As long as there are graphics, even if it's just one pixel, that are flesh colored and it's shipped on the disk, the game/application must be labeled Adults Only. Anything less would be inappropriate, as that flesh colored pixel could easily be made into nude patches or mods.
That's fair, transparent and objective. Simple, also, until you start wondering what flesh colored means. Then you realize that Oblivion has some sort of lizard race, so any game/application that has any shade of green pixel anywhere on the disk must also be labeled Adult Only. Definitely don't want naked lizards running around. (I'm really going crazy trying to remember if labeling has one L or two, but labelling just looks wrong for some reason) Oh and any game/application which has black pixels, same thing, since that might show a nude black person. Red pixels too, we don't want to see naked American Indians.
All it takes is one pixel-just ONE-and a mod, texture or mesh can be created.
About the only solution to the whole ratings mess...unfortunately it'll never happen, as it would require common sense. I kind of like the idea of the ESRB having paid professional gamers take a copy of a game the moment it goes gold and play it through with a panel reviewing the gameplay. With, say, four pro gamers, in the same room, each on their own computer. They play the game start to finish, which may take a few days, but it's worth it. The panel of about eight people which watches the gamers play makes the decision about the final rating based on the overall impression the game gave them.
Hell, who am I kidding, I just want to be one of those pro gamers
Getting to play games the moment they go gold? Sign my ass up!
It may sound like it, but I don't disagree with the 'where do we draw the line?' question. I just believe the line should not include anything that the average gamer will not encounter, and definitely should not involve anything that requires the game to be modified, even by just changing a file name, to be accessed. The moment a game is modded, in any way, it is no longer the game that was shipped in the box, it is a new and separate entity.
Taking it one step further, what if...what if Rockstar hadn't included the Coffee Cup minigame on the disk, but released it in a later patch? What happens then? Or in the near future, Bethesda releases a full nude for everything, even the lizards, patch? The game in the box doesn't have it, so it gets a Teen rating (or Mature, even) but on the day of release there could be a patch from the devs which turn it into an Adult Only game. Should patches also be rated by the ESRB? Should mods? Renaming files and copying them? Ah, editing pictures, that should definitely be rated. Photoshop, the application itself, would earn a whole new rating above the AO level, just from its potential.
The ESRB, in my opinion, is a crutch for lazy parents. If a parent buys little Johnny a game, it's the parent's responsibility to find out what the game is and what it's about BEFORE purchasing it for their child-it's one of those parenting things that falls under the broad 'be careful what you give your child, as some things are not good for children' categories. If little Johnny has purchased the game himself, then it's the parents job to make sure little Johnny purchased something that they approve of. Do parents just go grab the first thing they see on a grocery shelf and shove it down their kids throats? No, they look at the ingredients, they check out the manufacturer, they do at least a little research, which helps prevent things like using hemmrhoid cream as toothpaste. But when it comes to computer games, for some reason there's a 'Well, it's called Playboy Mansion, but it's a a computer game, can't be that bad.' and the next thing you know, the ten year old boy has started his own (successful, even) porn magazine business using what he learned from the game.
I think the best rating system would be a sticker on every single piece of software that said "This software may contain content that you may find objectionable. Please learn more about this title through research before purchasing it.' and by banning the sale of any software to anyone under 13. Under 13, you want it, get your parents to buy it. Then if it's something that they don't like, they're the one to blame for not doing their homework before purchasing Virtual Jenna Jameson for their eight year old son.
