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Or is it? 'Mature Games' is a phrase usually associated with titles such as the Die Hard series, Perfect Dark, GoldenEye etc. All these titles contain guns, gore and muchos violence. They all have age ratings of 15 or 18 over here and an M for mature in America. Now, I don’t know about you but to me these games don’t seem mature. Is shooting someone a mature act? I think not. Is swearing a mature thing to do? No. But when these factors are applied in games it instantly gets labelled a mature or adult game.
The Encarta World Dictionary of English, 1999 Edition contains 11 definitions of the word ‘Mature’. Of these 11 there are two that I am interested in, Number “1: Acting or seeming like an adult showing mental, emotional or physical characteristics that are typical of a fully developed adult person.” and Number 7: “Involving serious thought, involving or reached by a period of serious thought”. Now, my interpretation of Number 7, is that maturity is when someone or something challenges someone or something else on an emotional or intellectual level. Basically, when something makes you THINK. Do shoot-em-ups, on the whole, challenge you on an adult intellectual level? No. Granted, most of them have puzzles but they aren’t puzzles that make you stop and properly engage your brain. A lot of the time they can be worked out in the space of 5 minutes.
Obviously I’m making a wide assumption that all shoot-em-up’s don’t challenge you mentally, which, of course, is not true; there ARE crossover games, the most obvious example being Resident Evil. It is primarily a shoot-em-up game but the puzzles in it are extremely taxing and it takes a lot of mental effort to crack the majority of them. So, the RE series are shoot-em-up’s when it comes down to it, but it warrants a mature rating. However, when you look at the majority of Mature games using the Encarta
Dictionary’s 7th definition of mature to identify it’s content, it turns out that most Mature games are, in fact, totally the opposite.
The purpose of age ratings and censorship are to keep children from seeing things unsuitable for their eyes. But let’s be realistic, what 12 year old is a stranger to gore, foul language and violence? So why are we kidding (boom-boom TSCH!) ourselves about this? It’s so easy for children to see films with gore in them, and bad language is learnt from a very early age in the playground. It’s not like children haven’t seen or heard it all before, with this in mind it really is futile to try and keep children from seeing something in an average shoot-em-up they haven’t seen before.
Now, what I believe really should be not for children’s eyes are games like Eternal Darkness. Not because of its gore but because of its containment of themes that children really should not be seeing, namely black magic, the occult and so on. Why? Well I’m sure you’ve all heard by now of the case in North Wales where a 17 year old obsessed with Vampires and the occult conducted a ritualistic murder of a 90 year old women. Obviously we don't want that sort of thing becoming more common. Now don’t start giving me the “games are games, life is life” talk because that’s not the point here, the point is Eternal Darkness is a game that contains mature content and themes, so it warrants it’s M rating. Even without those themes in it, it should be a mature anyway because its puzzles are intellectually challenging; it is a game that makes you think.
Really, what I’m getting at, is that we need a reshuffle of the criteria that decide what rating a game receives, and a re-definition of Mature when used in association with games; it should no longer be used in association with acts that are not mature (i.e., killing; those types of games should be classified “Violent” instead), it should be used in association with games that make the player really think about how to beat the puzzles presented to them and, seeing is this is suitable for all ages, should therefore be downgraded in it's age-rating equivalent. (That makes sense in my head...)
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with violent games if they achieve their objective, to create an enjoyable experience for the player, it’s just that they should NOT be classified as mature because, by dictionary definition, they’re not.
Simple.
Thanks for reading that drivel, if you did.
RBS
(Note: Parts of this topic are copied... From the Encarta Dictionary :-D)
The Encarta World Dictionary of English, 1999 Edition contains 11 definitions of the word ‘Mature’. Of these 11 there are two that I am interested in, Number “1: Acting or seeming like an adult showing mental, emotional or physical characteristics that are typical of a fully developed adult person.” and Number 7: “Involving serious thought, involving or reached by a period of serious thought”. Now, my interpretation of Number 7, is that maturity is when someone or something challenges someone or something else on an emotional or intellectual level. Basically, when something makes you THINK. Do shoot-em-ups, on the whole, challenge you on an adult intellectual level? No. Granted, most of them have puzzles but they aren’t puzzles that make you stop and properly engage your brain. A lot of the time they can be worked out in the space of 5 minutes.
Obviously I’m making a wide assumption that all shoot-em-up’s don’t challenge you mentally, which, of course, is not true; there ARE crossover games, the most obvious example being Resident Evil. It is primarily a shoot-em-up game but the puzzles in it are extremely taxing and it takes a lot of mental effort to crack the majority of them. So, the RE series are shoot-em-up’s when it comes down to it, but it warrants a mature rating. However, when you look at the majority of Mature games using the Encarta
Dictionary’s 7th definition of mature to identify it’s content, it turns out that most Mature games are, in fact, totally the opposite.
The purpose of age ratings and censorship are to keep children from seeing things unsuitable for their eyes. But let’s be realistic, what 12 year old is a stranger to gore, foul language and violence? So why are we kidding (boom-boom TSCH!) ourselves about this? It’s so easy for children to see films with gore in them, and bad language is learnt from a very early age in the playground. It’s not like children haven’t seen or heard it all before, with this in mind it really is futile to try and keep children from seeing something in an average shoot-em-up they haven’t seen before.
Now, what I believe really should be not for children’s eyes are games like Eternal Darkness. Not because of its gore but because of its containment of themes that children really should not be seeing, namely black magic, the occult and so on. Why? Well I’m sure you’ve all heard by now of the case in North Wales where a 17 year old obsessed with Vampires and the occult conducted a ritualistic murder of a 90 year old women. Obviously we don't want that sort of thing becoming more common. Now don’t start giving me the “games are games, life is life” talk because that’s not the point here, the point is Eternal Darkness is a game that contains mature content and themes, so it warrants it’s M rating. Even without those themes in it, it should be a mature anyway because its puzzles are intellectually challenging; it is a game that makes you think.
Really, what I’m getting at, is that we need a reshuffle of the criteria that decide what rating a game receives, and a re-definition of Mature when used in association with games; it should no longer be used in association with acts that are not mature (i.e., killing; those types of games should be classified “Violent” instead), it should be used in association with games that make the player really think about how to beat the puzzles presented to them and, seeing is this is suitable for all ages, should therefore be downgraded in it's age-rating equivalent. (That makes sense in my head...)
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with violent games if they achieve their objective, to create an enjoyable experience for the player, it’s just that they should NOT be classified as mature because, by dictionary definition, they’re not.
Simple.
Thanks for reading that drivel, if you did.
RBS
(Note: Parts of this topic are copied... From the Encarta Dictionary :-D)
When I purcashed my N-64 I thought that it had a *MATURE* image and it is only since the GameCube have I thought otherwise. I agree though, there are some games that have a *KIDDY IMAGE* yet they are still challenging and difficult to complete. I find a lot of the violent games easy to complete as it is just a case of learning one move and the rest come hand in glove. Max Payne which is one of the most violent games I have ever played only took me 6 hours to complete first time around and then 4 hours the second, isn't that classed as a *MATURE* game? I think you will find it is.
Like Sibs I do associate mature games as hard games but it isn't always the case, sometimes it works in totally the opposite way, rare it maybe but it does happen.
Good post!
Like Sibs I do associate mature games as hard games but it isn't always the case, sometimes it works in totally the opposite way, rare it maybe but it does happen.
Good post!
Darn, and here I was thinking you were going to have a big rant about people starting up annoying console wars threads... :D
Ah well, spose this'll just have to do for now...
I agree totally. When the N64 was labelled a kiddie machine, it was because it had very few blood 'n guts titles. But it did have games with actual proper puzzles in that require some brain work. You can make any game 'mature' by sticking some guts and swearing into it, but if a game is truely for a mature audience it will require that audience to think a little rather than just sit and practice bits till you get better. I suppose I mean, in my eyes anyway, mature games require the use of your intellect to get through games as well as skill.
Ah well, spose this'll just have to do for now...
I agree totally. When the N64 was labelled a kiddie machine, it was because it had very few blood 'n guts titles. But it did have games with actual proper puzzles in that require some brain work. You can make any game 'mature' by sticking some guts and swearing into it, but if a game is truely for a mature audience it will require that audience to think a little rather than just sit and practice bits till you get better. I suppose I mean, in my eyes anyway, mature games require the use of your intellect to get through games as well as skill.
Or is it? 'Mature Games' is a phrase usually associated with titles such as the Die Hard series, Perfect Dark, GoldenEye etc. All these titles contain guns, gore and muchos violence. They all have age ratings of 15 or 18 over here and an M for mature in America. Now, I don’t know about you but to me these games don’t seem mature. Is shooting someone a mature act? I think not. Is swearing a mature thing to do? No. But when these factors are applied in games it instantly gets labelled a mature or adult game.
The Encarta World Dictionary of English, 1999 Edition contains 11 definitions of the word ‘Mature’. Of these 11 there are two that I am interested in, Number “1: Acting or seeming like an adult showing mental, emotional or physical characteristics that are typical of a fully developed adult person.” and Number 7: “Involving serious thought, involving or reached by a period of serious thought”. Now, my interpretation of Number 7, is that maturity is when someone or something challenges someone or something else on an emotional or intellectual level. Basically, when something makes you THINK. Do shoot-em-ups, on the whole, challenge you on an adult intellectual level? No. Granted, most of them have puzzles but they aren’t puzzles that make you stop and properly engage your brain. A lot of the time they can be worked out in the space of 5 minutes.
Obviously I’m making a wide assumption that all shoot-em-up’s don’t challenge you mentally, which, of course, is not true; there ARE crossover games, the most obvious example being Resident Evil. It is primarily a shoot-em-up game but the puzzles in it are extremely taxing and it takes a lot of mental effort to crack the majority of them. So, the RE series are shoot-em-up’s when it comes down to it, but it warrants a mature rating. However, when you look at the majority of Mature games using the Encarta
Dictionary’s 7th definition of mature to identify it’s content, it turns out that most Mature games are, in fact, totally the opposite.
The purpose of age ratings and censorship are to keep children from seeing things unsuitable for their eyes. But let’s be realistic, what 12 year old is a stranger to gore, foul language and violence? So why are we kidding (boom-boom TSCH!) ourselves about this? It’s so easy for children to see films with gore in them, and bad language is learnt from a very early age in the playground. It’s not like children haven’t seen or heard it all before, with this in mind it really is futile to try and keep children from seeing something in an average shoot-em-up they haven’t seen before.
Now, what I believe really should be not for children’s eyes are games like Eternal Darkness. Not because of its gore but because of its containment of themes that children really should not be seeing, namely black magic, the occult and so on. Why? Well I’m sure you’ve all heard by now of the case in North Wales where a 17 year old obsessed with Vampires and the occult conducted a ritualistic murder of a 90 year old women. Obviously we don't want that sort of thing becoming more common. Now don’t start giving me the “games are games, life is life” talk because that’s not the point here, the point is Eternal Darkness is a game that contains mature content and themes, so it warrants it’s M rating. Even without those themes in it, it should be a mature anyway because its puzzles are intellectually challenging; it is a game that makes you think.
Really, what I’m getting at, is that we need a reshuffle of the criteria that decide what rating a game receives, and a re-definition of Mature when used in association with games; it should no longer be used in association with acts that are not mature (i.e., killing; those types of games should be classified “Violent” instead), it should be used in association with games that make the player really think about how to beat the puzzles presented to them and, seeing is this is suitable for all ages, should therefore be downgraded in it's age-rating equivalent. (That makes sense in my head...)
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with violent games if they achieve their objective, to create an enjoyable experience for the player, it’s just that they should NOT be classified as mature because, by dictionary definition, they’re not.
Simple.
Thanks for reading that drivel, if you did.
RBS
(Note: Parts of this topic are copied... From the Encarta Dictionary :-D)
The Encarta World Dictionary of English, 1999 Edition contains 11 definitions of the word ‘Mature’. Of these 11 there are two that I am interested in, Number “1: Acting or seeming like an adult showing mental, emotional or physical characteristics that are typical of a fully developed adult person.” and Number 7: “Involving serious thought, involving or reached by a period of serious thought”. Now, my interpretation of Number 7, is that maturity is when someone or something challenges someone or something else on an emotional or intellectual level. Basically, when something makes you THINK. Do shoot-em-ups, on the whole, challenge you on an adult intellectual level? No. Granted, most of them have puzzles but they aren’t puzzles that make you stop and properly engage your brain. A lot of the time they can be worked out in the space of 5 minutes.
Obviously I’m making a wide assumption that all shoot-em-up’s don’t challenge you mentally, which, of course, is not true; there ARE crossover games, the most obvious example being Resident Evil. It is primarily a shoot-em-up game but the puzzles in it are extremely taxing and it takes a lot of mental effort to crack the majority of them. So, the RE series are shoot-em-up’s when it comes down to it, but it warrants a mature rating. However, when you look at the majority of Mature games using the Encarta
Dictionary’s 7th definition of mature to identify it’s content, it turns out that most Mature games are, in fact, totally the opposite.
The purpose of age ratings and censorship are to keep children from seeing things unsuitable for their eyes. But let’s be realistic, what 12 year old is a stranger to gore, foul language and violence? So why are we kidding (boom-boom TSCH!) ourselves about this? It’s so easy for children to see films with gore in them, and bad language is learnt from a very early age in the playground. It’s not like children haven’t seen or heard it all before, with this in mind it really is futile to try and keep children from seeing something in an average shoot-em-up they haven’t seen before.
Now, what I believe really should be not for children’s eyes are games like Eternal Darkness. Not because of its gore but because of its containment of themes that children really should not be seeing, namely black magic, the occult and so on. Why? Well I’m sure you’ve all heard by now of the case in North Wales where a 17 year old obsessed with Vampires and the occult conducted a ritualistic murder of a 90 year old women. Obviously we don't want that sort of thing becoming more common. Now don’t start giving me the “games are games, life is life” talk because that’s not the point here, the point is Eternal Darkness is a game that contains mature content and themes, so it warrants it’s M rating. Even without those themes in it, it should be a mature anyway because its puzzles are intellectually challenging; it is a game that makes you think.
Really, what I’m getting at, is that we need a reshuffle of the criteria that decide what rating a game receives, and a re-definition of Mature when used in association with games; it should no longer be used in association with acts that are not mature (i.e., killing; those types of games should be classified “Violent” instead), it should be used in association with games that make the player really think about how to beat the puzzles presented to them and, seeing is this is suitable for all ages, should therefore be downgraded in it's age-rating equivalent. (That makes sense in my head...)
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with violent games if they achieve their objective, to create an enjoyable experience for the player, it’s just that they should NOT be classified as mature because, by dictionary definition, they’re not.
Simple.
Thanks for reading that drivel, if you did.
RBS
(Note: Parts of this topic are copied... From the Encarta Dictionary :-D)