Working Man Gamer
ESRB's Macabre secret
If you have read the Working Man Gamer for years, then you know that the WMG has had problems with the ESRB's logic for awhile. The ESRB is paid by some of the companies that it rates games for. There has been a lot of hubbub about that in the video industry for years. But this column is not going to spend a lot of time on that. With the huge "Hot Coffee" scandal; the ESRB was exposed as accepting the word from the companies, and not verifying it. Again, this column is not going to spend a lot of time on that either. What the WMG is devoting this column to is the mistake to use the word 'mature' as one of the ratings.
The 'M' rating is equivalent to the 'R' rating in movies. The 'R' rating stands for Restricted, which has quite the negative connotation. Mature does not carry such a negative connotation. In fact many parents think of their children as 'mature for their age.' The WMG finds this to be an abuse of the English language. Maturity also comes as different ages for different people. So such content in a video game can be considered highly subjected and have nothing to do with an exact age.
The acts committed within these 'M' rated games are not acts of maturity, they are acts of immaturity. According to the ESRB's logic, the most mature in our society have been executed, or are in jail. The ESRB is applying their backwards logic to the video game industry. Well the WMG for one refuses to have them do thinking for him. In fact the WMG picks a path less traveled, frees his mind, and says the ESRB is wrong.
The WMG has a better word for the ESRB to use that starts with the same letter - 'Macabre.' Not sure, well then check out the definition from dictionary.com from this link. Think about it for a tic. The acts depicted in these games are gruesome, they usually represent death (in one form or another), and they involve the horrors of death. The WMG thought about the spiritual nature of the material in many of the 'M' rated games. The spiritual nature is also one of a macabre nature. Macabre fits way better than mature.
Now before you start showering the WMG with all kinds of praises for this kind of thought, let the WMG explain some of the source material that got the WMG into this line of reasoning. Jonathan Harbour has a nifty little website, click here for his site. Awhile back Mr. Harbour brought up his issue with the word 'mature' being used by the ESRB. This got the WMG thinking, and bingo this column is the product.
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