You Are Not Old Enough To View This Tree

I happened upon an editor-demo for FarCry 2 today (Far Cry?) and being a nerd as well as a game designer, I thought I would check it out. I clicked on the video and was presented with a little screen asking for my age verification. I input the necessary numbers (I just scroll all the way to the bottom for the year) and then prepared for the most magnificent, incredible, age-appropriate editor demo I had ever seen.

There were trees. Some of them were set on fire. Oh, there were mountains and a river too. And a bunch of buildings and cars.

Upon finishing the video, it left me wondering why the hell I had to verify my age. The trees, though technically naked, were probably not enough to stir the libido of even the most crazed biologist. The fire effects, though pretty, really did not warrant an 18+ rating. It was, all being said and done, a pretty sexy editor. Not that sexy though.

There were never any actual people shown in the video! Or violence! Or nudity or blood or anything! Nothing that could possibly warrant age verification was shown.

Frankly, this irritates me to no end.

If I’m going to bother to enter my age to watch a video, it had better be scandalous. Sailors should blush upon viewing it. Nuns should pass out. Scientists should drop their beakers in a dramatic fashion. Super models should be so shocked, they actually eat something.

Now, I realize that the good people that make the Far Cry games don’t want any lawsuits, so they probably slap age verification on everything. That’s fine, but at least, y’know, give us something. An explosion, a volcano, seven wood nymphs doing aerobics, anything.

That was a sweet editor, though.

Cheers,
-Jason