the ESRB assigned a rating of M (Mature 17+) with content descriptors for Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content and Use of Drugs. This is a very clear and firm warning to parents that the game is in no way intended for children. As always, we urge parents to strongly consider the ESRB rating in their decision about whether a game is appropriate for their children.

Publishers submit game content to the ESRB on a confidential basis. It is simply not our place to reveal specific details about the content we have reviewed, particularly when it involves a product yet to be released...

It is a parent's rightful place to make choices for their own children. The ESRB and console manufacturers provide families with the tools and information to help them do so."

So there you have it, straight from ESRB's Vance herself. She does make a good point in saying that its up to the parents themselves to regulate their children's games, and they are already given sufficient aids to make sure that the kids play with media appropriate for their ages, such as child locks or password protection.

What do you guys think? Do you agree with ESRB's official statement? Hit the comments button below.

Read Vance's entire statement in the Read link!

It was reported a while earlier that the ESRB was conducting a more active crackdown on offensive content in trailers and gameplay movies. And consequently, two gameplay trailers of D3 Publisher and Take-Two Interactive's Dark Sector was pulled out of Game Trailers.

  

A statement by D3 Publisher penned the reason why the two trailers were retracted from the site: the two trailers contained offensive content and have been deemed not safe to distribute, view or download. Although the two trailers were age-gated as required by the ESRB, it was found that the two gameplay movies were rated based on standards set by the Advertising Review Council - a different rating from the ESRB's on games themselves.

"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," concluded Take-Two's official statement. GameVideos later made it known that Microsoft also requested that a Gears of War developer walkthrough video be pulled out of their archives last week, after it was found that the media content violated ESRB rules.

Patricia Vance of the ESRB soon sent in their official stand on the matter, stating that the board's regulation of media content was nothing new or spectacular. They have enforced such rules based on the Advertising Review Council Principles and Guidelines since 2005 and will continue to remind and educate the respective parties of the board's rulings.

And they have maintained that trailer ratings cannot come from the game's final rating while it's in development, so the ESRB uses the standards set forth by the Advertising Review Council to rate trailers that obviously speak out for the game. And they pin the responsibility and initiative upon the publisher to make the necessary actions based on the ARC's Principles and Guidelines.

  

It turns that the "horrifically violent video game" being referred to by organization Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) is indeed Manhunt 2. Yesterday, the group claimed that it will be launching various campaigns to stop the said title from being marketed to children.

According to CCFC Co-founder Dr. Susan Linn, their group just sent a letter to Entertainment Software and Rating Board (ESRB) President Patricia Vance urging her to give Manhunt 2 an "Adults Only" rating. Not only that, the organization even launched a letter-writing campaign encouraging parents and "concerned citizens" to express their concerns to ESRB as well.

If you click on our Read link below, you will be directed to CCFC's petition page for the campaign. You will find there a template letter which you can edit that will be sent to ESRB. To authenticate each letter, the page will be asking you for personal information like address, zip code, and full name. A part of the letter reads,

Please give this unprecedented combination of video game violence and the interactive Wii platform your strongest and most unambiguous rating. Anything rating less than AO will signal ESRB's endorsement for marketing Manhunt 2 to children, and pave the way for future brutally violent games designed for Wii to be targeted to children as well.

Earlier today, we learned that authorities in UK just banned Manhunt 2. However, despite all these, Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive as well as Nintendo itself have yet to issue official statements.

A nation-wide research headed by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) noted that parents are becoming more restrictive when it comes to game selection. In fact, the report showed that 60% of parents with children under 18 do not allow their children to play M (Mature) rated games.

In consistency with the trade industry report by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the report also found that 34% of the parents sampled sometimes restrict their children from playing M-rated games. In addition, it has been reported that nearly 90% of parents across the U.S. are aware that games come with ESRB ratings, while 85% use the ratings regularly when purchasing games.

Around 75% of parents have claimed to also inspect ESRB ratings prior to game selection and purchase, which the report identifies as 10% jump from last year's findings. Patricia Vance, president of the ESRB, commented that the findings of the report were "encouraging," after having promised that the ESRB will do their best to inform parents of the ratings.

"The ratings continue to be a very important, if not the most important tool to help parents make an informed decision, and it's clear that parents are using and relying on them in growing numbers," Vance added. While the results continue to show that the ratings are increasingly being used, there are indications also that more parents are now assertive in the game selection process.

Click on Full Article to find out other findings of the report.

As President of the ESRB, Patricia Vance said in an official statement that the ESRB appreciates that the Federal Trade Commission "recognizes the effectiveness of ESRB's self-regulatory activities." The report recently submitted by the FTC to Congress described in detail the marketing practices and compliance with retail regulations. She had this to say:

We’re pleased that today’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report affirms what other consumer research has previously shown to be true, namely that the overwhelming majority of parents are aware of the ratings, understand what they mean, agree with them, find them helpful and are actively using them to choose appropriate video games for their children.

Vance responded further, saying, "The report also details the significant improvement among retailers in enforcing their store policies with respect to the sale of M-rated games, which we support and applaud." The report reflected that the amount of M-rated games sold to gamers 17 and below were reduced, due to point-of-sale policing.

While the report did praise the game industry for having successfully reinstated a stricter compliance with the ratings system, the report did point out other areas where the industry could improve its content regulation, including online policing of content and broadening ratings coverage to mobile games.

Vance answered that call, stating that the ESRB will do their best to inform parents of the content ratings and how they can effectively be used to judge game content, in order for them to make more informed decisions on part of the game selection process.

If the GamerDad online ad is any indication, the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is taking more stringent measures to improve its ratings for any upcoming video game under its watch. In relation to this previous news, ESRB head Patricia Vance is announcing another major step by discussing plans for the board to hire full-time raters by this April. As she explained:

Having full-time raters will allow for each [rater] to have greater experience actually reviewing content and recommending ratings, given the increased amount of time each one would spend doing it. This would provide each rater with a greater sense of historical parity for ratings, not to mention helping them to be more attuned to pertinent content and how it should be considered from a ratings standpoint.

Vance further detailed that these full-time raters would be assigned to play-test final versions of the game from start to end. This in turn would allow the ESRB to play-test a larger amount of games with the rest of its part-time testers, most of whom would be the volunteers from sites like GamerDad.

It will be remembered that game retailer GameStop is taking up similar cudgels with its "Respect the Ratings" campaign, which promotes heightened game rating awareness among parents. On the other hand, could the ESRB be simply jumping the gun on Senator Sam Brownback's recently re-introduced "Truth in Video Game Ratings" Act? Then again, while the notion of such campaigns does leave some with a sour taste, it seems to be the better half of some of the heavier penalties being cooked up in congress...

There are many lists out there. A list of leaked questions from a videogame company. A list of top selling titles for the month of November. And so on. You can ask me now who I think is the best person in the world and the answer I will give you is my girlfriend. While you may not agree with me, the point here is that everything is just a matter of perspective.

So for today, we'd like to share with you the perspective being held gaming site NextGen regarding the top 25 people of the year. According to them,

This list is not a ranking of the best, most powerful, most talented, most amazing people in the industry. It is a ranking of the people who, we at Next-Gen feel, have made positive, significant and noteworthy contributions to gaming and the game industry through 2006.

 

Among the personalities who made it in the list, there are a couple of faces that made me think twice. Take for example the case of Patricia Vance of ESRB. According to NextGen, Vance has helped the industry keep control of a system that is proven to be effective. While I have no issues with that, I can't help but remember some of your comments regarding this organization. Again, at the end of it all, everything is just a matter of perspective.

Of course, the gaming site provided a few explanations about their list. It's quite a long read but if you are interested, you can access it via the read link below. But if you just want to know who made it in the said list, here's the short version. Please feel free to speak your mind.

See the list after the jump!