A good suggestion i have seen in some posts are the rating of age for games containing mature content, although it won't do much, it may still be a good idea. And perhaps parents could set a certain level of games for younger users of the site. And family computers.

I think its not a bad idea, although i think it may not get much use because everyone will say that their game is for 'all ages' just to get more people to play. People that have made games specially for a younger ages would probably use it though.

QuoteI think its not a bad idea, although i think it may not get much use because everyone will say that their game is for 'all ages' just to get more people to play. People that have made games specially for a younger ages would probably use it though.
Maybe it could be checked by YoYo Games and then they will post the game rating. And untill it does get rated it will show Rating:NA (Not Available). That way, nobody will lie about the rating and the game won't take forever to get posted.

well we dont want older people to always need to check
if its suitible for the younger person hwo wants to play

why not? It wouldn't take long. The rating could be displayed next to the game name:

2. Good game fun! (MC)
by Good game maker

That would kinda fun, so why not. My Super Dr. Mario game has an E rating on the front of the image!

I agree with this. The thing is, people sometimes lie about their age to be able to suscribe onto these websites. True, on this website you can sign up if you're under age if you're parents tell YYG it's okay, but some people are too lazy, or do it anyway if their parents say no. How? They LIE!

QuoteQuoteQuoteWiifanatic101: Maybe it could be checked by YoYo Games and then they will post the game rating.game fun: well we dont want older people to always need to check if its suitible for the younger person hwo wants to playCaKsTeR: why not? It wouldn't take long.Galactic Chimp: If YoYo or its moderators were going to review our games and hand out ratings to indicate the degree of suitability for children, the rating could be meaningless unless they played the entire game, including gaining access to all hidden or bonus content. However that would be slow and expensive, and for practical reasons impossible to implement.

The next best approach is to play as much of the game as possible, and demand that the game creator disclose any and all content that lays hidden within the game. If they are found to have withheld information, the might never have a game rated again. This is the approach used by the ESRB, and it is also slow and expensive.

The next best approach is for the game creator to rate their own game, but for the rating to remain a BETA rating until members of the community have played the game and confirmed that the rating is appropriate, according to a check-list of suitability questions. (As a free approach to rating, this idea has potential, although it is vulnerable to the rule of the mob).

The next best approach is for game creators to rate their own games, with no over-sight, but this benefits both responsible and irresponsible users, and is therefore dangerous.

QuoteThe next best approach is for game creators to rate their own games, with no over-sight, but this benefits both responsible and irresponsible users, and is therefore dangerous.
I agree. On Newgrounds.com, some people rate their games "everyone", when it has some swearing and/or violence. The word @$#! isn't good for kids. So I agree with the idea of people agreeing with a certain rating.

I think that what they should do is have the game available for play before the YYG staff gets around to rating it, but they need to have a warning something like this:

WARNING: This game currently has not been rated by the YoYo Games staff. It may include inappropriate content, such as swearing and violence. Playing an unrated game is discouraged until it has been rated.

I don't think it would do much, but it would let the YYG staff be able to rate games at a reasonable pace and still let them be playable before hand. And in case a game is very long, they could give it an incomplete rating, saying what the rating would be at the current stage. Of course, I think that multiple people should agree on a rating just to make sure that no one makes a mistake by rating it higher or lower than it should be.

Example:
A game has been completely played, and it has a lot of violence and a little bit of unrealistic blood, but nothing else, and the staff member playing it has decided it merits an Age 13+ rating, but another thinks it should be an Age 10+ rating. Then a third thinks it should be an Age 11+ rating. They would discuss with each other until a compromise is reached, and we'll say for this case they agree it should be an Age 12+ rating.

Optimism set aside, it's important to remember that the YoYo staff are running a business and that businesses cost money to run. To play and then rate the hordes of games that get uploaded to the site would require excessive manpower and be very expensive for YoYo. Having multiple staffers playing the same game is a logistical non-starter.

On the other hand if they played only a brief part of each game the rating would be meaningless and it would have been a waste of company money. Share-holders and investors would tend to smile less, upon finding out.

I still think that the most functional process would be an automatic one. Maybe even the game creator shouldn't be allowed to give their game a rating, and instead fill out a form when they upload their game. The form then applies a rating, based on suitability criteria such as blood, swearing, violence, controlled substances, mature elements, pervasive character (mood), etc. ...and as already suggested, the community then performs quality control to ensure the form was filled out honestly.

sounds good, but how exactly would that happen u want things like that, that will just magically happen let's be realistic here, people but then heck who cares it might be possible, if the rate n play policy was possible and accepted why can't this be accepted or possible.

Too my knowledge, though, aren't most of the staff members volunteers? Those could be the ones playing and rating games.

You have a point. I think I ruled them out of consideration because it seems like they already have enough on their hands to deal with. Being volunteers, they have lives outside of YoYo, and their presence is basically a free favour. Asking them to play every single game, thoroughly, is like asking them to be slaves around the clock. The average biped would eventually want compensation :)

Hmm... Very true. I think what they should do is some staff members should be moderators, but others are just raters. They go, they play a game, and they give a game a rating.

QuoteI think that what they should do is have the game available for play before the YYG staff gets around to rating it, but they need to have a warning something like this:

WARNING: This game currently has not been rated by the YoYo Games staff. It may include inappropriate content, such as swearing and violence. Playing an unrated game is discouraged until it has been rated.
Hey, theift, that was my idea! You just worded it differently...

Commercial Games (by law) are part of the video entertainment industry,

and therefore require they submit before distribution to the appropriate commitee in (your country) for an approval rating based on content. Internet games may however may in some cases be avoiding this process because it does cost money. For YO YO Games ?? Yes.......I think it is perfectly in good taste and maybe a required thing soon. I would vote YES for this if anyone is listening.

As I understand it, publishers & associations in both the movie industry and the video game industry voluntarily demand that products be rated before release, and that there are no actual laws forcing this process. The ratings systems were apparently created to forestall government censorship.

If true, and one self published or one's publisher was not part of such an association, I would imagine there would be no actual legal requirement for a game/movie to be rated. But I could be wrong :^)