ESRB Dead Island Artwork Ban

Original Artwork

Recently our friends over at the ESRB officially axed the original Dead Island logo for US release.  They deemed it to be too graphic.  Interestingly enough the image will remain untouched in game and with the European release.

Oh?  What’s that?  You have no clue about Dead Island?  Awww, that’s a shame.  Because there’s nothing better than a new zombie game to fill that void in your life.  If you haven’t heard, the guys at Deep Silver are releasing this game: Dead Island Trailer

The trailer has certainly gotten some attention, having been flagged on YouTube for content and instigating numerous flame wars over propriety in gaming.  The discussions of course have been fueled even further by the ESRB now pulling the original artwork and having it changed to:

New Artwork ESRB approved

So this has gotten me thinking about the concepts of censorship and media.  The rub, as has always been the case in cases of censorship, is the stepping in of an entity of some sort to dictate the propriety of something (commonly artistic expression or free speech) to a given audience or the populace at large, typically devoid of said populaces and the artists\speakers opinions.  Things like this are to be expected in our culture.

I remember when ESRB first decided to show up on the scene and start mandating all game developers submit to a rating system.  They cited violent atrocities that were supposedly related to games or done by confessed gamers.  Diablo, Doom, ahh, those old troublemakers.  Now please understand I in no way am trying to make light of events such as Columbine and OK City, but I am calling hogwash on those individuals that claim that external influences (short of mentally altering drugs) take the place, or supercede, personal responsibility of the people who commit those crimes.

Now here's an idea...

Ok so all that being said, I know we are a geek culture blog, not a political opinion blog, so let me move back on topic a little.  When the ESRB comes in and mandates a change to the original IP of developers, even if that is simply artwork and not content, and those developers are required to comply, the creative teams and companies are being stunted in their conceptualization of their product.  Now mind you we aren’t talking about a Japanese rape fantasy game, we’re talking about the image of a body hung from a tree being switched for a shambling zombie.

I’ve heard supporters of the ESRB ban on the artwork shouting about various opinions as to why a hanging corpse is inappropriate.  Some have said it’s a sensitive topic.  Okay sure, I suppose it can be.  As can a blindfolded Vet with a backdrop of an American city as it burns.

Due out this year.

At the end of the day the idea of censorship in video games is essentially arbitrary.  Wither it’s conducted by an advisory board or an individual, the concept of censorship is based on a perception of morality held by a few individuals.  In the case of the ESRB, there are three independent testers that rate the game.  The criteria you ask?  Oh you can find out more here, but according to the website game raters:

“…must be adults, and typically have experience with children through prior work experience, education or by being parents or caregivers themselves. They rate games on a full-time basis, although they may be assisted by part-time raters when necessary. While they are not required to have advanced skills as computer and video game players (since their job is to review content and determine its age-appropriateness, not to assess how challenging or entertaining a particular game is to play), they do gain or further develop these abilities since they are also required, time permitting, to play the final version of games (after their release) when they are not busy assigning ratings. To eliminate the risk of outside or industry influence, the identities of ESRB raters are kept confidential, and they are not permitted to have any ties to or connections with any individuals or entities in the computer/video game industry.”

So essentially what we have is some adults that know children, and have no ties to the gaming industry get to make decisions on what is suitable for general consumption.  While I can completely appreciate the value of protecting the innocence of children, though that has to go far beyond mere video game rating these days, the US Video Games Industry Report conducted by IBISWorld in 2008 showed the average gamer to be 35.  How much censorship do thirty-something, as the majority of the gaming market, really need?  Again I’m not going to say that a rating system is totally pointless, but I do question the viability and practicality of a “comprehensive” rating system.

Lets go from this...

To this...

So what do you guys and girls think about censorship in gaming?  And weigh in on the change to the Dead Island artwork…let the wars begin!