Does SSB Brawl Earn a "T"

A recent article on Joystiq refers to another blog asking the question, "Does Super Smash Bros. Brawl earn the "T for Teen" rating it received?" I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents to this discussion here on my blog.

I think that over the past few years, ever since the last generation of consoles, ESRB has gotten tougher on ratings. I was slightly surprised with Halo: CE's rating being "M" and as well as Super Smash Bros. Melee being "T". Some accredit this crackdown on ratings to improved graphics, but I doubt that has much to do with it if anything at all. I think ESRB stepped up their ratings when the government started paying more attention to games. Of course the whole scandal over the goriness of Doom was more than 5 years before the last generation of games, but maybe it just took them until 2001 for ESRB to come up with the idea of, "Ok, people are complaining that kids are playing these games, we'll just make the ratings tougher so more parents won't let kids play them." I think it's a good solution, annoying for kids (I was in that position for a while,) but regardless, to get people in Washington and certain Floridian attorneys to shut up, it's worth it.

But if you think into it deeper, some games out there do deserve the M rating and shouldn't be played by most kids, in fact most of them do. But there are a some that could've gotten a T. Like wise with T games that could've gotten an E. When parents realize that this rating was a little strict, they might generalize that with all other games with that rating and end up getting their kids a game they shouldn't.

In the end, (assuming my prediction is right,) I think ESRB should give their honest opinions and ratings on games and not let politics get involved and influence their decision.