What is it in the game that causes a 12+ rating? Bad language? Violence? Gory?

Sara,

Check ESRB Rating.

The T (Teen) for 13 and older states:
TEEN
Titles rated T (Teen) have content that may be suitable for ages 13 and older. Titles in this category may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language.

As for the Treasure Island rating - I didn't see anything there that might cause that rating.

Maybe the rum drinking !
Joking !

They do sing the pirate song which "glorifies" rum drinking. And I recall using an alcoholic beverage as one of the inventory items.

Hmmm. Do you suppose they don't want anyone under the age of 12 to learn to tie knots?

EDIT: More possibilities: there is a pouch of tobacco that's an inventory item. And skulls and a skeleton. There's also a word in the pirate riddle that's "spicy," though it's unusual enough that my 11-year-old didn't notice it when he played the game.

Becky/ I did remember the rum thing.

Also, there's quite a lot of mention of violence (involving guns) even though you don't actually get to see it. Your character will also eventually yield a gun. Does kissing count for anything?

Hi Sally(MG) -- welcome to GameBoomers!

I don't see why kissing would factor into a 12+ rating. Maybe I should study this more.

I suspect that the mentioned violence, and the tobacco and alcohol are the main culprits.

Depends on who is kissing whom!!

Thanks for all the thoughts, the alcohol and tobacco I can ignore, but I've had my fill of violence for now - mentioned or otherwise.

I want to wander around some beautiful, faraway place with strange sounding names and not have to talk to anyone. From the latest crop of games. I'm out of luck.

ccording Gamespot, this game has gotten a T rating from the ESRB, but why can't I find it then when doing a search for it on the ESRB site? However, on another site, the ESRB logo clearly said Rating Pending as this game is not out yet in North America.

Accordomg to this wiki entry, the game has gotten as 12+ rating from PEGI

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destination_Treasure_Island

But why can't I find it when doing a search for it on PEGI's webiste.

Moby games also has the pgei rating being 12+. I don't know why the USK has rated this game to be suitable for ages 6 and up and pegi rated this game for ages 12 and up. The content can't be that different, can it?

Why this game has a pegi rating of 12+, I don't know. But I convur that it probably would have to do with the rum and alcohol. If anyone have a 12+ rated game, please turn the box, and look at the back of the box. There's content descriptors in terms of pictures there. A hand means violence, a spider means fright, and so forth...

The back shows a 12+ and a fist for violence.

Among the screenshots on the back of the game are two men fighting with swords, one pirate with a gun and two with knives, a cannon pointing at a ship, a skeleton hanging from a gallows, two men tied up, and another man captured in a net.

Er -- why don't I remember all this from the game?

Oh for goodness sake. I can't believe that this game would get anything but a family rating.

Me either, Nickie.

It is a cool game with nothing even approaching the level of violence on most tv shows here.

Not to mention all the viagra et al commercials that one is forced to sit through even during prime time ( well I did mention it, but... )
On the other hand, maybe a 12+ rating is a good thing for the game, so some gamers don't dismiss it out of hand for being too soppy or something (in their minds). But to me, this was like the matinee movies I went to as a kid. A good thing.

I have seen the back of the North American version --

E10+ for Everyone. Alcoholic Reference. Language. Mild Blood. Mild Violence.

It is, however, possible that the German has been cut in order to get a 6+ rating, while there's more -ahem- violence etc. in the PEGI rated game...

That's good news Becky!