M not only for mature

In the world of gaming, rating companies like ESRB (Entertainment Rating Software Board) put ratings on games by the amount of violence, sexual content, blood and gore, etc. Depending on how much of these elements are within the game, the game will receive one of six ratings from ESRB. The ratings are eC for early childhood, E for everyone,E10 for everyone 10 and up, T for teen, M for mature and Ao for adults only. I feel that ESRB does a great job at rating the video games, but there are things that ESRB did that other people under the age of seventeen and I disagree with.

In November of 2005, ESRB put a ban on M rated games to minors under the age of 17 without parental consent. This ban angered a lot of teenage gamers including me. By statistics M rated games have most of the top fun factor ratings. I personally enjoy playing M rated games because of their realism and action. I mainly like shooters like Halo 3, Gears of War and Unreal Tournament. Halo 3 is a first person shooter. This game received an M rating for the blood, use of guns and language. Gears of War is a third person shooter. This game received an M rating for the blood and gore extreme language and gun violence. Unreal Tournament’s game play is a combination of Halo 3’s and Gears of War’s game play so it received an M rating for all of the above.

The question I have is why ban M rated games from minors under the age of 17? Some people say it is because younger adults and children learn from these games and try to reenact what they saw on the game in real life. I say if that’s the case then it is the parent’s faults for not monitoring what their children play on their console. The same things apply with teenagers also. If parents do not want their teens to buy a game, they should be in control of their children, not the store. Parents need to take responsibility for their children, not leave it to everyone else.

Another thing with the ban I disagree with is the age range. Minors under 17 cannot play M rated videogames. That is practically saying that teens under 17 are banned from playing more than a third of games in the world. I feel if the ban cannot be removed, it could at least be changed. For example, ban M rated games to minors under 13 instead of minors under seventeen. Children may learn from games, but teens who have been taught right from wrong should know right from wrong. Therefore they will not pick up bad ideas from the game.

I feel that this ban is unnecessary. There shouldn’t be inhibitions on what people buy. The parent’s should make the decisions. ESRB should stick to giving ratings and allow consumers to buy what they want.