Students
The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB)
There are several public interest groups and non-profits in the United States who have worked and lobbied to add rating systems on movies, music and yes, Games. These ratings are an effort by these groups to provide parents with information about the content so they may choose if they will allow their children to access it.
Now, some may call this censorship others may think this is great but the purpose of this blog post is not to debate the Bill of Rights but to share information about the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) as we begin our journey as Game Designers.
Established in 1994 by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the ESRB is a non-profit, self-regulatory body that assigns computer and video game content ratings. These ratings were established to provide parents with information regarding computer and video game content. Ratings are comprised of two parts.
Part One: Rating Symbols
These symbols are designed to show age appropriateness for the game and include symbols showing games suitable to “everyone” and those for “adults” only.
Part Two: Content Descriptors
Inform consumers of specific elements contained within a game that may have determined the rating. There are over 30 of these elements including violence, nudity, blood and gore, sexual content, mature humor, drugs and alcohol, language, etc.
Participation is voluntary however, the majority of games sold in the U.S. and Canada are rated by the ESRB. This in part is due to consumer demand but also by many major retailers who only stock and sell games rated by the ESRB. In 2008 the ESRB rated over 16oo computer/video games.
To learn more about the ESRB you can visit their web site at http://www.esrb.org/index-js.jsp. The web site contains several resources for both the gaming industry and parents including a game rating widget and Parents e-newsletter.
You may also want to check out the Entertainment Software Association.
Photo purchased from istockphoto.com
September 27th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
Who pays for the rating system; is it the game companies? public funds? private donations? It all seems like something of a waste of money. How do they come to the ratings that they do? Are there set criteria, or is it completely subjective? If there aren’t set standards it seems to me that the entire program isn’t worth too much.
September 27th, 2009 at 11:11 pm
I am really happy that they put these ratings on games. With an 8 year old son who is pretty advanced in his gaming skills, it allows him to challenge his skills by picking a higher age rated game. If the rating is 10+ but is only due to challenging situations and not the amount of gore in the game, I can give him permission to play the game.
September 28th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Thanks for providing more background info on this. Any response to the question above?
September 30th, 2009 at 10:37 am
Great questions regarding pricing etc. Its interesting that they are working in the software and video space but in order to access this information you have to mail them a letter on company letterhead explaining your company, game idea etc and then they approve it. Since I am not officially a game development company I assume they will not give me access. But I will send an email with questions and see what they say.
October 2nd, 2009 at 8:29 pm
According to the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), U.S. movies grossed 1.36 billion dollars in 2008. However, gaming earned ten times that – 11.7 billion! While participation may be voluntary, I can only presume the game industry feels at least some pressure to cover their bases, in order to stay in the good graces of parents of younger children who are flipping the bill.
The ERSB site claims 92% of the 18 and under folk were with their parents when buying/renting games. Talk about biases data! A study from the Official Journal of American Pediatricians contradicts that,”90% of teenagers say that their parents never check the video game ratings before allowing them to rent or buy computer or video games.”
Either way, I agrees with the researchers in the study that a universal rating system ought to be established. When one subjective criteria for a video game doesn’t align with what my child may see in the movie theater, or t.v., then all these industries are basicly bending the rules to fit their ROI.
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/107/6/1302
October 6th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Interestingly enough I had never really paid much attention to the rating system, however as soon as I began reading this posting I realized that I truly have been aware of it to some degree. I heard a little voice in my head say “Rated E for Everyone!” and I realized that game commercials often disclose the rating when they are trying to sell the game. I can see how having a rating system on games is essential for parents to determine the appropriateness of a game for their children, just like with movies, especially since more often than not parents are not testing games out before buying them for their kids. But outside of the realm of determining appropriateness for children, I wonder what other purpose this rating system really serves, and I also wonder how much it costs and if it is worth it. It would be interesting to see a study of rational behind why some game developers choose to participate and why others do not.