Smokin'! Tobacco, The ESRB, And Game Ratings
Sparked by the MPAA taking tobacco use into account when rating movies, Matt Matthews at Curmudgeon Gamer has done an analysis of ESRB ratings for tobacco-including games, asking the question: "Does smoking of tobacco get a game rated at least a T? Or maybe even M?"
Matthews' basic factual conclusion? "The 141 games which refer to tobacco or show use of tobacco break down as: * 29 rated E * 18 rated E10+ * 91 rated T * 3 rated M." Comparing, he explains: "75% of movies with even a fleeting glimpse of smoking were given R ratings -- and thereby limited in theory to people who were 17 years of age or older. By comparison, only 3 out of 141, or 2.1%, of games with any mention or use of tobacco were given an M rating, the rating that most closely approximates the MPAA's R rating."
So what, are youth are being led astray horribly by these depictions and/or references - which are two very different things, of course? Matthews highlights: "The PlayStation 3 game Calling all Cars, released just this week, has the "Alcohol and Tobacco Reference" descriptor and is rated E."
I'm presuming that this descriptor isn't related to the people who made the game (Jaffe-ton, OMG!), so I'd love to know - what are all the references in these E-rated games - Calling All Cars and others - and how oblique are they? Is it more common in Japanese games (Metal Slug pictured above, for obvious reasons!)? Yes, this is a Lazyweb research request. It's odd, because I'm pretty sure kids don't want to smoke because of games.
Comments
Hmm... It's not a sure thing in either direction, but, yes, smoking in popular media does lead to smoking in the populace.
Kids don't want to smoke "because of games." Smart kids don't want to smoke because it costs lots of money and health.
BUT Dumb or "troubled" (bad family/bad mental health) kids frequently want to smoke because their heroes do. If that dude from Metal Slug is their hero, they'll identify with that hero and be more likely to smoke, where a smart/untroubled kid would be more likely to skip it.
I would argue that is sufficient for raising the bar for permitting smoking in E-rated games. Fewer smokers == better health for the rest of us, too, AND less government money spent on long-term healthcare.
Posted by: Shaz | May 13, 2007 7:46 PM
Shaz, what a great way to generalize 60% of the populace in your comment. Nearly everyone these days is from a dysfunctional family. That does not mean they are going to start smoking, and that does NOT MAKE THEM DUMB.
And so far the only proof of smoking in the media leading to smoking in real life, is that a smoker may be more inclined to go and have a smoke if he/she sees someone else smoking. However, I seriously doubt that those who don't smoke will suddenly want to go burn one because they saw someone in their favorite game or movie smoking.
I found your comment to be rather unintelligent and misinformed.
And eliminating smoking and alcohol references from games is not going to eliminate a child's exposure to smoking OR alcohol. It will decrease it, but they will still inevitably be exposed to both in life. Besides, not all E rated games are necessarily intended for children (take the Gran Turismo franchise for instance).
Posted by: Jeff Bender | December 8, 2007 7:44 PM