Penny Arcade's ESRB Campaign

Gamespot reports on the official unveiling of Penny Arcade's ESRB ad campaign. Announced previously on their site, and discussed again today, the images are intended to connect up the ratings brand with the average gamer. From the article: "The ESRB ads will not make use of Penny Arcade's existing stable of characters, choosing instead to focus on original characters designed by the comic's creators. The first two ads (pictured) will depict E-rated audiences with Sarah, a pink-haired girl 'around age seven or eight,' and The Andersons, a father-and-son pair enjoying a game together."

Make no mistake about it.

[Sheetrock]

The problem isn't about whether people are sufficiently aware of ESRB ratings. Movies have had ratings for decades, TV shows have a box in the upper left corner, CDs still come with 'Parental Advisory' stickers on them, and every game I've purchased in at least the last five years has had an ESRB rating on it. If you've got any concern about content (besides books) you're aware.

The problem is that there are folks out there who want nobody to be able to consume content they deem objectionable. There is no middle ground or acceptable compromise for them. We've got chips in every TV out there and now in just about every gaming console but that's simply not good enough. Run all the advertising campaigns you want, it doesn't matter because they're irrelevant to the people causing the fuss.

Re:Make no mistake about it.

[RsG]

I don't think it's the Jackass Thompsons of the world that this is aimed at.

Look at it this way - parents understand what rated "R" means, because they themselves watch movies. They often don't understand what rated "M" means, because they've never played games. There are obviously exceptions (and I'm sure someone will post in a minute that they're a parent and also play games), but of course the people who play the games aren't the ones who support fucktards like Thompson.

I've seen plenty of examples of parents buying games for their kids without checking the labels on them. At a guess those parents are the ones who simply aren't aware of the ESRB, and will go on to complain loudly to anyone who will listen that nobody told them that Gorefest 2K wasn't appropriate for a five year old. THESE are the people who need ad campaigns and efforts to raise their awareness of the ESRB labels. They are part of the problem, but unlike the puritans, they're a problem that can be solved.

The puritans, the ones who want to ban anything that they don't like, can go fuck themselves. They can't dictate what other people play, read or watch without running up against the first amendment (or other free speach provisions in other democratic countries). They're a hopeless lot, so we might as well just try and ignore their shrill wailing.

It's the people who are only interested in their own children, the ones who are rational, who need this kind of education. And if they take responsibility for screening their kids games, then the idiots like Jack Thompson will lose their only credible support base.

Re:Make no mistake about it.

[RsG]

True, but the person I was replying to was reffering to efforts to educate the public about the ESRB in general. His point was that educating them won't help sway the puritans (who are by and large complete idiots to begin with); my point was that it isn't the puritans who need to be swayed, it's the moderates (who often do not know of the ESRB). The comics are a part of a whole. The ESRB knows that it needs to make more people aware of what it does, and it's good to see them doing something about it.

Re:Make no mistake about it.

[SySOvErRiDe]

Unfortunately for your point, these comics don't describe the letter system at all.

I disagree. Although we haven't seen the M or AO rated yet, I think the idea of the comic is to present each character for each rating. These characters (and the way they are portrayed) are supposed to present to the viewer the age group the particular rating is for, and perhaps even why.

There are explanations on the posters themselves (it was designed to be on magazines so people would turn turn the page around to read the text). E for example, has this to say [penny-arcade.com]:

Because the Andersons play games, there's a system in place to make sure they bring home the right ones. This is how that system works: First, Mom and Dad select games using the ratings on the box. Step two, everyone gets a controller. Step three, the kids win. This quality time is presented by the ESRB.

Gamers need reminding of the ESRB's role

[L-Train8]

The reason it is directed at gamers is because, at least according to a lot of internet rants I've read (hey, some are even in this thread!), gamers hate the ESRB. Yes the ESRB is flawed, arbitrary, sometimes manipulated for commericial purposes. By reminding people that 6-year-old girls play games too, it might clue in the people who are so quick to cry censorship and see only the bad things about the ESRB.

Today's gamer demographic is much more diverse that it was 20 years ago. Game content is as diverse as movies. The twentysomething male gamer doesn't have to worry about it, but a lot of parents only have the ESRB to tell the difference between harmless kiddie games like NickToons, or something like Ratchet and Clank, which has cute cartoon animals on the cover and lots of shooting and blowing things up in the game. Sometimes our age group forgets that, and this campaign is to remind us.