What's up with the unreasonably high age ratings for many games?

There are so many FPS games that are rated M/18+ even though the violence isn't particularly graphic (just shooting, blood is hardly noticeable) and have significantly less violence than an R-rated/18+ movie. Why do age ratings for games tend to be so high compared to other entertainment like movies?

I agree. It’s a bit ridiculous. 80% of my games are rates M. Honestly, it wouldn’t have surprised me if they had slapped an M rating on the “injustice” games.

self regulation of video games became a thing in I think in the late 90s because of all the outraged moms.

personally I think all media could be very well served by exploring other story telling content other than just violence.

but yeah...basic cable cartoons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqxfoywkKP0

I honestly can't think of single game that the rating is too high. On the other time, it is still wierd that on some game on PEGI rating, which have rating of "12" has the "SEX" tag. Games like Project X Zone, Fate Extella, and Warriors all Stars. On the other hand, games like Witcher 3 which has straight up sex scenes, are missing the "SEX" tag, and only includes "BAD LANGUAGE" and "VIOLONCE" tags....

It's called "covering your ass". The games will be sold and bought to everyone, they just put the rating on there to limit lawsuits.

I haven’t played batman arkham but that is rated M. Not quite sure why it would include anything too over the top, come’on, it’s batman!

Again i haven’t played it so i have no idea what lines it crossed. Seeing the M on there surprised me, though.

Lol. I can remember renting the game “splatterhouse” for nes in the ninties, and the night my brother and i rented it there was an outraged group of mothers talking about how bad that and mortal kombat were for kids, on the news. We got punished and had to stop playing it.

A couple months later, i rented mortal kombat thinking it would go by unnoticed. Holy crap, my mom remembered, blew a gasket and made me take it back before even playing it.

Lol, has anyone here played mortal kombat for nes lately? I have.... a blob of red pixels representing blood with characters that look like little blobs themselves hardly seems like it should only be accessible to adults 17+.

As an adult, i felt a great deal of liberation purchasing mortal kombat xl recently (a game that certainly should only be for adults). Lol.

Lol, yeah. Liability, only reason ratings in any medium exists. So if some kid kills someone and blames an R rated movie, the studio can't be sued. The responsibility is put on whoever let them watch the movie in the first place instead.

Your first statement that it's unreasonable, obviously, just shows that YOU find it unreasonable. Many others don't. Games are a different medium than books or even movies, as you are "cast" as a character in game. Developing minds have a harder time differentiating real life from fiction. Just think about a kid watching a scary movie with monsters/ghosts. They can't sleep at night...because the brain at younger ages hasn't mastered the art of separating those fictional components from their real life.

I think there's room to negotiate somewhere in the middle...you are probably ok as a teen to play shooters without too much realism/gore. But the reasons there are good, even if people don't agree with them. Look at school shootings where kids were involved...they all were very into shooters. Now, correlation isn't causation, and in NO WAY am I blaming games for those events. But it is something to consider.

I let my kids start playing shooters like Halo when they were around 10ish...and into Gears as an early teen. Everybody is different, and parents should be able to raise their kids according to their own values. Psychologists and other experts should help parents with a system like we have, but it should be more of a guideline than anything else.

Also...I'm an old man gamer. I'm sure lots of kiddies here would hate what I said. Because kids want to grow up really fast, and don't understand your brain is maturing well into the twenties.

Demi, very good points.

You control the action so ...

It is absurd, especially when it comes to shooters and sandbox games.

Take shooters. Now, what you do in an average shooter is you run around the playground, waving your toy gun and going BAM BAM.

Which is exactly what kindergarden kids do.

So, since the basic concept of shooters is so childish, playing with toy guns, shooting imaginary foes, they should be allowed for children. After all, nobody is banning kids from using toy guns on playgrounds, are they?

Same with sandboxes. Now, your average sandbox is basically a virtual replica of your kindergarden sandbox, right.

I mean when you were at kindergarden, you would make hills and roads onto the sandbox, and then you all would take you toy cars and play bad guys and good guys on the sanbox, right.

Well, that's exactly what we do in sandbox games too! So, since they too are based on cihldhood plays, they should be allowed for kids. After all, nobody is banning kids from kindergarden sandboxes because they are playing bad guys, right?

So, as you can see, age ratings in games are absurd, because those games are so childish.

I think once you turn 18 you'll find that you no longer care even in the slightest...

-Byshop