Would you buy a game without an ESRB rating?

[goatdan]

The ESRB rating is a voluntary rating system that was created by the gaming industry to help provide guidence for people when purchasing games.

The quesiton is would you purchase a US-released game that didn't have an ESRB rating for one of your current consoles before finding out why it wasn't rated? Why or why not?

I didn't leave a "maybe" option open... for the sake of argument, it is a game that you are interested in at a good price. Do you take it, or leave it?

[njiska]

Hey dan if it looks like a good game then i'd be willing to buy it with out an ESRB rating. To be honest the rating doesn't matter to me and if it was released without it it might be for good reason.

For example if they had released the uncut version of the punisher without an esrb rating, i'd buy it.

[James]

Why wouldn't I. It's not like games have always been related.

[kainemaxwell]

Why would it matter as long as I enjoyed the game itself?

[Anthony1]

Did they ever go back and do ESRB ratings for all the SNES and Genesis games?

[goatdan]

Did they ever go back and do ESRB ratings for all the SNES and Genesis games?

No, because there is a cost involved for each game to be rated.

I'm just interested to see what everyone's reply is. Frankly, I'm kind of surprised by it so far...

[njiska]

Hey Dan maybe you should enlighten us and let us know why you think we'd say no. I mean it seems pretty onesided since i'm guess the only no vote is your own. Presnt your case. If you're interested in our thoughs how bout we hear yours??

[Half Japanese]

ESRB ratings have no effect on my purchases. Same goes for parental advisory warnings on albums or MPAA ratings on movies. Doesn't boher me one bit.

Is this related to something you're releasing through Goatstore?

[goatdan]

Hey Dan maybe you should enlighten us and let us know why you think we'd say no. I mean it seems pretty onesided since i'm guess the only no vote is your own. Presnt your case. If you're interested in our thoughs how bout we hear yours??

Well, I don't want to change anyone's opinions by what I state. Sometime tomorrow I'll make a follow-up post explaining what my thoughts are.

Is this related to something you're releasing through Goatstore?

This particular post? No. Just doing some research among collectors

[Crush Crawfish]

I'd still buy it. I really don't have any reason to be paying attention to those ratings anyway. Now If I were buying it for someone else, like a kid for example, I'd research the game a bit and make sure it's appropriate.

[NoahsMyBro]

Honestly, I wouldn't have ever noticed the absence of the ESRB 'stamp' until after having read this post (and I'll always notice now, I'm sure).

And really, I couldn't care less whether or not the ESRB rated a game, or what rating it receives.

[Push Upstairs]

A rating means very little to me...its all about how the game/movie/music is.

Besides...i've been watching R rated movies as far back as age 5 or 6.

[Big Shady]

Yes, but that's mainly because I'm a hardcore fan that knows the market. Its good for the common parent that wants to make sure their young ones aren't exposed to too much violence.

[LAGO]

If it where for me then I never pay attention to the ratings. If it where a child ... I would probably still buy it, if I thought it was appropriate for his/her age.

[goatdan]

I don't mean this to be a question of, "Would you not purchase the game because you were worried you couldn't handle the content" but more of a question of "Would you not purchase the game because you were worried about where it came from and the production quality."

[dj898]

I would.
I don't care about those rating anyway...
if I'm interested in a title I will search and read reviews before make decision and rating will have nothing to do with it...

[soniko_karuto]

I would still buy it. I just see that as innecesary, it's just like the explicit lirics stickers, they are there to sell mode copies.

[drwily008]

I'd totally not care, however if it was for my hypothetical child I still don't think I would give a care about what someone told me my kid could (or couldnt) play. I would have to judge for myself by looking over the game and poosibly renting it first.

[alexkidd2000]

This thread makes no sense. The point of the rating is so that parents dont buy a game that is not suitable for their children. What the heck does it have to do with the quality of the game? I am sorry, but this thread is ...

[Aussie2B]

I don't care about ratings as far as my own playing goes. I intentially play hentai games so sex doesn't bother me, and if the violence and gore in survival horror games doesn't bother, I can't see what kind of violence could.

However, it's nice to know what you're getting into. This reminds me of a funny little story: A friend came over with his Turbo Duo and a bunch of various Japanese games for it. We were trying out many of the games, and we started messing around with the RPG Basted. My boyfriend was in some town training with some guy, I believe, and all of the sudden after beating the guy a few times, the game showed an anime picture of the heroine naked and covered in... ahem... "milk"... AND... my boyfriend's 10-year-old sister was in the room watching at the time. O_O Thankfully, the game didn't really make it apparent what the white goo was, and all of the girl's parts were blocked in one way or another. I think my sister-in-law was more confused than anything, but so were the rest of us, haha. It just freakin' came out of nowhere. Overall the content of the game is pretty tame, but it would've been nice to know that there was some mild hentai content to begin with.