Recently, the ESRB and digital identity firm Yoti filed an application to the FTC. The application details a design for "Facial Age Estimation," used to guess the age of users u??sing the front-facing camera of a cell phone. Reports of this application soon followed, speculating that the ESRB might use this technology to scan children's faces and verify their ages.

However, the ESRB recently responded to these statements, sayi?ng it would not be used for this reason. Instead, the ratings board says this tech is going to be used for parental consent when signing up for new games.

[caption id="attachment_393524" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image Provided by FTC & ESRB[/caption]

ESRB Responds to Reports about FTC Application

In an email sent to IGN, the ESRB clarifies the claims being made abou?t their application for "Facial Age Estimation."

For those unfamiliar, the program allows users to scan their faces with their cellphones, in a similar manner to unlocking your phone with a scan. Reports about this application speculated that it might scan children's faces to verify their age, before they tried to purchase an age-restricted title. However, the ESRB has come out saying this would be used as part of the parental consent process, clarifying this in an email to IGN:

"First and foremost, this application is not to authorize the use of this technology with children. Full stop. Nor does this software take and store 'selfies' of users or attempt to confirm the identity of users. Furthermore, this application makes no mention of using age estimation to prevent children from purchasing and/or downloading restrictively rated video games, nor do we intend to recommend its use in that way."

The ESRB continues its email by claiming that the "verifiable parental consent mechanism" is only to be used by parents as an alternative to previous methods. This will not use any technology like Apple's FaceID scanners on iPhones; rather, it only verifies via a facial scan. The image itself will not be stored, but rather, pieces of the image are cross-referenced between a pre-existing database. The program could then determine if the face scanned is over the age of 25, to pr??event older-looking teens and children from spoofing the scan,? and spit out a binary "yes or no".

The ERSB says the facial scans are live, and not "facial recognition" which is used to dete??rmine identity. The representative goes on to describe a scenario in which this technology is used.

"When a child attempts to sign up for a new service (website, application, video game, platform, etc.), by U.S. law, they will be prompted to provide a parent’s or caregiver’s email address or other contact information. The parent is then usually sent an email asking them to confirm their consent for the collection of certain data from their child. If the company collecting the data is using Yoti technology, the parent will be asked for their consent and prompted to use their front-facing camera to scan their face (which must be live and in person). Yoti’s technology encrypts the information gathered from the scan, then breaks down portions of this scan to accurately estimate the parent’s age. Our application to the FTC recommends that the age threshold be set at 25 to prevent teenagers or older-looking children from pretending to be a ?parent."

The ESRB asserts the data used in the process will not be stored. Nor, will it be used for AI training, or shared with anyone. With it being a cut-and-dry way of verifying if t?he consenting parent is over the age of 25, the ESRB claims that it's a "highly privacy prot??ective solution for VPC."

While the claims ??about "carding" young gamers when purchasing restrictively rated titles seem to be debunked, much is still unknown about how this is going to be used. The application and the ESRB email are largely theoretical, at this stage. However, where and how it will actually be use??d remains to be seen.

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Kit-E-Kat... That's Livin'*

Annapurna's sci-fi kitty adventure Stray is seemingly headed to the Xbox platform, at least according to the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB), which has uploaded a listing for a new port the award-winning dystopian tale, currently ava??ilable on PlayStation and PC platforms.

First spotted by Twitter user MACOS380, (and reported thereafter by VGC), the ESRB rating all but confirms that the interesting and unique release will be headed to Xbox One and Xbox Series X at some point in the near future, bringing the futuristic feline's adventures to a wider audience. Annapurna Interactive is yet to announce an Xbox port of Stray, but the revelation ??of the rating may mean?? that one is imminent.

//twitter.com/MACO?S380/??status/1658387346520145924?s=20

Released in the summer of 2022, Stray, sees the player guide an inquisitive kitty through a miserable walled city, devastated by an A.I. run amok and abandoned by all human citizens. Utilizing deft movement, adaptation, and ingenuity, the moggy embarks upon a quest to reach the surface of the city, aided by a robot drone, B-12, and threatened by the city's security droids and a mysterious, sentient bacteria known as "Zurk". Stray was praised on release for its world-building, animation, and uniqu?eness, as well a??s its ability to tell a deep and complex tale through minimal dialogue.

Stray is available right meow on PlayStation and PC platform?s.

An?? Xbox versio?n of Stray has been rated by the ESRB [VGC]

_{*If you get this reference then you're old and British and my condolences.}

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Talk about a jetpack joyride

The Entertainment Software Rating Board, or ESRB, has released its rating for Bethesda's upcoming sci-fi RPG Starfield. There's little surprise that it garnered an M for Mature rating, but it's the details of this ??rating that have been fun to read a??bout today.

As part of its rating process, the ESRB lays out both its letter grading and reasoning. Among the descriptors, there are: Blood, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs, and Violence, as well as In-Game Purchases. While that last one could spark concerns over microtransactions, it might also be si?gnaling potential DLC or cosmetics. It's not out of the question, considering past Bethesda RPGs.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmb2FJGvnAw

Space oddity

Dive into the descriptions, though, and we get a sense of what each of the content descriptors means. For combat, players use "futuristic guns, lasers, axes, and explosives" to kill enemies, with frequent "cries of pain" and explosions. Some attacks will also result in blood-splatter effects, it looks like, and areas will depict blood around corpse??s?.

But let's cut to the meat of the article here: the "suggestive material." The ESRB specifically mentions suggestive material in dialogue, as well as "after sharing a bed with characters" in Starfield. Here are the lines they use as examples:

• "Life is a sexually transmitted disease that's a hundred percent fatal."
• "I'm all for getting a little wild, but next time let's try it without the jetpacks."
• "Talk about seeing stars, whewâ€?that was amazing."

Alongside implications of je?tpack-enabled debauchery, that first line is a bit nihilistic. I'm imagin??ing someone pondering that before taking a drag of their cigarette and staring off into the distance.

Interestingly, the ESRB's rating doesn't include mention of any actual nudity or sexual content. So while it seems like there will be post-game chatter, there may not be anything as explicit as say, Cyberpunk 2077 or Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Alongside that, there's some drug use?? with a fictional drug called "Aurora" which can be bought, stolen, used, and even mad??e by the player in one section. Also, they use words like "fuck" and "bullshit." Which, given that there might be jetpack-fueled space slam sessions, makes a good deal of sense.

Starfield is due to launch on PC and Xbox Series X|S on September 6, 2023. We're expecting to learn more about it at the upcoming Starfield Direct, airing after the Xbox Games Showcase on June 11.

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A strange AO+ rating and description appeared for Mirage

Ubisoft officially revealed Assassin's Creed Mirage, its next installment in the franchise, over the weekend at Ubisoft Forward. But now it's clearing up the details on a still-pending ESRB rating for Mirage.

Users spotted that Assassin's Creed Mirage appeared on the Microsoft Store with an A??dults Only 18+, or AO, rating. It previously showed an AO rating, for "Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Sexual Themes, Partial?? Nudity, Real Gambling." As of this writing, it has since moved to an RP, or Rating Pending, designation.

That AO rating also appeared on a VOD of the Ubisoft Forward livestream. In a statement to GamesIndustry.biz, the publisher says the rating is a mistake.

"Following the announcement of Assassin's Creed Mirage during Ubisoft Forward, some store pages mistakenly displayed the?? game for preorders with an Adults Only ESRB rating and are being fixed," said the publisher.

Ubisoft also addressed the rea?l gambling notio?n in particular, as it might surface worries of gambling, loot boxes, or other odds-based rewards.

"While Assassin's Creed Mirage is still pending rating, Ubisoft wants to reassure players that no real gambling or lootboxes are present in the game," Ubisoft told GIbiz.

A ratings mirage

It's still curious why an AO rating popped up on the stream, but it seems to be a miscommunication all aro??und.

The weekend's Forward saw a bunch of Assassin's Creed news roll out. The publisher has laid out its plans ahead for Assassin's Creed Infinity, including project titles like Code??name Red and Hexe.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=x55lAlFtXmw

Assassin's Creed Mirage, meanwhile, follows the origin of Basim from Valhalla. It's a bit of a return to the series roots, it seems, with the plot he?aded to ninth century Baghdad. It's due to arrive in 2023.

Ubisoft has also been addressing issues stemming from allegations that arose in 2020. The publisher says it has been improving its culture, though A Better Ubisoft, a group founded by current former employees, say there's more to be done.

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Yo ho mateys �Skull & Bones is on the horizon

When Skull & Bones showed up to E3 2017 with a bombastic cinematic trailer for a new game that featured pirates swashbuckling on the Indian Ocean, gamers were understandably pumped. We've had some pretty awesome pirate games over the years, like Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Sea of Thieves, and of course the classic Monkey Island series. Players were ready for Skull & Bones to join those ranks, because it looks like it would be yet another unforgettable adventure on the high seas. That is, if it ever comes ou?t.

The next year at E3, thankfully, we got another story trailer and a gameplay trailer, so there were no signs of any turbulent waters yet. As time went on, though, the game fell into the whirlpool that is game development �the studio behind Skull & Bones, Ubisoft Singapore, went through some pretty significant changes throughout the course of making the game, which included a few delays and other development problems here and there. In 2020, the studio shifted towards a live-service approach for the title. Finally, a video in April gave us a good look at some of Skull & Bones' gameplay systems, revi??talizing our hope one more time.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9YYYVG0YQI

The newest update on the game is that ratings have started coming in �specifically, one from the Game Rating and Administration Committee from South Korea, as was noticed by Twitter user @the_marmolade and reported by the Video Games Chronicle.

So it's not exactly a huge update by any means, but it does mean that the game is one step closer to getting its full release. While the ESRB doesn't have a listing for the game yet, apparently it's common for the Korean committee to release its ratings first, for a reason unbeknownst to us.

This is excellent news for the fans who've stuck around long enough to even remember this game, because Skull & Bones is finally supposed to release sometime next year. As a big fan of pirates myself, this is one I've tentatively kept an eye on over the years after I first saw it at E3 in 2018, and I for?? one will be looking forward to joining the adventure on the high seas...whenever I can.

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Giddy Up

The Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) has dropped a new console listing for pony-punching slugger Them's Fightin' Herds, suggesting that the great indie fighter might be in line for an official retail release ??on PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch in the near future.

A title with an extremely complex history, Them's Fightin' Herds started out as unofficial fan game Fighting is Magic, a one-vs-one fighter based on the excellent My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic TV series by Lauren Faust. After Hasbro's legal team came a-callin', the title was reimagined with original worlds and characters �approved by none other than Faust herself �and would eventually launch on Steam in April of 2020, following a two-year Early Access period.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZd8pQhlxfA&t

Since its launch, developer Mane6 and publisher Modus Games have continued to offer solid support to the niche hoof-smasher, adding new mechanics, modes, stages, and characters. Them's Fightin' Herds �while not the most popular brawler on the block �has developed a passionate and dedicate??d fanbase, and is acclaimed for its cool cartoon visuals, deep ??anime-style combat, and excellent online connectivity.

A console release would only further open up the title's anthropomorphic action to a wider audience, while offering the developer better finances with which to expand the title or fund a potential sequel. As such, the ESRB rating comes as exciting news for the TFH community. We'll be sure to giv??e you a heads up if there is any official word from the Mane6?? crew.

Them's Fightin' Herds is available now on PC via Steam.

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Break out your skateboard

Following on from a previously spotted ESRB rating and a recent Amazon leak, ININ Games has officially revealed Wonder Boy Collection. According to Amazon, the classic compendium will launch in June of this year on ??PS4 and Nintendo Switch, priced at £25, though?? these details are unconfirmed.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh3ex9cja-4

Wonder Boy Collection will include four titles from the... caveman... knight... genie... shapeshifter's golden age of gaming. The compendium includes the original Wonder Boy (1986), Wonder Boy in Monster Land (1987), Wonder Boy in Monster World (1991), and Monster World IV (1994). The four titles will be boosted?? modern features such as visual filte?rs, save states, an art gallery, and a rewind function for that utterly abominable "skidding" mechanic in the original game.

The elephant in the room is that the "Wonder Boy Collection" doesn't feature the best titles in the series, namely the 1989 Sega Master System release Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap nor its incredible Dotemu remake Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap. Also not included is ININ Games' own Monster World IV remake Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World. Licensing issues aside �as that is surely the problem here �the lack of the best game in the seri?es and two recent remakes renders the "collection" moniker a little underwhelming.

Still, for series completionists, pr??e-orders will open "soon."

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Trust in me

It's a day, which means it's the perfect time for the Entertainment Standards Ratings Board (ESRB) to leak the existence of an as-yet-unannounced release. Today, the surprise belongs to Nighthawk Interactive and The House of Mouse, with the reveal of Disney Classic Games Collection.

According to the listing, the new package �rated for PS4, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch �contains three classic platforms from the 16-bit era of Disney Interactive. The collection will include 1993's Aladdin and The Jungle Book, as well as 1994's The Lion King. Of course, both Aladdin and The Lion King were re-released back in late-2019 as Disney Classic Games, so what a treat for fans who purchased that package to have to buy it again, only now featuring the adventures o??f Mowgli, Baloo, Shere Khan �years before they decided to start up an aero-nautical shipping firm.

Neither Disney nor Nighthawk Interactive has officially confirmed the new collection, but we'll be sure to let you know once either studio shows its hand. Disney Classic Games received a selection of special releases from boutique outlet iam8bit, so it's possible that Disney Classic Games Collection might be afforded the same prestige. Either that, ??or it will just get a fairly simple vanilla release featuring only the bare necessities. Either way, we'll keep you inf??ormed.

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QuakeCon 2021 gets underway today

[Update: The Game Rating and Administration Committee of Korea has released its own listing for a Quake Remastered, as spotted by Gematsu.]

Today sees the start of QuakeCon, the long-running fan convention focused on id Software's legendary shooter franchise. And it seems that the festivities have gotten underway a little earlier than expected after the ESRB ratings website dropped a new listing for an as-yet-unannounced new title in the Quake series, as spotted by VGC.

The ESRB's listing for the succinctly titled "Quake" speaks of players exploring a medieval environment populated with horrific monsters and other fantasy creatures, to be fended off with an arsenal of explosive weapons, including Quake's iconic nail gun. Sure sounds like Quake. The listing doesn't give away quite enough clues as to whether the new title is a brand new reboot �ala 2016's Doom �or just a remaster/remake of the 1996 original. This isn't the first clue that more mayhem was incoming, as a since-deleted listing for QuakeCon also spilled the beans on a "revitalized" Quake experience.

Given the QuakeCon goes live today, we'll no doubt receive answers to these questions at some point during the course of the weekend. QuakeCon �which is once again being hosted in an online capacity �will include news and reveals, online tournaments, retrospectives, interviews, art contests, and much more. You can check out the full schedule of events over on the official QuakeCon website, and catch all of the action on a se?lection of offi??cial Twitch channels.

We'll be sure to give y'all a heads-up when the mysterious new Quake ti??tle is officially unveil??ed. Better stock up on screws.

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Keyboard Warriors

The Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) has listed ratings for PC editions of Suda51's 2007 hyper-kinetic action-adventure No More Heroes and its 2010 sequel No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle.

Both titles - previously available for Nintendo Wii and more recently the Nintendo Switch - received an "M for Mature" rating, due to the series' notorious lust for sex and violence. While there has been no official word from current rights holders Marvelous, the new ESRB listings all but confirm that the early adventures of Travis Touchdown will be hitting a PC store near you in the n?ear future.

No More Heroes III is expected to la?unch on Nintendo Sw??itch sometime in 2021.

ESRB rates No More ?Heroes and No More Heroes ??2: Desperate Struggle for PC [Gematsu]

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Season 7 starts with a bang

Electronic Arts has revealed a "Champion Edition" for Respawn Entertainment's Apex Legends. The re-release, which will launch on PS4, PC, and Xbox One alongside the battle royale title's seventh season, will include all Legends to date, along with $100 worth of cosmetic content.

Apex Legends Champion Edition will feature the entire base roster, alongside post-launch DLC characters such as Wattson?, Crypto, Loba, and Rampart, as well as season seven's as-yet-unannounced new Legend. In addition, the Champion Editi??on will come bundled with six Legendary skins, an exclusive Legendary gun charm, and a starting pot of 1,000 Apex Coins. Retailing for around $40, this release would be a perfect jumping-off point for those yet to experience the hectic warfare of the World's Edge.

In other news, the video game ratings board ESRB has now completed its certification process on the previously revealed Ninten?do Switch port, which suggests that Switch fans will given the opportunity to become the last person standing very soon indeed.

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Intended to cover loot boxes and gacha games

If you're in the habit of scanning video game ratings in the United States, you'll soon see a new descriptor pop up: "In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)." The Entertainment Software Rating Board is adopting this descripto?r to cover "purchases with any randomized elements, including loo??t boxes, gacha games, item or card packs, prize wheels, treasure chests, and more."

As explained in a blog post, the ESRB??'s new rating element stems from a push to inform parents.

Curiously, while "parents are far more concerned about th?eir child's ability to spend real money in games than the fact that those in-game purchases may be randomized," the board added that "many game consumers and enthusiasts (not necessarily parents) have reached out to us asking the ESRB to include additional information to identify games that include randomized purchases."

As for that phrasing choice, "loot box is a widely understood phrase in and around the video game industry and among dedicated gamers, but?? most people less familiar with games do not understand it."

The original "In-Game Purchases" notice will still be used for games selling "b?onus levels, skins, music, virtual coins and other forms of in-game currency, subscriptions, season passes, and upgrades."

The new "In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)" disclaimer is reserved for video games with "in-game offers to purchase digital goods or premiums with real-world currency (or with virtual coins or other forms of i??n-game currency that can be purchased with real-world currency) for which the player doesn't know prior to purchase the specific digita??l goods or premiums they will be receiving."

There's more work to be done with disclosing odds – much more – but this is a small step.

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No delays expected during certification process

While the video games industry has been severely impacted by the ongoing COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic, it seems that the certificatio??n process will not be af?fected, at least within Europe and North America.

Both the Pan European Game Information (PEGI) and Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) have both confirmed that, although working remotely, they will continue to process certification for all upcoming titles, allowing upcoming games to pass an important hurdle en route to release. In a statement to IGN, a PEGI spokesper?son said that remote working had left "minimal impact" on operations.

The ratings boards likely released the information following last week's news that Japan's Computer Entertainment Ratings Organization (CERO) has been forced to close its doors after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency, with employees working within various prefectures being sent home until furt??h?er notice.

It remains to be seen whether these actions will see some games delayed in the east but released in the west, not to mention the many titles already pushed back by their respective publishers themselves, such as Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Part II, Square Enix' The Avengers, and CD Projekt RED's Cyberpunk 2077, among others.

ESRB, PEGI reassure on possibility of shutdown [IGN]

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Holster that iron

Following up from its appearance on the ESRB board earlier this mon?th?, Techland has confirmed that Call of Juarez: Gunslinger will be coming digitally to Nintendo Switch on ??December 10, with a new announce trailer confirming the re-release.

Originally arriving for the PS3 and Xbox 360 back in 2013, Gunslinger sees and old fella in a saloon re??count his tall tales of his six-shootin' days to a group of strangers, with each progressively less-believable story playing out as each of the game's stages, which is a really neat concept.

The Nintendo Switch re-release will include motion control and HD Rumble options, alongside all of the rootin'-tootin' varmit shootin' action of the original release. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger will?? be available to download from?? the eShop December 10, priced at around $20.

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It's always high noon

Another day, another surprising port revealed by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board. This time around, fans of the old west and the Nintendo Switch (a natural crossover) will be pleased to hear that 2013's Call of Juarez: Gunslinger has received a new rating for the hybrid console.

Originally developed by Techland for the PS3 and Xbox 360, Gunslinger was the fourth release in the quick-drawin' Call of Juarez series. While its first-person-shooter gameplay is expected stuff, Gunslinger does?? have a neat concept in a unique framing device that sees the entire game being recollected in a saloon, with each stage being one of an increasingly unbelievable series of tales being told to the bar's patrons.

While there is no official word from Techland as of y?et,?? this rating all but confirms the likelihood of a Switch port in the near future. So better saddle up there, pardner.

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger rated for ??Ninten??do Switch [ESRB via Nintendo Enthusiast]

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Angry dude headed to consoles

That leaker of releases, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, are at it again,. This time the ruling body appears to have announced that shooter compendium Serious Sam Collection is locked and loaded for release on PS4 and Xbo??x One.

The description for the game fails to state how many or which titles are included, but fortunately does inform us that both "Fuck" and "Shit" appear ??in the dialogue, also that one character briefly references drugs. ?So be warned.

This won't be the first time Sam's adventures have been gathered together for release, as the Serious Sam Collection also dropped on PS3 and Xbox 360 last gen, comprised of Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter, Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter, Serious Sam 3: BFE, and Serious Sam: Double D XXL. It se?ems likely that this will be a re-rele?ase of said games.

Serio??us Sam Collection rated by ESRB?? for PS4 and Xbox One [ESRB]

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Possible return to 47's past?

We are creeping (through bushes, probably) ever closer to the release of IO Interactive's Hitman 2, which launches November 13 on PS4, PC and Xbox One. But, a recent listing by the Eu??ropean ratings board, the ESRB, appears to show it might not be the only sneak 'n' stab release on the horizon.

Two Hitman titles from the past have been rated for release on PS4 and Xbox One, 2006's Blood Money - considered by some fans to be the best game in the series - and 2012's controversial Absolution, which is far better than its reputation deserves and you give it credit fo??r. Yeah you, I see you there, rolling your eyes...

It's worth noting that both titles already support Xbox One's backward compatibility, but still, we could have a digital release or a double-pack on the horizon. I hope so, as they're both great games, and would slide snugly alongside Warner Bros. Hitman and forthcoming Hitman 2. There are no further details a?t this time, but we will keep you informed.

Hitman 2 launches on PS4, PC and Xbox One November 13.

Hitman: Blood Money and Absolution rated for modern pl?atf??orms by ESRB [Twitter]

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The goalposts have changed, and precious few sales platforms are equipped to deal with it

This week, Valve announced they would permit any game to be hosted on its market-leading platform, Steam, as ?long as it did not contain illegal content and is not what can be ??classified as a "trolling game". This met with praise from people who criticise what they perceive as any form of censorship, but also with a lot of annoyance and anger from people who felt that Valve was washing its hands of its responsibility to reduce hostility on the Steam mark??etplace. 

A little bit of the background leading up to this decision -- Steam has seen a spate of games recently (and perhaps not so recently, if you count examples such as Shower With Your Dad Simulator and Hatred) that could be said to have no artistic merit and are instead aimed solely at enraging people. It also faced recent controversy after cracking down on games with erotic content, a policy that disproportionately ended up affecting LGBTQA?+ and erotic visual novel content. Valve later apologised, looked at its decision to issue take-down notices again, trotted off with its tail between its legs and duly sat down to consider how it was going to respond to the changing ??landscape of content people put up for sale on Steam.

I was seeing a lot of ire directed specifically at Valve, and I do believe that they have misstepped in their new policy (which has already displayed potential for confusion). However, I'm not sure it's that helpful to look just at Valve. It seems as though a lot of the potential fixes for Valve's laissez-faire approach are hindered by just how out of touch moderation and classification of games is as a whole. Instead, it feels as though we should be looking into why Valve have reacted the way they did and look to changing the entire system behind approving games for sale. I really look forward to hearing your opinions on Valve's reaction in the comments, since I know mine might not be shared by everyone!

So, why did Valve react the way they did?

I don't feel like Valve reacted maliciously here or with any sort of bias when it comes to personal politics. Valve, reacting as a business who needs to keep hold of as many customers as possible to make money, panicked and tried to do the crowd-pleasing thing o?f ke??eping the market as open as possible. And in response to the VN scandal mentioned above, this reaction seems to make sense: revert to free-market principles and let those with the money sort the wheat from the chaff.

But it's this panicked reaction -- or what some people might instead see as giving up entirely -- that is a big problem. Valve doesn't have a monopoly when it comes to selling digital games for PC/Mac/Linux, but it sure holds a massive market share, with figures steadily increasing year on year to 18.6 million users as of January 2018.

Steam gets mentioned in the same breath as Uplay, Origin, GOG, and itch.io, but it seems to have an extra level of fame beyond those platforms, in part due to its vastness and also due to its incentives (trading cards) and branch?ing out to other ventures, such as the Steam Machines and the Steam controller. For a giant in the market to throw its hands up and say it doesn't want to deal with the issue of excessively violent or bullying content sets a precedent, and a potentially dangerous one at that.

OK, but why do you care about violence or nasty content on the internet? You can always just not click on a link or walk away from your computer.

Sure, I can, and I have done. But there are people who are more sensitive, whether based on age or due to personal experience, who might not be able to just walk away. There is a separate issue of making sure that sensitive content that might be completely harmless for some people, but deeply upsetting to others, is flagged properly. Yet some content is so egregious that flagging it so that those affected by the issue don't stumble across it doesn't quite get to the heart of the problem with the game (see Active Shooter).

When it comes to age, you might argue that it is the parents' responsibility to watch their sprogs and make sure they're not playing a game stuffed to the gills with gore and profanity. That's true, but this doesn't address the harm that is done. If a parent fails in their ??duty not to hand a violent game to their young child, saying, "oh well, it's the parents' fault" doesn't actually fix anything; the kid is still harmed, and parents of course don't have a right to harm their kids. This is why moderation and classification are important.

And I have, from time to time, accidentally stumbled across something that distressed me greatly. A writer recently wrote a (great) article about how Saya No Uta is an unsung VN that people should give a chance. Unfortunately, against my better judgment and warnings from the article, I dug deeper, and could not ?get the thoughts of that game out of my head for a couple of days, I was so distu?rbed by it.

The games community doesn't really have a duty to protect people like me from their own idiocy, but people do end up seeing content that really gets under their skin in a bad way all the time for all kinds of reasons, perhaps while lookin?g for something else, or while taken over by mo??rbid curiosity. A measured approach to stopping the most extreme instances of this is a pretty good idea.

OK, so what's the problem with Valve's new approach?

Thankfully, Valve has set some standards for its current approach to moderation -- well?, not allowing illegal content on Steam is not really a standard they've set for themselves since they have to comply with that anyway. It's still open to argument as to what counts as a "trolling" game. What if one of the aforementioned school shooter games actually went to great efforts with its mechanics to resemble an earnest attempt at an FPS game? Does it still count as a trolling game?

The real problem with this approach is that many games can pick out certain groups for harassment or abuse, but then bury it under a layer of good game design so that it sneaks past the moderators. And while realistically, this will be the case more ?often for games with abject homophobia, sexism, etc., it can work in all different directions and against all different groups of? people.

If I look back at the piece I wrote on the swatting phenomenon a little while back, people do seem a little more impressionable than they did back in the days when the Hot Coffee argument was a big deal, since gaming culture has become more networked and more entrenched in people's personal lives. We literally have a camera into the? lives of other gamers, now. While violence and sexual content are absolutely not off the table when it comes to games, cooling it a little with the extremism, again, isn't a bad idea.

It's not just that, though -- what counts as illegal? Some games with loot boxes count as gambling and are therefore facing prohibition in the ?N??etherlands. Valve has been shockingly l??ax about this? theme in the past, particularly given the popularity of these games with minors and the seriousness of gambling addiction.

It's a paper thin moderation policy that isn't really going to hold up for very long, as the gaming community starts mercilessly poking holes in it?.

How does this link to the classification of games?

All this talk so far has been about Valve's moderation policy, which is indeed a set policy -- you can't have mods arbitrarily determining what they find great and what they fi??nd disgusting. For one, you only need one mod to go mad with power for?? chaos to ensue, and two, if anyone starts questioning why their game has been taken down, and the reason is entirely down to individual moderator discretion, it's a media shitstorm waiting to happen.

As I've said before, this moderation policy is fragil?e, though it is a policy nonetheless. It is also not a curation approach, where Valve is openly saying it will only allow quality, hand-picked content onto its platform, but rather an approach borne from morality.

If you boil it down, it looks kinda like Valve has created its own classification system for games, albeit not one based on several age categories, but rather one resembling the decision between a game being rated M or AO using the ESRB standards. If a game is rated AO, it is basically unsellable, since it can't be put on the sh??e??lves in stores and console manufacturers don't support AO games; if Valve deems a game immoral by its own?? narrow standards, it can't go up on the store. If it is a digital game, given the considerable number of people who turn to Steam for their game downloads, this can be the kiss ??of death. Very similar principle.

This is important because it gives us extra room to look at alternatives for Valve's issue. As I said, it seems like at best, Valve is in a panic, and at worst, it has given up. Because Steam has not opted to use local game classification standards, unlike console platforms, it can do ??as it likes when it comes to gatekeeping for its own store.

What it could do is put in place a system similar to ESRB, or wholesale adopt ESRB rules, even if the specific game it is looking at hasn't been run past the board?? – say, if the game will never appear on consoles and therefore does not have to be looked at by a classification board in order to be waved through by Sony or Nintendo.

The excellent side to the console system of classification is that the permissions step is removed from the people who ha??ve an interest in selling as many games as possible (Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo), meaning that the entire process is carried out without bias or economic motivations. That everything is ?housed within Valve at the moment for Steam (both setting the classification rules and applying them) is not the most ethical policy on the planet.

Well, the good thing about Steam is that you don't have to show ID to buy a game, but OK, I'll bite... let's use game classification standards when deciding what games go up on Steam.

Not so fast, bud. Theoretically, this might be a ??good idea, but each classification system has its own share o??f problems. 

There are so many regional classification systems for games that trying to count them makes my head spin, and it's not as simple as harmonising everything. There is a solid reason why we have so many different classification systems, for good or for ill, and that's that regional ideas of "morality" vary drastically from country to country. You're more likely to find guns and blood in an 18-rated game in the US that you are to see a bare breast, but in other regions, the opposite might be true. So trying to come up with a unified standard would be a logi??stical nightmare that practically?? nobody would agree to follow.

But, OK, let's say because Valve is based in the US, it piggybacks off ESRB standards; it already shows ESRB ratings if they happen to already be available for the game. As I said before, Westernised standards are more permissive with violence than they are with sexual content, which might be part of the reason why the VN scandal happened in the first place. There has also been some backlash against Agony for its fairly unnuanced and perverted look at a hells??cape, which is a console game on general release in the US and Europe, and therefore passed muster with both PEGI and ESRB.

But the appetite for games that explore sexuality and allow people who are queer to see representati??on on scre??en has grown?? in recent times, and the classification boards haven't quite cau??ght up with this yet. The idea that sexual content might not be to titillate but to educate and to express different lifestyles is a relatively new one.

With the raft of active shooter sims and such, it's worth pointing out that boards have, for a while, taken into consideration not just levels of violence but also the spirit behind such violence. The meandering, also pornographic focus on executions in Manhunt 2 is precisely why that game juddered to a halt with the BBFC in the UK (the BBFC is a non-governmental, independent classification board in the UK that acts parallel to PEGI). But we haven't quite seen violence so gaudy and empty as we do with the recent? wave of "troll" games.

A cl?assification board would also struggle to handle the concept of an "AIDS Simulator" game since it's hard to point a finger at what traditional c?ategory its objectionable nature fits into. There's no especially horrific violence, drug use, gambling, fear or sex involved; the problem is its racist undertones and, well, "are you fucking kidding me, this is sick, show some goddamn respect".

So a lot of classification systems need dragging by their hair into the? 21st century, which sort of explains why Valve has been having so many issues with its moderation policy but p?aints us into a bit of a corner when it comes to finding a solution for this mess.

itch.io's CEO has spoken on the issue and the consensus seems to be that itch.io's approach strikes an excellent balance, but it is operating on a much smaller scale than Steam. Perhaps it hasn't dealt with a wave of abusive games like Steam has, precisely because it is more developer-oriented than consumer-oriented and because it doesn't get quite the same level of attention as Steam. GOG also became an unlikely ch?ampion of erotic VNs as a medium, and so I have hope that some platforms can set their own standards and execute them well, refraining from yucking on other people's?? yums. Some pl??atforms, like Steam, struggle and require external help. But I'm not sure the external help is there just yet.

So ultimately, you're saying that when a platform runs into multiple scandals, it should have to follow external standards. Isn't that a bit menacing and infringing on Valve's right to run its own business?

With a lot of businesses, whenever standards are lagging, the inspectors come in, be that health inspection, scho??ol inspections or simply someone from head office coming in to check whether a franchise is being run correctly. Since Steam deals with sensitive content, I find it a little hard to believe that Valve would be left to its own devices on this one, especially when some of its direct competitors have bowed deeply to exter??nal standards, e.g. the console market.

The best thing for Valve, if it is really ??struggling to put together a sensible policy, is to apply a policy drafted externally. This could be using its own mods, or it could separate the process entirely by using external mods. While not acting with any form of intent to cause harm, Valve's indecisiveness is a product of a lack of checks and balances. If we can get on top of the issue of games classification, on the whole, being a bi?t borked, then we will have a suitable set of checks and balances that can be applied at any time – once Valve holds its hands up and admits it has no idea what it's doing.

What are your thoughts on Valve's new policy? Do you think Valve got it spot on, or is it going off the rails? What do you think about the idea of Valve abdicating responsibility for approving games to a third party? Let me know in the comments down below!

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Heel dragging paused

Finally getting off their asses and doing something about the rampant problem of runaway in-game purchases, the Electronic Software Rating Board announced today that the?y will begin to label physical releases of games that contain in-game purchases with a warning. The label will act similar to that of the ones that came about when interactive online play became more mainstream where it won't affect that game's rating but is deemed important enough to warn purchasers about.

The announcement was made earlier today in a tweet that also announced they would begin a new informational campaign aimed at parents completely dedicated to explaining the concepts of in-game purchases and the differences between something like the downloadable tracks of Mario Kart 8? and the predatory pseudo-gam??bling mechanic of loot boxes.

An update on in-game purchases from your friends at ESRB: pic.twitter.com/pqmfJe0Ywz

— ESRB (@ESRBRatings) February 27, 2018

The website as of now just acts as a quick information hub to tell parents ?how to set controls that limit in-game purchases but the ESRB has promised that it will be expanding on this in the near future.

The biggest issue I see currently is that all in-game purchas??es are treated as equal in regards to the label when they really aren't. The ESRB hopes the Parental Tools website will help in this mat?ter but to expect a parent to go to a website to learn about game purchases is redundant when the label can just as easily signify which type of purchases are in a game.

So while this is not nearly as much of an effort that I'd like to see in regards to this matter, the fact that t?he ESRB made the incredibly hard decision to add this all-encompassing label when they haven't done anything like this before is a good sign. Oh wait, they already did use this label on digital storefronts but were dragging their? heels to put it on physical boxes. Why? Is it because it's much more prominent in a physical storefront when mommy buys little Timmy a game from their favorite movie series? Too hard to update the print template? Cthulhu threatening them with eons of relentless torture behind the scenes if they actually warn parents about these predatory practices?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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'Chainsaw beats Monkey'

After numerous ratings board reveals and even a Play-Asia pre-order page, Warner Bros. have finally officially announced Scribblenauts Showdown, coming to consoles this March.

The word-based platform-puzzler will feature all new party modes, allowing multiple players to scribble it out in over 25 tasks and mini-games. These include fishing, eating competitions, racing modes and drone-assisted deliveries, according to the game's latest ESRB rating.

Sandbox mode will feature classic Scribblenauts action, with one or two players adventuring through a series of levels, solving problems and collecting hidden items with the aid of little more than their ima?gination and a wealth of objects and animals plucked straight from their heads. Not literally, that would be hideous.

You can check out the new teaser trailer, and its intolerable narration, below. Scribblenauts Showdown will launch f?or PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on March 6 in North America and March ?9 in Europe.

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But Undead Labs isn't sharing a release date yet

Along with Sea of Thieves (and let's be honest, plenty more PUBG), State of Decay 2 is one of the cooperative games I'm most looking forward to this year. Undead Labs and Microsoft Studios have been fairly quiet about the zombie survival game, but it seems to be making steady progress all the sa?me.

Today, the ESRB rated State of Decay 2.

.@StateOfDecay 2 (#PC, #XboxOne) from @undeadlabs and @MSStudiosBlog is rated #MforMature!

Click here for more: //t.co/Ifu3v16d2m pic.twitter.com/asqyVEbbqD

— ESRB (@ESRBRatings) January 8, 2018

The summary d??oesn't really tell us anything ?new, but if you're curious, knock yourself out.

This is a third-person action/simulation game in which players assume the role of su??rvivors in a zombie apocalypse. Players explore small towns and rural settings, locate survivors, and battle hordes of swarming zombies. Players use baseball bats, meat cleavers, machetes, grenades, and machine guns to kill zombies in frenetic melee-style combat. Several weapons allow players to crush/maim zombies' heads; grenade blasts also depict blood and dismemberment.

If other human survivors become infected or ill, players can choose to “euthanize” them by shooting them in the head at close range, resulting in decapitation and large blood-splatter effects. During the course of the game, players can build an infirmary in which they can craft painki??llers and opiates; specific drugs referenced include Herbal Remedy, Painkillers, Opiates, Amphetamines, and Pentamezin (a fictional prescription drug). The words “f**k,” “sh*t,” and “a*shole” appear in the dialogue.

Following this roundabout status update on the game's production, Undead Labs also confirmed th??at while it still can't commit to a release date, the developers are "confide??nt for a Spring release."

ESRB [Twitter]

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And it's on sale, too

If you caught Kevin's review of Splasher and thought it sounded like the sort of platformer you'd dig on Nintendo Switch -- I mean, ??he scored it a nine outta ten! -- then here's a double dose of? good news.

First, the game is back on the eShop. It was recently taken down due to an "age rating issue" with the ESRB, and now that it's been reclassified under the Teen rating category (for "Fantasy Vio??lence, Mild Blood, Language, Use of Tobacco"), it's once again available for purchase on the Switch.

Second, Splasher has returned with a discount in tow. It's $11.99 (20 percent off) in Nor??th America. While it's fairly common to hear about games being del??isted over licensing issues and what have you, it's not every day you see a game disappear and resurface because of its age rating.

[Via Nintendo Everything]

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I read this so you won't have to

Today, in response to a petition made to the UK Parliament, the government has given its response to concerned English citizens about loot boxes in video games. First, here is what the petit??ion said:  

“Many video game companies in recent years have introduced mechanics which are essentially gambling of which are targeted at children and vulnerable adults. While not currently considers gambling by law they do copy many traits to make them as addictive and can lead to real money being lost/earn?ed.”

“Ga?mbling in video games mostly involves 'loot boxes' where players use virt??ual currency (often bought with real money) to earn in game items often worth less than what they paid (sometimes more) hence its gambling.  Currently only china has introduced new laws to force companies to display the odds of winning which had been standard in the uk gambling industry for years.”

The government&rsqu?o;s response is wordy and not very fun to read, so I will try and break down the main points.

Firstly, they want to distinguish games with gambling from those that don’t match the legal definition of gamb?ling. In their definition, only games that have ??prizes that can be turned into actual money outside of the game are participating in actual gambling. Games with prizes whose value is in-?game only are not actually gambling.

Right from the get-go, this definition is a little … debatable. They seem to be focusing in on whether money can be earned from loot? boxes, which isn’t the whole problem. The petition was concerned about people putting money into the game and earning prizes valuing less than what you put in. It also ignores the fact that people can consider in-game prizes valuable outside of their ability to earn you real-world cash.

They go on to s?ay that consumers are protected by the “Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.” Since I didn’t know what that phrase was supposed to mean, I looked it up and it seems to be a piece of legislation that can be used to punish companies with unfair business practices. So if a game developer was doing false advertisements or extorting their customers, this is what they could be charged under. Let’s take a moment here to point out that the UK government specifically mentions extortion several times in this response - I don’t think anyone was claiming that loot boxes were somehow threatening physical harm to anyone. Anyway.

They end by pointing out that their Video Standards Council Rating Board is the group charged with classifying video ga??mes. They’ve been rating games with simulated gambling a PEGI 12 - so they’re doing their jobs just fine. The “stop complaining about this” is not actually written out, but it’s pretty heavily implied. This last part is a bit confusing, and not just because the UK thinks 12-year-olds should be allowed to gamble.

While the original petit?ion does mention concerns about children gambling, it’s really focused on the dangers of gambling, regardless of age. Gambling is not related to the Video Standards Council or the game ratings. And the issue isn’t ‘simulated gambling’ - it’s whether loot boxes are using a gambling-type system. I’m trying to report as objective??ly as possible about this, but comparing the petition and the response, I can’t be certain they actually read the petition at ??all.  

Regardless of where you stand on the whole loo?t-box issue, I think it’s safe to? say that this response is pretty… useless. Actually, the exact same kind of useless as the ESRB’s response earlier this month. All it does is show that the US and UK governments are completely oblivious to the actual question at hand, even when peopl??e are nice enough to write it out. In my opinion, for whatever that’s worth, while this is billed as a response to the loot box controversy, it won’t be any help to either side of the issue.

Adapt gambling laws to include gambling in video gam??es which targets children. [Petitions - UK Government and Parliament]

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You can't make a decision if it's someone else's problem

Loot boxes are...a thing. A thing that has become a big problem in recent years du?e to their gradual advance into AAA titles that gamers have already paid a hefty chunk of change for.

It started out okay enough; loot boxes were confined to free-to-play titles. Then they infiltrated Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Now they've invaded Overwatch, Halo 5: Guardians, Middle-earth: Shadow of War, and Star Wars Battlefront II. With these microtransactions rooted in every big game these days, it's time for us to ask:? Are loot boxes gam??bling?

Well, if you're PEGI, you tell people to?? ask someone else.

We reported yesterday that the ESRB doesn't think loot boxes are gambling given that the player is guaranteed content i?n exchange for money, comparing the consumable items to collectable cards. ??However, PEGI - Europe's version of the ESRB - has a slightly different stance on the matter.

In an email exchange with Wccftech, PEGI's Ope?rations D?irector Dirk Bosmans said they aren't the organization that should be defining what gambling is.

"Our approach is similar to that of ESRB (I think all rating boards do, USK in Germany as well). The main reason for this is that we cannot define what constitutes gambling. That is the responsibility of a national gambling commission. Ou?r gambling content descriptor is given to games that simulate or teach gambling as it’s done in real life in casinos, racetracks, etc. If a gambling commission would state that loot boxes are a form of gambling, then we would have to adjust our criteria to that."

What this means is that instead of talking to v??ideo game ratings boards, PEGI thinks that we should be asking that question towards gambling commissions. This might seem fine for Europe, but for the United States, there is no national gambling commission. There are instead multiple gambling commissions that govern a geographical area - usually a state. Doesn't that make it difficult to institute bottom-up change in the video game industry?

We get it. Loot boxes seem to be making the industry a lot of money. That doesn't mean the industry and regulatory agencies should pass the buck without giving their two ce??nts. These consumables are infesting our games, and there has to be a better response than flippantly suggesting that it's the consumers problem. 

PEGI on Loot Boxes: We Can’t Def??ine What’s Gambling, Only A Gambling Commission Can [Wccftech]

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No betting, means no cause for harm then, right?

The first major appea?rance of loot boxes in the western marketplace was in September 2010,?? when Valve transitioned Team Fortress 2 from a pay-once model to a free-to-play model. Players could earn "crates" that could be opened with purchasable keys, and since then, this model has evolved and become extremely popular in the marketplace -- regardless of the game's price.

The practice ranges from simply of??fering cosmetic items, such as the case with Overwatch, to potentially giving an edge early into the launch of the game's multiplayer, which many are now criticizing the upcoming Star Wars Battlefront II for allowing. Games like Battlefront II and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor have resulted in players voicing their concerns on how far the line is being blurred between microtransactions and w??hat many are now considering straight-up gambling.

Due to these recent events, loot boxes have quickly become a point of contention for many, including for other notable online figures such as John “Totalbiscuit” Bain, who recently made a video re??garding the topic, calling for the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) to classify loot boxes as gambling.

Certain review aggregation websites, such as OpenCritic, are even looking now to add filters to warn and inform potential customers of game?s utilizing these types of transactions and p?aid content.

?We're going to take a stand against loot boxes. We're looking into way??s to add business model information to OpenCritic.

— OpenCritic (@Open_Critic) October 9, 2017

However, in an e-mail to Kotaku??, the ESRB ??doesn't exactly agree. A representative had this to say on the subject:

"ESRB does not consider loot boxes to be gambling. While there’s an element of chance in these mechanics, the player is always guaranteed to receive in?-game content (even if the player unfortunately receives something they don’t want). We think of it as a similar principle to collectible card games: Sometimes you’ll open a pack and get a brand new holographic card you’ve had your eye on ?for a while. But other times you’ll end up with a pack of cards you already have."

Basically, their argument boils down to the fact that players aren't necessarily betting real currency o??r their own money in these games for this to be considered gambling. But, many within the gaming community are still comparing loot boxes to that of slot machines, in regards to how they function.

With video game development becoming more expensive, an?d the average AAA game costing in the millions, publishers are going to look for every possible opportunity to make a return on their investment -- there's no avoiding that. That said, it'll be interesting to see how this pans out in the coming months, maybe even years, if the ESRB (or someone else?) attemp??ts to make regulations in regards to this nature of transaction within the video game industry.

ESRB Says It Doesn't See 'Loot Boxes' As Gambling [Kotaku]

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Mario's nipples are not for all ages

Super Mario Odyssey will?? be the first mainline Mario game ??to receive a CERO B rating in Japan.

CERO is Japan's video?? game classification board. Much like ESRB in the United States, CERO is used to help parents decide what games are appropriate for their childre??n.

Up until now, every core entry in the Mario series has been given a rating of CERO A (suitable for all ages.) Super Mario Odyssey is breaking the streak with a C?ERO B rating (suitable for 12 years and above.)

It? remains to be seen what prompted the new rating, but I'd wager it has something to do with Peach's forced marriage to Bowser and Mario's exposed nipples.

Super Mario Ody??ssey is the first Mario game to get a CERO B rating in Japan [Nintendo Soup]

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Yahoo! Bing Bing

Since the induction of ESRB ratings in 1994, no Super Mario series title has ever received a rating higher than E. Yoshi's Island and Super Mario 64 used the old "Kids to Adults" which has since been replaced by the E for everyone rating. Every Mario entry since has understandably received this E rating. However, Super Mario Odyssey has been given a rating of E10+, for everyone ages ten and up.

The E10+ rating is described by the ESRB as containing "cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes." Perhaps bouncing on relatively realistic humans heads, forced marriage, and dinosaur possession capture have played a role. I doubt the Sombrero-and-Poncho-wearing Mario will down a tequila. 

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Flexed gluteus

Gaming, as it is today, is fairly open to creative ideas. There are no real limits on the stuff pe?ople can make and that is good. No one benefits from media that censors impo?rtant subjects, even if gaming tends to muck up the subject material.

The early '90s saw new energy being put forth into the industry, but it also had a bit of a problem; there was no guideline as to what a game included. Without proper notification of the content of a game or movie or a song, how can you protect the ?children?

Whether you agree that children should be "save?d" or not, the formation of the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) was a landmark event in gaming's evolution. The government almost stepped in to regulate our beloved hobby, which would have resulted in horribly butchered games.

The Gaming Historian, a YouTube channel that documents significant events in the industry's history, has compiled a bunch of material into a short documentary on the ESRB. It covers everything from the three main games brought under fire by politicians (Night Trap, Mortal Kombat, and The Lethal Enforcers) to the actual hearings on industry sel??f-regulation.

Even if you know all of this stuff, the video acts as a nice reminder of how the world was and what could have been. It also makes me nostalgic for the days when I was unable to legally buy Mortal Kombat. Thankfully, my mom gave a shit abou?t my well-being, so she play?ed it with me.

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Whoops

Gal Gun: Double Peace is a new PS4 and Vita title the ESRB describes as an adventure game where, after the protagonist is struck by cupid's arrow, players m?ust "fend off female characters," who are often de??picted "wearing revealing outfits" (such as lingerie) and in "sexually suggestive positions," which include being "stuck in windows, arched on the ground, [and] restrained by a tentacle monster."

Futhermore, there is "a 'Doki-Doki' mode, in? which a 360-degree view of female characters is depicted; players attempt to bring characters (clothed) into a state of euphoria by using a cursor to click on various body parts (e.g., face, legs, chest). Sexual moaning sounds can sometimes be heard??.

"The dialogue also contains sexual innuendo and provocative material," the ratings board's product description concludes, with the examples: “Are you sure you can pull out in time?”; “Can you show me your b??oobs?"; “You're doing it so hard… I think I'm about to…”; and “I'll rip your clothes off lustfully!&rdq?uo;

So, let'??s  ?just say it's a bit amusing the back of the box reads "E" for "Sexual Content:"

Heh... At lea??st they got everything right on the front, I suppose.

[Via @Wario64, @KingFrostFive]

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Thanks, ESRB!

[Update: Atlus has addressed the box art situation here and here.]

Today the North American release date of Persona 5 was announced with images of the localized box art in tow, to which there were some minor changes. The cat-like creature known as Morgana -- seen on the bottom left corner of the box art -- has been sli?ghtly moved cover up the cleavage of another character.

While some may cry censorship, this is just?? another case of localization changes made to help a product better match the market it is releasing in. I did an ocular patdown of the situation and from the looks of it the ESRB rating logo is a bit larger than the CERO rating found on the Japanese box, so without moving Morgana a good deal of her face would be obscured.

As she seems like an important character, it just makes sense.

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