A conservative organization known as the “National Institute on Media and the Family,” which watches over the video game industry has released its annual “report card.” Actually, it is the group’s thirteenth annual report card.
So far, the NIMF has given praise to the gaming industry. However, it had a lot of harsh words to say to the parents. The group has blamed parents for not paying attention to the ratings certain games have.
The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) ratings are as followed:
– eC for “Early Childhood”
– E for “Everyone”
– E 10+ for “Everyone 10+”
– T for “Teen”
– M for “Mature 17+” (Similar to R-Rated movies)
– A for “Adults Only 18+”
– RP for “Rating Pending”
For the first time, this group has given high marks to the gaming industry. But, it has given low marks to parents.
So far, the NIMF have listed ten violent games that have brought up “red flags.”
Blitz: The League II:
This is the latest in the series of “Blitz” football games by Midway. Midway is the company most known for its famous “Mortal Kombat” series. Recently, Midway has released its newest MK game known as Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.
Dead Space:
This is a survival horror game by Electronic Arts. It was Capcom’s Resident Evil series that gave birth to the genre of “survival horror.” This is a game in which the main character has to fight against monsters called “Necromorphs.”
Fallout 3:
This is an action role-playing game from Bethesda Game Studios. This is the third game to the “Fallout” series. The world has become a wasteland due to nuclear war. There are elements from the survival horror genre present.
Gears of War 2:
This is from Epic Games and Microsoft Game Studios. This is a third-person shooter game with online gameplay capability. There is a lot of running and gunning in the game.
Legendary:
This is a game from Spark Unlimited. The main character and a bunch of other people have to hunt down a bunch of creatures that escaped from Pandora’s Box.
Left 4 Dead:
This is a co-operative survival horror game that has been talked about for a couple of months. Players must cooperate with each other to survive against an outbreak of hungry zombies. Plus, players have the option of alternatively playing as the zombies and monsters in the game.
Resistance 2:
This game is developed by Insomniac Games. This is the sequel to “Resistance: Fall of Man.” It takes place in an alternate history of World War II. With the first game, Insomniac Games was caught in a controversy with the Church of England. Shots of the Manchester Cathedral were used to design the actual building in the game.
Manchester Cathedral demanded that the game be pulled off the shelves.
The Church of England claimed that it was a violation of copyright. But, the grounds were without merit. However, Sony did apologize to the Church of England. On an interesting note, the controversy called sales in the game to spike up.
Saints Row 2:
This is the sequel to “Saints Row.” From the gameplay, the Saints Row series does look to rival the already controversial “Grand Theft Auto” series.
Silent Hill: Homecoming:
This is the latest installment of the popular survival horror series “Silent Hill.” The main character returns home to Shepherd’s Glen to find his younger brother.
The one link that all ten games have in common would be the ESRB rating for M. So far, the gaming industry does not seem to have a problem with this report card. But, the group’s criticism has been directed towards the parents.
“This year the industry has improved its ratings enforcement and given parents new tools when choosing the right video game for their child,” said David Walsh, the president of NIMF.