Bad Bioware! BAD!

[4thofeleven]

BioWare's sci-fi epic Mass Effect 2 has come under fire for not having the option of homosexual relationships... According to [ME2 Executive Producer] Hudson... it didn't fit with the general level of maturity BioWare wanted for the game. "We still view it as... if you're picturing a PG-13 action movie," he said. "That's how we're trying to design it. So that's why the love interest is relatively light."
  - BioWare Explains Why There's No Homosexuality in Mass Effect 2
 

You know, I always have trouble understanding how the American rating system works. I'm glad to have this cleared up - Mass Effect 2 would be PG-13. So, to clarify: Repeated rape references (Jack's backstory, Jacob's loyalty mission), bisexual female sex vampire (Morinth), woman being bloodily disasembled into a grey paste - all PG-13. Garrus stopping by Male Shepard's quarters with a bottle of wine - R!

So simple!

Comments

[sodzilla.livejournal.com]

*sighs* But you see, rape and gory violence are comfortingly familiar to the audience! Whereas gay sex, especially if presented as Not A Big Deal, might force them to *gasp* think outside the box!

[4thofeleven.livejournal.com]

You know, I think they could take advantage of this - throw in a gay romance and then market their game as the ULTIMATE dark, gritty, adult gaming experience! CAN YOU HANDLE IT?!

[sunnyskywalker]

I'm pretty sure I've seen this reasoning before, but I forget from which companies. The MPAA system has the potential to make sense, but there's too much of this sort of thing screwing it up. (Also, tons of violence = PG so long as you don't see too much blood, because most kids are not like my cousin who thought stormtroopers murdering Rebels and Vader marching in and strangling a guy was scary. They're already inured to that sort of thing.)

[4thofeleven.livejournal.com]

To be fair, doesn't Star Wars predate the division of PG into PG and PG-13?

What really bugs me with Australia's rating system is there's completely different classifications and categories for movies, TV shows and games.

[sunnyskywalker]

I think it does, but it's been re-released often enough that they'd have plenty of opportunity to change it if they wanted. Maybe that's the real reason Lucas made Greedo shoot first - if one of the heroes killed someone in cold blood, maybe the rating would go up, and we can't have that! Must sell to the kindergarteners! (And yes, I would totally believe that the person doing the killing would matter in this system. It's not as violent if it's a bad guy or self-defense, even if Greedo ends up crispy-charred just the same. Somehow.)

We've got a TV rating system too, though it isn't always displayed, so I'm not entirely sure how it works. The only rating I can remember is TV-14, and the little warning labels they add, like "violence" or "language." (Don't ask me why they don't say "inappropriate language." Of course most TV shows have language. Even silent films have language in the title cards.)

[4thofeleven.livejournal.com]

I've always been amused that a few years back, the "Adult Themes" warning was reduced to just "Themes".

Oh no, themes! Possibly it contains motifs and metaphors too!