GamerParenting: Ridin' Fences

4/4/2008 11:59 AM | 2 Comments | Page 2 of 2

These are what I like to call "fence" games. These are games that have a few features that are M-Mature but they are nothing like the Adult Only-rated poster-children (Grand Theft Auto, Manhunt, Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, etc.). Halo 3 contains horror (the Flood), but it's the kind of horror found in PG-13 movies or in television shows rated TV-14. It has blood and gore, but again, it's the kind of blood and gore found in movies, on TV and even games cleared by their respective ratings boards as safe for teenagers. It lets you kill other humans, even with a knife, and does so with a little bit of blood. Or, the same amount of blood that's in your average T-rated shooter.

The T-Teen fence is best exemplified by the Medal of Honor series, but any shooter rated T fits. These games feature minimal blood and gore, the kind found in movies and TV cleared by their respective ratings boards as safe for teens. They let you kill other humans, even with a knife, and sometimes contain horror. The degree is minimal, but something we've never been able to put our fingers on puts some of these titles in the M-Mature range.

The SingStar games (and Rock Band and Guitar Hero) are perfect for roughly nine or 10 and up, but these games are on the fence and deemed T-Teen because of the lyrics -- which any kid can hear on the radio or MTV (does MTV still play videos? I'm too old to care). Let's face it, with the prevalence of rap and metal in your MP3 collection, your iPod would be rated M-Mature by the ESRB. So, because of lyrics like "I Touch Myself" these games are out of reach to an audience that is perfect for them.

Then there are recent series like Syphon Filter, which omits the blood in the latest version. Suddenly an M-rated series is okay for kids? Heavenly Sword, a game that features an impossibly buxom woman with two swords killing a lot of creatures is rated T-Teen. There are countless examples.

Remember, we're not talking about babes in the woods, here. If your teen is exposed to words like "damn" and even "shit" for the first time in a videogame, then you're raising a very secluded and naive child. Fourteen is high-school age. They aren't adults; they should be protected from the more vile and disturbing -- adult -- stuff out there. But they shouldn't be overly sheltered. Recommending the content in Halo 3 to a teen seems to me, and many others, to be fine.

Despite what GamePolitics.com and Jack Thompson would like you to believe, that's the real controversy in game ratings today -- as far as parents are concerned. It's not Manhunt 2 -- that's just what the pundits are jawing about. Parents are grappling with Halo 3, Heavenly Sword, SingStar, Rock Band, Medal of Honor -- games like them, with their confusing "fence" ratings.

How to solve this? Another rating, I'm afraid. 15+ would be good. We could put the lighter shooters there and save the M-rating for the Manhunts, Grand Theft Autos, Silent Hills, and "Resident of Evil Creek" games out there (if you get that joke, you might be a hardcore gamerparent).

That's what GamerParenting is all about: making informed decisions. The ESRB does a wonderful job, but when it comes to these, our judgment of their efficacy is "on the fence."