5 ms·
Seems like a good summary of the state of the law. This below, however, seems like very poor reasoning on ESRB's part. Similarly, the Entertainment Software R
by avsteele 7y ago
Seems like a good summary of the state of the law.
This below, however, seems like very poor reasoning on ESRB's part.
Similarly, the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), a self-regulatory organization responsible for flagging games for mature content and providing content descriptors, refuses to classify loot boxes as gambling.[15]An ESRB spokesperson recently stated, “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).”
This argument differentiates loot boxes from slot machines and lotteries where the participant is not always guaranteed a prize. Additionally, some foreign governments, such as the United Kingdom and New Zealand, have declared that loot boxes are in fact not gambling.
The guarantee of 'any' prize really isn't substantive given the vast differences in rarity/value placed on on the range of reward
- TeMPOraL 7y agoCould that argument be now used against slot machines being classified as gambling, since they always reward players with an experience?
- snarfy 7y agoBy their reasoning slot machines are not gambling if the casino has a rewards card program.
- caf 7y agoAgreed - if that was all it took to make something no longer "gambling", it would be simple enough to modify slot machines to dispense a small piece of paper with a random joke printed on it as the prize when no monetary prize was won.
- Aengeuad 7y agoThis is almost exactly the system Japan has(had?) with Pachinko machines, where you don't get a monetary reward directly but a building next door will 'buy' the prizes that you do receive for real money, effectively skirting the gambling legislation. The irony is that when Gamefreak implemented this as a gameplay mechanic in the Pokemon games in the form of the Game Corner the games got a 12+ rating[0] from Pegi, the European equivalent to the American ESRB, as the games featured 'games of chance that are played as a traditional means of gambling'. The games in this region also renamed the machines to 'Game Machines' from 'Slot Machines' although I can't find out whether this was before or after the games originally released or whether it happened while the games were being rated. The ESRB rated the Pokemon games as E for Everybody but noted that some of the games contain 'simulated gambling'[1], although not all Pokemon games with the Game Corner got similar notices. Nintento decided to remove the Games Corner entirely from European releases because of the 12+ rating. It's absolutely astounding then that games like NBA 2K20 can feature actual factual slot machines[2] and other de facto gambling machines on top of lootboxes and neither Pegi or the ESRB mention this at all[3][4] and happily gave the game a 3+ rating. Part of me has to wonder why this is, in the Pokemon games the gambling is entirely self contained within the game and there's absolutely no real world monetary value attached to it, while NBA and other games featuring loot boxes are sitting on absolute cash cows not only for the developers who can sell keys to boxes but also for the players who have the chance of opening rare skins that can be worth hundreds of dollars. [0] https://pegi.info/search-pegi?q=pokemon%20blue https://pegi.info/search-pegi?q=pokemon%20blue - sorry, can't link directly to the game(s) [1] https://www.esrb.org/ratings/35048/Pok%C3%A9mon+Silver+Version/ https://www.esrb.org/ratings/35048/Pok%C3%A9mon+Silver+Versi... [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46MQ1ZMZ-l4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46MQ1ZMZ-l4 [3] https://pegi.info/search-pegi?q=nba+2k20 https://pegi.info/search-pegi?q=nba+2k20 [4] https://www.esrb.org/ratings/36442/NBA+2K20/ https://www.esrb.org/ratings/36442/NBA+2K20/
- magashna 7y agoBut we've had those 25c toy machines at your local grocers forever. And places like Chuck E Cheese have always been basically Vegas for children. The concept isn't new, it's just mainstream. I'm still of the opinion that parents should parent instead of over-regulating this
- cgearhart 7y agoOrganizing with other adults to regulate a practice that appears potentially harmful to our kids is “parenting”.
- magashna 7y agoThey're not my parents, why do I want them meddling in my life?
- coldcode 7y agoIf I ask you for money and give you an empty box 10 times in a row, in the hope that there is something in the box, would you not be losing money? Arguing you are still getting a box is sort of silly.