ESRB Ratings

     Notice the little black and white box on the corner of every game you see? That is the ESRB Rating. These guys look over the content of a game, then assign it a random letter of the alphabet to show which audiences the game is appropriate for. The lowest is the EC rating which means “Early Childhood” and is suitable for kids 3 and up. The highest is the AO “Adults Only” rating. There are only a handful of games that have been launched with an AO rating as most retailers will absolutely refuse to stock such titles. The most common ratings are E for “Everyone,” E10 for “Everyone 10 and up,” T for “Teen,” and M for “Mature.”

      They haven't always been around though. The idea of rating games for their content never occurred to anyone until Night Trap for the Sega CD released in 1992. There was a bit of controversy over the game that was bad enough to warrant a court hearing about it. That, and other games such as Mortal Kombat were responsible for the creation of the ESRB.

      I noticed the ESRB is becoming a bit more lenient on their ratings nowadays. Metro: Last Light, for example, has an M rating. Yet, if you look through the Metro: Last Light Community on Steam, you will see one tenth of the screenshots are of the strippers doing their dance with their breasts completely exposed. Something like that would have been an AO, but it seemed fine enough to warrant an M. Let's just think of the implications of this for a moment.

      The rules of the ratings goes like this: if someone wants to buy an M rated game, they must show proof they are at least 17 years of age. The exception to this rule is if a parent purchases the game for their underage child. I'm all for this, but sometimes the parents don't know what the ratings mean. Yes, the descriptions are clear, however, parents should do some research on the game itself and see if it is truly appropriate. A term like “Sexual Themes” could be something as little as an exposed leg or as blatant as full frontal nudity. 

 

      I am not expressing disappointment with the ESRB. I'm sure they know what they are doing. All I am saying is that a letter in a black and white box is one thing. Knowing what is appropriate for your kids is your responsibility. If you dislike them seeing blood and gore, research the game and see how much violence is in it. If it is so much that it discomforts you, then don't buy it. The ESRB only tells you so much. It is up to you to make the final verdict.