Video game ratings: Help is a click away
One of the most popular items on tweens' holiday wish lists is video games. While I have yet to figure out when to press A and when to press B, my kids know all of the hot games and every few weeks there is a new one they just have to have. But how are parents supposed to know whether the game they are buying is suitable for their kids?
The ratings on the box are some help, but now the Entertainment Software Rating Board, an independent, non-profit organization that assigns the ratings to video games, has expanded its descriptions of games to help parents make informed choices.
For example, I now know that the wrestling game my kids persuaded me to buy not only is labeled for teens, but also contains “moderate profanity” and “characters also make occasional references to beer, blood alcohol levels, and bars.”
Great.
Oh well, at least I will be better prepared next time I go game shopping. The ESRB even has mobile Web site at m.esrb.org, which allows consumers to search game titles on their mobile phones right when they’re in the store. Check out the board’s Web site for more on how the rating system works.
Happy shopping.
Photo by former Baltimore Sun photographer David Hobby, 2004
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Comments
the ratings system is terrible and has recently come under scrutiny from our favorite political candidates such as HIlary Clinton and Joe Lieberman as being to lax.
Maybe the Sun should focus on more tech news to help out parents in this confusing time period.
Posted by: Shawn | December 16, 2008 3:55 PM
The ratings system is fine, the information contained within the ratings is, many times, more in-depth than the current MPAA system.
What needs to be undertaken is a level of educational initiatives, seminars and courses, to educate the parents on what the ratings mean with examples of what games get these ratings and why. The ESRB ratings are strictly voluntary too, they reacted to parental concern and were very proactive in establishing the system.
No rating will ever be able to cover the entire content of the game, or how the game might change if it has an online multiplayer component. And while the responsibility doesn't lie completely with the parent, the ESRB has done a better job than most in trying to establish an effective and comprehensive system that is designed for ease of use.
One last note, Hillary Clinton and Joe Lieberman can try to legislate video games as much as they'd like, but until they can actually prove to us that they have an understanding of games themselves, and how the industry functions as a whole today, then their attempts will be misunderstood, lackluster, and fail.
Posted by: Caleb | December 17, 2008 7:48 AM