Nintendo, the SNES, and the Video Games Rating Controversy
It all started in 1992, when Midway released the smash hit arcade game,
Mortal Kombat. This game, in its time, was one of the best fighting games available. It
featured digitized graphics, a wide variety of different players you could choose from, a
great storyline, hidden moves, levels and characters, and so on. It also had one other
feature; it was the most graphically violent game in the arcades. When it first hit
arcades, there was not much reported about it. However, when the game became very popular,
and the decision was made to make ports of the game for the home video game market, that
is when the doggie doo-doo hit the fan. Many parents were outraged by the level of
violence in the game, and demanded that action be taken to protect young kiddies from
playing the game. Versions of the game were planned for the Nintendo and Sega platforms;
SNES, Genesis, GameBoy and Game Gear. (The Sega CD version was released much later). The
Big N and Sega reacted to parents concerns, but their response we quite different. Sega
decided to develop a ratings system for its games (details below); they also, I believe,
said they would allow other game companies to use the ratings system they developed,
though none took them up on the offer. Nintendo has had a long standing policy against any
potentially offensive material in any licensed games, and they stated proudly they were
sticking to their guns on that issue. I remember a display appearing around this time at
my local Electronics Boutique, with Nintendo's official position on inappropriate game
material, laid out on signs and pamphlets (I think). It stated, in essence, that when you
buy a Nintendo game for your child, you can be assured that it contains no racial or
ethnic slurs, no references to politics or religion, no sexual content, no bad language,
no graphic violence, etc. (I may also have a Nintendo Power with a letter to parents
inside concerning this; I will add it here if I find it).
Mortal Kombat was released, for the Genesis, with none
of the violence removed (some elements in the game were removed because of the limitations
of the Genesis), but with Sega's game rating of MA-17. It was also released for the SNES,
with major revisions. The blood shown was changed to sweat (!), players were no longer
shown to be impaled when they fell into the spiked pit, and the biggest change, many of
the Fatalities (finishing moves) were removed, and replaced with less graphic ones. The
SNES version sold fairly well, because it contained ALL the characters and levels from the
arcade, and the sounds and graphics were soooo much better on the SNES. There was a HUGE
backlash from this from players, however. Nintendo was bombarded day and night with
complaints about the removal of the blood and guts from the SNES version. In fact,
Nintendo even printed some of the complaint letters they received in Nintendo Power
magazine (!), though the purpose was to probably answer the complaint so as to tell
explain their position and basically that this was the way it was and that's that and get
the kiddies off their back.
It
certainly didn't work! A year or so later, Mortal Kombat II was released in the arcades,
and discussions arouse about the inevitable port to the console systems; specifically,
will Nintendo change their mind this time and allow this version of MK to be ported to the
SNES unscathed? All the while, other games were being designed, or ported from other
systems, that contained explicit violence and other objectionable material; most notably,
other than the Mortal Kombat games, was Wolfenstein 3D. This popular PC game contained
enough "potentially offensive" material to choke a Nintendo censor. ID, the
company who produced the game, was forced to butcher the game in order to make it suitable
for the SNES; they objected to everything from the Nazi schwasticas, to the blood, to the,
get this, the guard dogs (they were changed to giant rats!) Id made the changes and the
game was released, but Id was bitter. There is even a rumor that Id gave the
company Wisdom Tree the 3D engine to Wolfenstein 3D so they could produce the unlicensed
game, Super Noah's Ark 3D for the SNES.
Nintendo made the decision to end their longtime policy, and join with
other console and computer software publishers to form the ESRB,
or Entertainment Software Rating Board. (Sega also joined the ESRB, dropped their ratings system and adoped the ESRB's.) This was to be to games what the MPAA is to
movies; all member companies agreed to have their games rated by the board, and print the
rating prominently on the box the software comes in. Their rating system is, essencially,
Sega's, with the addition of an early childhood and adults only category. They also now
rate websites (see their site for more info on that, if you are so inclined).
Incidentally, another ratings system was developed, by the RSAC, the Recreational Software Advisory Council, which
rates games based on the level of sex, language and violence. This has been used instead
of the ESRB rating on some computer software, but not on
SNES, or any console games, that I am aware of. They do a lot of rating of web sites,
though.
Sega's Ratings System
GA - General Audiences (all ages)
MA-13 - Mature Audiences over 13
MA-17 - Mature Audiences over 17
ESRB's Rating System
EC - Early Childhood (For little kids)
ESRB's Rating System
K-A - Kids to Adults (okay for anybody)
E - Everybody (added later on, same as K-A)
T - Teen (For ages 13 and over)
M - Mature Audiences (For ages 17 and over)
AO - Adults Only* (Really, really explicit and/or violent and only
suitable for 18 and over)
* I have never even seen this rating, and I don't believe any game
(console, at least) has ever received that rating.
RSAC's Rating System
A four level rating based on the content of the game in the following
areas:
Sex
Language
Violence
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