Dead Space trailer refused approval by the ESRB

by Alan Tsang { Jul 28th 2008 at 11:57PM }

We have for you a very special trailer from the upcoming survival horror title Dead Space. The game itself is still on schedule for an October release, but it appears this particular trailer didn't agree so well with the ESRB -- the video has been refused approval by the ratings organization. Curiously, a previous trailer by horror director James Wan did not meet the same fate. This new Lullaby trailer involves a lot of blood and bodies, and a little, shall we say, remix of a well-known nursery rhyme. Nothing like the night for something like this, huh? Take a look after the jump.

[Via Joystiq]

Tags: dead-space, ea, electronic-arts

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

JaseH @ Jul 29th 2008 12:23AM

Twinkle... Twinkle... little star....

ROAAAAAAAARRR!!!!!

___________________________
JaseH.

George @ Jul 29th 2008 12:26AM

The ESRB are a bunch of tools soon to be irrelevant for anything except a laugh.

doc j @ Jul 29th 2008 1:01AM

Count me in.

Iced_Eagle @ Jul 29th 2008 1:09AM

What sort of standards does ESRB go for when rating trailers?

I mean, is the game in danger of getting an AO rating because of the violence? If only the trailer's are getting ratings refused, I have no idea what this would do to the game itself...

MakaiOokami @ Jul 29th 2008 1:38AM

We need to just fucking abolish the ESRB... they serve no purpose...

1. Parents don't really care
2. What's T for Teen in Japan can be M for Mature in America (example is the first Genji game)
3. A lot of companies sell to minors anyway...
4. No one really cares or enforces it unless it's like M+ the T for Teen shit doesn't matter except for really christian parents who censor everything and wont' even let them play the E for Everyone Pokemon and Harry Potter games anyway...
5. They should just have a sticker that replaces the M for Mature thing for "Warning Adult Content, Must be Purchased by Someone 17 or Older" instead.

Screw the ESRB the only point they serve now is simple... If they think a game is too gorey they don't let the public or the market decide the fate of the game they just slap an AO and ban it's ass.

the_culture @ Jul 29th 2008 1:37AM

I have to admit, that was pretty good. Probably the best trailer yet for Dead Space.

LAZoftheTamarinds @ Jul 29th 2008 1:39AM

(Wipes tear from eye)

That was beautiful. I dunno what the ESRB saw when they saw this trailer.

Steve Childs @ Jul 29th 2008 4:28AM

Have to admit, that was fan-bloody-tastic. Going to have to look at this game when it comes out.

Would have been a great trailer for a film, let alone a video game!

Steve Childs @ Jul 29th 2008 4:33AM

Have to admit, that was fan-bloody-tastic. Going to have to look at this game when it comes out.

Would have been a great trailer for a film, let alone a video game!

tristan88 @ Jul 29th 2008 2:41AM

that was a really good trailer. like the best ive seen for a horror game.

anthonyjh @ Jul 29th 2008 5:25AM

Wow. That trailer alone has sparked my interest in this game. Very well done.

Ferdasyn @ Jul 29th 2008 7:14AM

This is definately getting my money.

Deuce @ Jul 29th 2008 9:33AM

That's not a "remix." It's just using (some of) the more complete lyrics to the song.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky!

When the blazing sun is gone,
When he nothing shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

Then the traveller in the dark,
Thanks you for your tiny spark,
He could not see which way to go,
If you did not twinkle so.

In the dark blue sky you keep,
And often through my curtains peep,
For you never shut your eye,
Till the sun is in the sky.

As your bright and tiny spark,
Lights the traveller in the dark,—
Though I know not what you are,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

Alan Tsang @ Jul 29th 2008 9:48AM

I was referring to the interludes of screams and static noises, not the lyrics to the rhyme.

Deuce @ Jul 29th 2008 10:18AM

Fair enough. Though I'd consider that to be more incidental SFX than part of the music, given the events depicted.

Deuce @ Jul 29th 2008 9:38AM

The ESRB has no administrative power. It works just like the MPAA ratings... content is submitted voluntarily for ratings. But retailers generally won't carry games rated AO (just as most theaters wouldn't show unrated or X-rated films).

Tim Parsons @ Jul 29th 2008 10:21AM

AWESOME!!!

Tim Parsons @ Jul 29th 2008 10:40AM

Your right MakaiOokami , the ESRB is just a tool for parents who aren't gamers and wanna have a clue to what is in a game. I mean seriously how many actual Gamers pay attention to that rating??

I say it's common fucking sense turn over the god damned case and read it, or fucking look it up on the internet or something. Some people just judge it based on that stupid lil Letter.

But i guess as a parent of a 5 and 6(7 end of aug) who's been a gamer since I was 5, and still going strong. to me that ESRB rating don't mean shit. when I look at a game if I wanna know if it's ok for my kids that i havent heard of b4 or something I read the back , I dont pay any attention to the rating. Only thing I stay away from is sexual content & heavy swearing(GTAIV for example i never played around them)

I'm assuming it's the use of the ryme that killed the approval of this one. I suppose they are afraid some dumb hic will use this remix to put a newborn to sleep.

Zampano @ Jul 29th 2008 1:55PM

I agree with several posters here - that is, hands down, the best trailer they've yet created for this game. It's an M-rated game, so why is the ESRB getting its shorts in a wad over a trailer?

Regarding the ESRB in general, I have to say that I'd rather stick with them - a voluntary ratings system - than a government appointed ratings board. At present, the ESRB merely makes recommendations (which is why it is not illegal to sell an M-rated game to a minor), whereas an appointed body may have more significant censorship power. The big failings of the current ratings system (in my eyes) are that A: Many parents don't actually utilize them, preferring instead to blame game developers/publishers/retailers when they find something objectionable (that they, themselves, purchased) in their living room; and B: The stigma that everyone (and especially console manufacturers) seems to attach to AO-rated games. In the film industry, NC-17 was created to separate more 'serious' films with highly-adult content from the porn industry. It has not been wholly successful, since many (but not all) theaters refuse to show NC-17 films, and many (but not all) newspapers refuse to advertise them, but at least an effort was made to form a distinction between what was intended to be a piece of 'legitimate' art and what was intended merely to titillate. With the blanket AO rating in the games industry, there is no such seperation, so NO retailers will carry an AO game, NO console makers will allow an AO game on their product, and, for obvious reasons, no developers will waste their man hours on an AO product. Which sucks, because there's so much more that could be done in the realm of serious storytelling if that restriction wasn't there (and no, I'm not talking about sexual content, but even that has its place in certain types of story).

Regardless, I hate censorship in any form, even if I do recognize the public need for organizations like the ESRB, the MPAA, or the FCC. I just wish the guidelines set by these groups were even remotely consistent and sensible.

Anyway, that's my rant for the day. And Dead Space looks cool.

Dead Space trailer refused approval by the ESRB