For the uninformed, the ESRB (Entertainment Software Ratings Board) is made up of people who decide what rating gets placed on a game. There are 5 different ratings: EC (for children 3+), E (for Everyone), E10 (10 and up), T (13 and up), M (17 and up), and AO (18 and over only). People can go to the ESRB web site (www.esrb.org) and find out what game is rated. Normally, most games that are released don’t have the AO rating, since many chain retailers (Wal-Mart, Game Stop, etc.) refuse to sell them. So when a little game called “Manhunt 2” was slated for release, things went awry quickly.

Known for its ultra-violent gameplay, it was quickly banned in the United Kingdom. In the states, the game received an AO rating, which rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Take-Two, Manhunt 2’s publisher, stated on August 24th of this year that they had changed the game enough to receive an M rating from the ESRB. It was released on Halloween with said rating, and everything was well.

However, the damage was done. The game’s content changed since the “original” version. Originally, the game would show every moment of the main character’s killing actions. In the M-rated version, the screen blurs or completely blacks out while the kill is taking place, leaving it to be implied, after which, the screen goes back to normal.

To me, this seems like a huge double standard. When movies like Hostel and Saw are released in theaters, nobody even bats an eyelash, because it’s a movie. But when a video game that has content along the same lines is released, everyone immediately wets their pants. That seems unfair. Sure, I can understand that a game with that much violence is deserving of a high rating. But that doesn’t mean that you would have to change the content to appease everyone. If that’s the case, why not tone down Hostel, Saw, and every other violent movie that comes out? That’s fair, right?

I went around the campus and asked 10 random students how they felt about the situation, and most agreed that it was a double standard, and were against the ratings change. A couple others were for it, stating that if a game really is that violent, then a recall would be necessary. Most of the students asked didn’t even hear about the game to begin with, so there couldn’t be any sort of bias.

All in all, I think that the reason that there was so much worry about the game is because it’s a game, simple as that. Video games, while backed by a ratings system, are still viewed as something that is for children. Even with all of the more mature games on the market, like Halo and God of War, the fact remains that most people think that video games are strictly child’s play, nothing more. A couple of decades ago, you would never see swearing on television. Nowadays, South Park and similar shows tear that notion apart. Perhaps one day, video games can get the same kind of tenure. Until then, we’ll all have to settle for a child’s stereotype.