"The idea of ‘mature’ gaming has become much more serious in this generation of consoles and games. Many developers claim that their game offers ‘mature’ story telling that will make the player cry out their nostrils or some similar, falsely-stated drool. More often than not, this game turns out to be another bang bang shooty shooty experience but with more blood or more grey. It’s the way of the world."
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It isn't just about the ESRB.
How do you draw the line for games and keep them out of the hands of minors (because we can't blame parents anymore)? We'll never know until retailers (brick and mortar and online) with reach to millions of gamers, can sell Adults Only content, and aren't held accountable for policing the sale of mature content to minors where parents should be expected to do that for whatever content their minors should be shielded from.
And some developers just loving stroking their artist ego and not give a wider audience an experience with the game that suits their tastes. At $60 for a dozen hours of gaming they can cut out anything really objectionable according to the ESRB check box. No sex? decapitation? murder? nudity? rape? foul language? that stuff can easily be censored out, or the missions omitted when minors are playing, or content muted to achieve a teen rating in all games, while leaving it alone for audience without parental settings nerfing the game to teen who want/don't mind that stuff.
Example GTA.. you expect it to have HBO/Starz level content but there's no way to keep the kiddies from playing and getting scarred for life or their little virgin minds from becoming twisted.
While other games are held back artistically for the same reason.. where's the mature content in some mature RPGs? When will games be on the same maturity level as R rated movies? They end up laughable by adult audiences with missions and content that seem prepared for the kiddie table but still have shock value shit. When arguably the basic mechanics of GTA and other games can be toned down to core mechanics and a vanilla story, leaving out the near explicit shock value stuff. Such is the nature with games that a dev can patch stuff out, or should be but Rockstar doesn't give a rats ass about minors or people who don't glorify violence playing their game and don't want the shock value, just the entertainment value of a well made game to play for a dozen or more hours alone or with friends.
There's too much unskipable stuff where these games want to be marketed to mature audience but can't allow a softer version for minors which is just focused on game play and switch between T and MA or AO based on your profile/parental settings (maybe adults don't want as much T&A rape and murder in their games either).
Many gamers consider Nintendo childish and not mature while Sony and Microsoft is a "real gamers" console.
The gaming perception is changing and that is good but it will be divided due to gamers fighting amongst each other about mobile gaming, and casual vs hardcore, etc.
Nintendo's higher ups really need to get more cultural exposure before making big decisions about what 3rd party games to support AND to start making their own mature titles in-house for the over 30-40s that still for whatever reason support their gaming machines.
But then.. Japanese AO content isn't something that needs to leave Japan given all the bad press certain hentai games get and color the whole AO gaming landscape so black that other studios can't even put a toe in the door without getting labelled 'PORN' so the point may be moot.
Gaming is still too young to be confused with other mainstream entertainment. Needs more studios successfully breaking ground to then encourage other studios to make content for adults only, that aren't just 'porn' or too objectionable to sell to a wide enough audience that they would make their money back.
There are plenty of M-rated games that I would sooner classify as juvenile.
There is no definition anyway. It's like trying to define "normal"
What the fuck is normal? What the fuck is mature?
One person might think a game having blood, gore and sexual themes in general is mature. Another might say it's about having a complex and "deep" story that really couldn't be understood by an adolescent. Another might say it's about the violence, sex and swearing actually having a "purpose."
Each one of these people would tell you that mature has a different meaning so I think It's time to stop using the label altogether, stop caring, just let it go.
Write better, that's all I ask. Don't focus on making things more "mature"...focus on making them BETTER.
Would you say Saint's Row 3 is mature?
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No, it is frankly offensive, but fun. THQ should realize the juvenile nature of the game (to stand apart from GTA's drama) cost them sales.
Watch your mouth.
Not dropping the F bomb so much for starters. I cringe when a game throws in an over abundance of cursing. It's like a 9 year old that just discovered bad words.
― C.S. Lewis
"serious themes" and strong sexual and violent content in gaming medium usually makes no sense,and it always end up as unnecessary exploitation while other ways to evolve medium like immersion are left behind.
my opinion.
Don't get me wrong, some games have already done this.
Journey
Shadow of the Collesus
Ico
Hell, you can say
FFVI
Final Fantasy Tactics
Valkeria Chronicles
deal with Mature themes.
The point of the rating is to inform the purchaser/player that the content of the game is for those who are of mature mentality and can sensibly handle said content. Not all "adults" are capable of this, yet many "children" are. That, however, is neither here nor there.
Maturity IN gaming is something else entirely. It's not about the content, per se- violence, or sex- but about the themes and messages within. A "mature" games contains issues that require a mature mind to grasp or fully appreciate. A game like Journey, for example, requires a more mature mind- or perhaps just more open- to appreciate than Call of Duty, though the ratings on each would suggest otherwise.
While games these days- especially the most popular ones- have plenty of mature content, not nearly as many of them contain mature concepts.
And that's a shame.
are the future of mature gaming.
Nintendo seems to be happy catering to children and those grown men who wear super mario shirts with loose collars.