Pinball After Dark

[LanceBoyle]

I don't really understand the makeup of ratings for vid games, what exactly moves things from E to Teen. I had a conversation with Norman at FS where I argued that things said in Medieval Madness were every bit as suggestive as things said in Scared Stiff, and he agreed that MM might have slipped under the radar. I think FS was trusting that if the ROM didn't have a family mode, it must have been okay.

I should point out, I'm basing my opinions entirely on how things are viewed in the US.

If the ratings are for video games are anywhere near as screwy as they are for movies, well who knows what constitutes an 'After Dark' table. For instance, if someone smokes in a movie now, it is an automatic PG-13 unless it is being used as an argument against. You can drop a maximum of 2 F-bombs in a PG-13 movie so long as they are not used in a sexual context. "Drop the f__kin' gun!" = PG-13, while "You motherf__ker" = R. Bloody squib hits are not allowed in a PG flick, and are heavily frowned upon in PG-13. However, if you are shooting at an alien with green or blue blood, buckets of the stuff can flow. I'm not sure how accurate this is, but I had heard that kicking a person in the face while doing martial arts would get you an automatic R. The Matrix could have been PG-13 were it not for that and the use of songs with swearing in the end credits.

I look back at movies from 25 years ago that were rated PG, and many of them would be considered R now. Sixteen Candles, with swearing, teen drinking, nudity? Or Better Off Dead where a character is snorting whatever he thinks could get him high, and they show it? Beastmaster or Sheena where Tonya Roberts got nekkid for long stretches of screen time?

Point is, we may laugh at what might be considered an 'After Dark' title, but the politically correct age we live in now, who knows what gets the ESRB's panties in a bunch.

I still find it kind of odd how many 80s PG-rated flicks got away with stuff like "s**t" and whatnot. I think one of the oddest examples I've found thus far, though, and it's not a movie, is a recent sitcom called Men at Work, from TBS (Comedy Central airs it in Latin America) which gets away with, again, "s**t" as well as others like "a**hole", "d***head" and whatnot. I'm gonna take a guess on it being rated TV-14, tho.

As for ratings, I honestly think ESRB's at least changed a bit, 'cause you have something like The Witcher 2, which has some sex scenes (with full-frontal visible) and it still got an M rating, when other games that had such things (such as Indigo Prophecy/Fahrenheit and the original Witcher) got slapped with the AO rating.

An even weirder case of ratings, though, is with the recent iOS port of Carmageddon: the original was hugely controversial when it came out back in '97, it got censored in certain countries, and in others even banned. Apple's rating boards gave it a 12+. Not kidding. And you can run over pretty much anything on this, with gory details.

There's a decent documentary about the MPAA called This Film Is Not Yet Rated. Check it out if you want to hear about how much of a sham it is.

I saw that a few years ago. It's pretty good stuff.

 

[Kolchak357]

I don't think I ever played a pin in an arcade that I ever considered too suggestive or violent that this would be an issue. But I have no clue how these rating things work. In any case, if this gets us Bram Stoker's Dracula or Tales From The Crypt then I'm not gonna complain.

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

play FAMILY GUY just pressing start with no credits you get Quagmire saying "It takes money to turn me on Oh!" or Brian farting bubble gum for the match

 

[Bowflex]

I wonder if this will allow some tables like BSDrac to come out. It's been speculated that the license isn't likely very out of reach and probably wouldn't need a kickstarter. That is way too popular of a table and I would have thought it would have been out by now. Perhaps Farsight felt it may put them over the threshold for an e10 rating. If that's the case, it could really round out the digital pinball recreations.

 

[shutyertrap]

Ya gotta figure that an E 10 is essentially a G to light PG rating. So while most of these things wouldn't shock a typical adult, those same adults might be the very ones shielding their child's eyes and ears from anything remotely suggestive.

 

[Bowflex]

Ya gotta figure that an E 10 is essentially a G to light PG rating. So while most of these things wouldn't shock a typical adult, those same adults might be the very ones shielding their child's eyes and ears from anything remotely suggestive.

That's the problem with the world. All these parents coddling their kids!!!

 

[Munky]

I think the vast majority of TPA players are adult pinball fans. Farsight just needs to sack up and tell people to take their preconceived notions about how "innocent" their little darlings are and shove em! For example, I'm 35 and I can recall knowing what c**k or p***y meant in 2nd-3rd grade.

 

[shutyertrap]

I think the vast majority of TPA players are adult pinball fans. Farsight just needs to sack up and tell people to take their preconceived notions about how "innocent" their little darlings are and shove em! For example, I'm 35 and I can recall knowing what c**k or p***y meant in 2nd-3rd grade.

Thankfully my 2nd grader son doesn't! That being said, he's played Scared Stiff many times and I know all the innuendo just goes right over his head.

 

[Heretic]

lol, ya dint wanna know what i was doing in the 3rd grade

 

[gooche77]

lol, ya dint wanna know what i was doing in the 3rd grade

You were losing your virginity whilst riding a stolen Harley doing blow out of a hooker's navel? Oh yeah, you were also drunk.

 

[Bowflex]

Those were jus his standard goals. Wait for him to tell you about his third grade wizard goals he achieved!!!

 

[Mike Lindsey]

Good idea! lol :-D

 

[StarDust4Ever]

I like the concept of an "after dark" pinball, but I don't see how it would be viable. Currently the Pro mode of Scared Stiff has some awesome dialog in it, but nothing but double entendres that would fly over most children's heads. I abhor censorship so I play Scared Stiff exclusively using the PRO menu, even if it bars me from achieving goals or leaderboard scores on this one title. One of the phrases in Mideval Mayhem when you rescue the girls she utters, "that's b!tchin". Then there's tons of racy pinball backglass/marquees. I don't know what the criterea for Teen rating is, but Super Smash Brothers series got a T rating and there's nothing offensive in the game. So far there doesn't seem to be a pecident for DLC content being rated separately from the main titles, but yet the "adult themes" are still accessible within the PRO modes so such content would likely have to be rated anyway. Another thing to consider is that ESRB ratings are only required for retail software, not download only, but most game consoles force content ratings on downloadable games as well. I don't know if Android and iOS use ESRB but Ouya does not use ratings, and the potential for ratings-free downloads-only consoles exist, just like you find "unrated" versions of movies available for retail sale but not in theaters. I think it would be a benefit to Farsight to bump the ESRB ratings up to "Teen" if a particular pinball machine requires it, then denote tables containing suggestive images, themes, or dialog with an asterix or disclaimer within the software. They certainly wouldn't lose any sales by being slightly edgier in content. Even the most suggestive pinball tables ever released commercially probably would seem mild compared to a modern M-rated game and would certainly pass the teen rating.

 

[night]

I hate the fact that everything needs to be cute and fluffy for children, I think it's absurd. We are not talking about hardcore porn tables here.
I wonder if a movie like Bambi would have been made in 2014, where Bambi's mother dies in the flames of the forest fire, I don't think so. Now it should be fun-fun-fun, death and sexuality does not exists. I saw Jaws when I was a child and was very frightened but so what, fear is a natural thing. I loved that movie! A playboy pose is not unclean or unhealthy. We all know when crossing a line. Type the word 'tits' in your browser and we are exposed to more sleaze than one can ever hide away in an After Dark app. This is pinball, a game, it's fun and will not destroy or pervert a soul.

I do welcome more tables, but just make 'm part of TPA.

 

[Bowflex]

I think game ratings may tie in to exposure. All the companies may promote you like sony and Apple did in the past but maybe they won't do it for a moreatury rated game (at least from an indie developer) or maybe only for part of the day after a certain time

 

[dtown8532]

There has been some talk of Capcom's Big Bang Bar. Has anyone from FarSight ever mentioned a serious interest in this table? Like many have speculated, I believe the Capcom Pinball rights belong to Gene Cunningham. Now, I don't know how difficult it is, at this point, for FarSight to emulate an MPU but will they bother with Capcom's system for just one game? Also, my understanding is that Capcom's MPU is more complex than WPC so will mobile platforms be able to handle it? I had thought that was one of the main issues with the Stern S.A.M. system. Thoughts?

 

[Gorgar]

What I want to know is what big license did they get to justify making another app?

 

[danivempire]

What I want to know is what big license did they get to justify making another app?

we all do...

 

[Kolchak357]

There has been some talk of Capcom's Big Bang Bar. Has anyone from FarSight ever mentioned a serious interest in this table? Like many have speculated, I believe the Capcom Pinball rights belong to Gene Cunningham. Now, I don't know how difficult it is, at this point, for FarSight to emulate an MPU but will they bother with Capcom's system for just one game? Also, my understanding is that Capcom's MPU is more complex than WPC so will mobile platforms be able to handle it? I had thought that was one of the main issues with the Stern S.A.M. system. Thoughts?

Maybe Kingpin too. That's a violent theme that might work for After Dark. I actually think it looks better than Big Bang Bar. Sadly I've never played either one.

 

[gooche77]

If we get playboy and the capcom tables I will be thrilled.

FS needs to have some age verification process I just made up in my head to merge the 2 apps and view all tables. I haven't purchased Spider-Man from Zen since its not playable from the main game.