Wow this is a deep issue, and one that I think it is impossible to find a perfect solution to. No matter what is put in place, people will complain about (Its human nature, some people will say its fine, but others will say its too much, and others still will say its not enough).
I personally agree that there should be a rating system, what you do or make of it is your own affair, but at least it is a guideline.
I think though that the ratings need to be refined, so that they reflect the target audience. Ok, now Im going to make people mad <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />. Console gamers tend to be a younger audience, this is for a lot of reasons, different style of games for one thing, also expense plays a large part. So we have a younger console gaming audience. PC's are a good deal more expensive and honestly, if they are bought as a gaming machine, its usually for an adult. Ok I know Ive offended a lot of older console gamers here, but I believe its true. The sort of deeper games that appear on the PC would never work on the consoles, and a lot of console games would never find a PC market (To give an example, I hate the fighting games where two oponents face each other for three rounds and kick the crap out of each other. Dull. Also Im crap at them.). Its a different audience. The people who rate games need to see this and understand it when they rate a game. Im not saying ban everything on consoles, just that they need to think that its much more likely to get into the hands of a younger player. (Im going to get comments on this I can see it <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />)
That said, it should be more allowable for games to recieve higher ratings in recognition of the fact that there are older gamers out there who want to make up their own minds as to what is acceptable. In other words Id rather an R rated game, that only over 18's can buy, than a banned game. An extreme case, but its happened here in Australia, and probably else where. I have one of the few Aussie copies of Phantasmagoria, and trust me, this game really didnt need to be banned. There are worse movies on the shelf with an M rating.
Egin: I respect your right as a parent to chose what your kids play. Actually I applaud you for paying attention, Kiya is right; for one reason or another, many parents dont. But you have to admit, a rating is a good guideline huh?
There is no perfect solution to this. Ratings are put in place to allow people to make informed deciscions as to what they will play. What we need are the people who rate these things to make informed ratings.
As to the whole violence thing.........people used to take their kids to hangings........or the colleseum.......or numerous other blood sports. Kids watched people die of plague, social pogroms, war.......so many other things. Violence has always been around, it will always be around. Humans are a violent animal. This does not justify violence of course, and the point of ratings is to allow people to decide what they will take in. In other words, "Will the wife and I take the kids to the hanging today or will we go for a walk in the park?".
