Gears of War escapes media watchdog's blacklist, appears kid-safe

by James Ransom-Wiley { Nov 29th 2006 at 11:45AM }

As the National Institute on Media and the Family puts the finishing touches on its 11th annual Video Game Report Card*, rating parents', retailers', manufacturers' and the ESRB's efforts to keep M-rated content out of children's hands, we get an sneak peek at the media watchdog's holiday blacklist:

Dead Rising
Gangs of London
The Godfather: Mob Wars
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
Just Cause
Mortal Kombat: Unchained
Reservoir Dogs
Saints Row
Scarface: The World is Yours
The Sopranos

It's unclear how high-profile shooter Gears of War escaped damnation -- perhaps sawing apart aliens isn't as distasteful as bludgeoning has-been humans (you know, zombies). Why the National Institute on Media and the Family chooses to single out the titles it does remains a mystery. All of the games listed above already carry M-ratings, as do countless others not on the list. Wanna protect your kids? Just go with the rating on the box.

*The "report card" presentation is scheduled to conclude at noon today.

See also:
(Don't) BUY these 10 violent games
Game industry receives a D+, deemed "beyond repair"

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Pete C @ Nov 29th 2006 11:50AM

What about Rainbow Six Vegas? That game is loaded with profanity that you can't turn off.

CakeOrDeath @ Nov 29th 2006 11:53AM

Well I guess this list counts as a small victory for Bully

Lorben @ Nov 29th 2006 12:00PM

Bully isn't even rated M.

Snaileb @ Nov 29th 2006 12:08PM

DAMMIT! Im tired of hearing little kids on Gears of War!! ITS WAR!! WTF are they doing with this game, it'll warp their "fragile little mind"! Seriously though, pre-pubesent 10 year olds sound like girls over the mic, and when I own you with the chainsaw, please kiddies, don't whine too. AO rating please.

nea @ Nov 29th 2006 12:16PM

they are all pretty much the same game. roam around huge environment, kill people

aegies @ Nov 29th 2006 12:19PM

good lord. i'm not for video game censorship at all, but this is definitely not a 10 or under kind of game. it's possibly the most graphic portrayal of violence i've ever seen in a game. they modeled sections of people and locust grubs' insides, for the love of god.

RJ81 @ Nov 29th 2006 12:19PM

JUST CAUSE????

And no Gears???

Unimental @ Nov 29th 2006 12:22PM

I would guess that killing aliens (as opposed to digital humans) and being able to turn off profanity is what nudged Gears off the list. Apparently they didn't try any online matches.

KBeat @ Nov 29th 2006 12:23PM

"Wanna protect your kids, just go with the ratings on the box."

I can't express enough how much I disagree with this statement. I have a young son and I find the rating system to be very arbitrary, to the point of near uselessness. There are several "M" rated games that I have no problem with him playing, like "Halo", and others I wouldn't let him near, such as "Saints Row." There really needs to be a better distinction between such titles as one is clearly more adult than the other.

Wanna protect you kids? Know your child, know his or her maturity level, spend some time with the game yourself if it's rated "T" or higher, then make an educated determination. To rely solely on the rating system is a bad idea.

Lorben @ Nov 29th 2006 12:36PM

ESRB Notice: Game Experience May Change During Online Play

StalkerB @ Nov 29th 2006 12:36PM

You can turn off profanity in GoW? Ah, that'll be why all my marines now say "Eat dirt and die" as opposed to what they used to say.

KBeat @ Nov 29th 2006 12:38PM

@8 You can't turn the profanity off on "Gears." I've tried so my son could watch me play a little. You can turn off the more gory blood effects, but the profanity remains.

Nathan Graves @ Nov 29th 2006 12:47PM

Apart from the Alien theory (Which is really good, since Resistance isn't there either), maybe the oily blood on the game make parent's okay with that.

I mean, seriously, have you seen the blood on Gears? It's pretty weird and non real like.

Also the factor that you can take out blood and gore.

CcntMnky @ Nov 29th 2006 12:49PM

OMG, the reason is so simple: release date. All those games shipped or had demos out soon enough to hit the list. If you think the parent watchdog groups play games as quickly as we do, you are mistaken.

Zach @ Nov 29th 2006 12:49PM

I think it's very funny that 4 of those games are based on huge movie or TV franchises well-known in popular culture for their violence. Who really needs to be told that 8 year olds shouldn't be playing the Godfather or the Sopranos? Who doesn't know that Reservoir Dogs ISN'T about cute puppies swimming in artificial lakes?

ben @ Nov 29th 2006 12:50PM

Just Cause is in there? Somebody actually bought that game and played it to conclude that it is violent? I played the demo and wanted to hang myself afterwards.

LOL @ no bully. Poor, poor, poor, Jack Thompson.

Justin U @ Nov 29th 2006 12:56PM

No love for the submitter...

*cries himself to sleep*

KaneRobot @ Nov 29th 2006 2:11PM

Awesome. The PSP Mortal Kombat is bad news, but the XBox/PS2 game is A-OK!

Firegirl @ Nov 29th 2006 2:20PM

So I guess taking a chainsaw to someone's face is no longer considered violent? I can hear LeatherFace in the corner crying now...

whoiseric @ Nov 29th 2006 4:11PM

#11 You can't turn the profanity off on "Gears."
Yes you can you just go under options and turn voice volume or some similar option all the way down. You can do this in a lot of 360 games.

Dirk Dorkelson @ Nov 29th 2006 4:32PM

Last night, I was updating my Amazon wish list and was looking at Viva Pinata, I was delighted to see that I could, "Buy Viva Pinata with Gears of War today and save!" I'm sure there are plenty of people (like me) who plan to own both (already have Gears), but maybe it'll become the next great kids game.

Just wanted to share b/c I thought it was funny.

Atilac @ Nov 29th 2006 4:40PM

No FEAR?

Defenestrator2.0 @ Nov 29th 2006 6:57PM

Hehe...Gangs of London. They probably just went on the title alone there, nevermind playing it! What a piece of crap.

NOTE TO GAME DESIGNERS:
London + Gangs + video games = NO.

Remember, say no to drugs.

mietha CAG @ Nov 29th 2006 10:08PM

Everyone should be protected from God awful games like Reservoir Dogs. Oh wait, that's not exactly what they meant... Just Cause? How the hell is Just Cause on the list and Gears isn't? And to #16, the demo contains a mission that actually isn't in the game. The retail game is much better than the demo.

Batzarro @ Dec 6th 2006 9:20AM

Seriously: Mortal Kombat Unchained is way more violent than Armageddon.Kreat-a-Fatality isn't all that gory, and you can't punch whiny ol ladies (although you can kill monks...so it's a monk genocide simulation)If you think this isn't an acomplished list, you should see the recomended ones for kids and teens...