Game Room denied mature games
Service suitable for 10 year-olds.
Mature games may be prohibited on Microsoft's new online PC and Xbox 360 platform, Game Room. To avoid laboriously rating hundreds of retro titles individually, MS has decided to classify Game Room itself. The ESRB has deemed the service suitable for anyone aged 10 or over, and any game falling within those perameters can be sold at publisher's and platform holder's leisure.
The problem surrounds games rated for older audiences, such as Mortal Kombat, Metal Slug and Street Fighter.
"Games available for download within Game Room will carry either E or E10+ ratings. We currently have no plans to feature titles of those [higher Teen and Mature] ratings," an MS spokesperson told GamerBytes. We're chasing this up with Microsoft.
Game Room is this year's big addition to Xbox Live and Games for Windows - Live. The idea is that users make their own arcades by buying game cabinets and then invite their friends over to play.
Each cabinet costs 240 MSP (£2/€2.80) and once bought can be played for free for ever. You can also buy and share one cabinet between PC and Xbox 360 for 400 MSP (£3.40/€4.65).
If you're just trying games you'll need to put money in HEY IT'S JUST LIKE THE REAL THING. Tokens are 40 MSP (£0.34/€0.47) and entitle you to two plays.
Decorations are bought and also won by beating high scores.
Game Room will boast 30 games at launch and around 1000 after three years. There's no launch date, however.