According to a report on GamerBytes, Microsoft has submitted the upcoming Xbox and PC Game Room itself to the ESRB for a rating, rather than have each title re-rated by the board. The article claims that Microsoft's upcoming virtual arcade will sport a rating of E10+ -- meaning anything with a rating of Teen and higher will be left out of the Avatar hangout.
Since each game release (regardless of platform or delivery method) must be rated by the ESRB, the process of rating the Game Room itself could save Microsoft time, allow the company to reach its promised goal of "over 1,000 titles," and halt leaks of future titles via the ESRB website. While the current crop of Game Room titles are too retro for the rating decision to matter, other classics like Street Fighter and SmashTV won't make the cut. (Although, both are already available on Xbox.)
While the Game Room's current rating is bundled with the initial crop of 30 titles, it's unclear if the application's rating will ever change to accommodate more recent arcade releases. Joystiq has contacted Microsoft for clarification.
[Via Kotaku]
Reader Comments (81)
Posted: Jan 31st 2010 12:48AM h0mi said
Ugh. I have a few compliation discs (arcade disc that came with the arcade, the namco titles and also the original arcade compliation disc) and it also looks like none of _those_ will work. So Ms. Pac man? No dice. Have to buy it again. What a waste of time.
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Posted: Jan 30th 2010 11:30PM Brysonial the Bison said
This NEEDS to go on failblog! It already sucked enough before this (assuming it is true) we already have to rebuy games we bought before!
What the eff is this?
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What the eff is this?
Posted: Jan 31st 2010 6:15AM (Unverified) said
EPIC FAIL! what a FAIL this is I mean HOLY FAIL all your base are belong to FAIL
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Posted: Jan 30th 2010 9:44PM BootlegZani said
The real question is why should I even care about Game Room in the first place?
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Posted: Jan 30th 2010 9:49PM (Unverified) said
Yeah, I see a lot of success for this. Especially since Microsoft prioritized before hand and gave us full backward compatibility, the full Xbox Live Primetime catalog...oh, wait, they haven't.
Yet another example of a half-assed attempt from the Xbox division.
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Yet another example of a half-assed attempt from the Xbox division.
Posted: Jan 30th 2010 10:37PM (Unverified) said
But it's so terrible it's hardly worth mentioning.
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Posted: Jan 30th 2010 10:46PM killer rin said
yeah, your right, but its still better than nothing... it supports the games i have(which is 25+ i think), and for those odd few, I still have an original xbox...
compared to the current ps3.. my friend wishes he opted in sooner to get a gen1 for bc for all his ps2 games, he still has his, but its not worth the trouble to plug in every time
(im not a fanboy, im getting a ps3 in a month or so, was just stating something)
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compared to the current ps3.. my friend wishes he opted in sooner to get a gen1 for bc for all his ps2 games, he still has his, but its not worth the trouble to plug in every time
(im not a fanboy, im getting a ps3 in a month or so, was just stating something)
Posted: Jan 30th 2010 10:48PM (Unverified) said
Even if they're on the list they commonly don't work well. I just want to play them upscaled...
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Posted: Jan 31st 2010 1:36AM Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell said
@Foetoid
If one gamecube could play them what would make you think two couldn't?
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If one gamecube could play them what would make you think two couldn't?
Posted: Jan 31st 2010 6:17AM (Unverified) said
wow, killer screwed up "their/they're" and "your/you're" in two posts in a row. amazing!
give this tard a hand!
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give this tard a hand!
Posted: Jan 31st 2010 6:18AM (Unverified) said
wow, actually it wasn't even "their/they're", it was "their/there"... Holy moley
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Posted: Jan 30th 2010 9:50PM MystileArmor said
I'd rather go to a real arcade and play games with friends then this shit. At least there I can order drinks while playing games no one gives two shits about.
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Posted: Jan 31st 2010 9:14AM MystileArmor said
Well, we've got Main Arcade and Dave & Busters here. They've got just as shitty of a selection as this crap.
But there I can get 10 bucks of credits with an entree and I think for another 10 bucks I can get unlimited bowling and laser tag. So... yeah.. unless MS is going to add some bowling lanes in my house and laser tag rooms....
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But there I can get 10 bucks of credits with an entree and I think for another 10 bucks I can get unlimited bowling and laser tag. So... yeah.. unless MS is going to add some bowling lanes in my house and laser tag rooms....
Posted: Jan 30th 2010 9:51PM (Unverified) said
I find using a console in your own home to go to a virtual version of a place you could just go to in the real world, if you wanted to, to play virtual arcade cabinets of games you could already download in said console without using a fake "cabinet" to play said game to be very, very redundant, unnecessary, and all around stupid.
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Posted: Jan 30th 2010 9:55PM (Unverified) said
this is starting to look like a huge disaster in the making. The basic idea looked good, and looked like a better version of Home, but good old MS had to go and make it equally shitty with their rules and just overall bad desicions.
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Posted: Jan 31st 2010 1:48PM Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell said
This is probably even more shitty. It's just so limited in scope that it can only appeal to the casual Natal gamer (not that all Natal gamers will be casual but those are the ones this is geared towards), because no one in their right mind would pay for this type of stuff. At least Home is free through and through and has a dearth of content and areas to explore.
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Posted: Jan 31st 2010 2:44PM Otimus said
It's actually nothing at all like home.
It's not a virtual world.
You don't walk around.
Avatars may pop up in it, but you don't control your own, nor do people control their's.
IN a lot more ways, if you've played 1 vs 100, the lobby in that, before the "game" starts, the Game Room is a lot more like that.
In essence, really, this is just a fancy GUI.
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It's not a virtual world.
You don't walk around.
Avatars may pop up in it, but you don't control your own, nor do people control their's.
IN a lot more ways, if you've played 1 vs 100, the lobby in that, before the "game" starts, the Game Room is a lot more like that.
In essence, really, this is just a fancy GUI.
Posted: Jan 31st 2010 2:16AM ricorich196 said
Lmao I just spit out my frosted flakes reading your comment.
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Posted: Jan 30th 2010 10:04PM Nintendo Tim said
And just like that, Microsoft, you've taken any interest I had in the Arcade Room and throw it overboard into the lake with cement blocks shackeled to my feet.
I can't "import" pre-existing "classic" games, and there won't be anything above E +10 rating? This has turned out to me a bigger disappointment than the iPad.
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I can't "import" pre-existing "classic" games, and there won't be anything above E +10 rating? This has turned out to me a bigger disappointment than the iPad.
Posted: Jan 30th 2010 10:11PM (Unverified) said
the more i hear about this the worse it sounds its crazy wat MS is doing with this
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Posted: Jan 30th 2010 10:13PM Baron Milton Von Crompton said
Why can't we have a 'virtual hub' where our friends, from our friendlist can visit, mingle, chat and play the arcade games on our game list instead of this crap. Then grafiti our wall to leave their satisfaction, or some such crap.
Oh wait a minute... this isn't feasable because Microsoft would wnt everyone who plays our games to pay for them.
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Oh wait a minute... this isn't feasable because Microsoft would wnt everyone who plays our games to pay for them.
Posted: Jan 30th 2010 11:06PM Foetoid said
Even if they made it so each friend you had was represented by a portal in your own gaming room. Every time you stepped into a friends room to play there games, a certain small amount of MS points was deducted from your account. That way MS is happy with getting their dollars and literally you're paying to play someone elses games. I'd pay a small fee to let my avatar into a friends room to play and demo games i desperatly want. Even make it so the every time i step into a friends room, my friend gains 1 MS point while MS takes their bit from me. Microsofts way of thanking that person for letting me play their games. which could lead to me buying those said games for my own room. Everyone is a Winrar!
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Posted: Jan 30th 2010 10:14PM CaptainProtonX said
This thing is just getting worse.
Did MS feel the 360 needed it's own version of "Home"?
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Did MS feel the 360 needed it's own version of "Home"?
Posted: Jan 30th 2010 10:24PM (Unverified) said
No, because Home is free. This turd costs money.
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Posted: Jan 30th 2010 10:21PM (Unverified) said
I would think the audience for this skews older anyway, so it really doesn't make sense.
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Posted: Jan 30th 2010 10:19PM (Unverified) said
The more i hear about this the worse it sounds its crazy what MS is doing with this i see no profit from it for them
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Posted: Jan 30th 2010 10:22PM Mr Khan said
Yeah, this whole idea does seem a little half-baked, given that it would have been simpler to limit this to "Classic" XBLA games, then synchronize it with the users' existing collection, while simultaneously allowing them to sample further "Classic" XBLA games on a pay-to-play basis, and allowing other users access to your game room
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Posted: Jan 30th 2010 10:39PM killer rin said
if anything they will keep it E10+ until they have what they want on it, then re-classify the Game Room as T and then add the titles they want, then that should be it... their probably wasn't many M rated games back then looking at today's standards.
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Posted: Jan 30th 2010 10:46PM (Unverified) said
Mortal Kombat and Killer Instinct would be two notable omissions, along with others.
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Posted: Jan 30th 2010 11:14PM (Unverified) said
the 360 is getting worse and worse as the future arrives. I'm a 360 fan all the way but with this movement crap they trying to bring out copy off the wii and we don't need that the wii sucks to begin with the 360 is better off the way it orginally started as. And all this avatar crap it has now? Who cares about that? We just wanna get on live and enjoy a game like call of duty 4 or modern warfair 2 jeez. Time I buy a ps3
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