88: Video Game Ratings Are Useless

Originally Broadcast 2014/03/07: When a podcast has been around for years, sometimes we repeat topics, but often with a new perspective. Next week we'll discuss video game ratings as well, so enjoy this first pass from the past! Does anyone of the generation who grew up with video games have an excuse to not understand how much (or rather, how little) video games affect people? So many buy Rated M games for their kids, completely ignoring the rating altogether. Which begs the question: just who are these ratings for? Vinnk and Sean go over a completely non-linear history of video game ratings, how Night Trap for Sega CD helped start the ratings firestorm, and they have evolved more into advertisements than effective parental warnings. "Famicom Thrash" and "RPG" theme songs by the Imari Tones: http://imaritones.net. This podcast is brought to you by the Nerd & Tie Podcast Network. Listen to other great shows at http://nerdandtie.com.