ESRB to Naughty Dog: Kill People All You Like, Just Don't Shoot Any Critters

The SCEE blog Three Speech, had its readers send in some questions for Naughty Dog’s Evan Wells about Uncharted or anything else they felt would pass the site’s censors. Most questions ran the usual gambit of gaming related queries, but one in particular stood out a bit from the rest only because of the answer Wells gave.

Question: There are beautifully animated fish in the water, but I can’t shoot them?

Answer: We had hit reactions and even some death animations for the wildlife in the game but we chose to remove it. It was flagged as a potential issue by the ESRB and it seemed like a small concession to make in order to maintain our “Teen” rating. It may have also affected the rating in Europe.

Basically what the ESRB would have implied if these abilities were added to the game, is that it is okay to kill your fellow man any which way you can, but you can’t kill the fishies.

While some of us may argue about this strange sense of morality, I for one can kind of see the ESRB’s point on the matter. Granted, there are many games in which you have to kill an animal be it a dog, bear, wolf, or crazed hart, but usually these animals are attacking you. If you were allowed to kill an animal in the game just for the sake of killing it, what kind of message is being sent? I myself, have a hard time when playing RPGs, killing a wolf, bear, or boar for its meat or fur to complete a quest. This is mainly because I hate the “crying” sounds they make when you are slashing them with your sword or shooting them with your bow. I especially hate it when I have to kill a wolf because not only are they one of my favorite animals, but they are basically a dog, and being the huge dog lover that I am, it makes me feel dirty.

Maybe I feel this way because I am what you would call a softhearted female. Maybe it is because I rescue animals in real life, or maybe it is just because I don’t usually kill gratuitously in games anyway. Sure, it is hilarious in the GTA games when you accidentally run over a pedestrian - but I try to avoid it and if it was not so comical of a death for them, it may even make me feel bad in some sense. Sure, I love to slaughter demons, bad guys, orcs, and rats in games, but I like to kill BAD GUYS. Usually animals in games are there for the scenery, and unless one is attacking me I usually just ignore it.

I do not know the reasons why the ESRB would have given Uncharted an “M” rating for being able to kill fish, but I have a theory of my own which may give us a clue to their way of thinking on the subject. First of all, animals - like the elderly and children - are considered innocent beings. I am sure we all know an old fart who is as mean as the day is long, but that particular person non-withstanding, capping old ladies just isn’t nice. Neither is a hurting child. While it may be acceptable to kill humans in games, usually there is a good reason we are doing it. They are evil and out to conquer the world or put your head on a spike. Therefore, it is okay to slaughter them endlessly. Most people who play games, know that it is not socially acceptable to go around running people down with their cars, shooting them, or shoving a broad sword to their chest cavity, but there are plenty of sickos out there who think it is “okay” to kill animals for their own sick perversions.

It is a commonly known fact that most serial killers started out torturing animals. Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ed Gein and many others from Wisconsin (kidding people) all started out hurting little furry creatures before moving on to human territory. Maybe this is another reason why the ESRB would have found fault with a “T” rating for a game where you kill innocent fish. They are afraid that we will all start wearing suits made from cadavers someday, or cannibalizing our neighbors. Not really sure, but no one likes to see innocence being murdered, no matter if it is in a game or real life.

Whatever their reasons, I am sure it has to do with the mental stability of our future generations - and while it may seem strange to give the green light to shooting dozens of people and not giving a thumbs up to shooting cats off the sofa, it is not such a bad thing really.

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