|
Rated "G" for Gaming
by Caitlyn
Konze, Gaming Assistant, La Crosse Public Library
Regardless of your involvement in
the gaming world, whether a hard-core gamer or simply aware that they
exist, everyone should be informed about the amazing service provided by
the Entertainment Software Rating Board, or ESRB. Straight from their
website,
www.esrb.org, “The ESRB is a non-profit, self-regulatory body that
independently assigns ratings, enforces advertising guidelines, and
helps ensure responsible online privacy practices for the interactive
entertainment software industry.”
What does the ESRB do? Almost any type of video game being sold in
stores will usually have an ESRB rating on it. If you are not familiar
with the ESRB, you’ve more than likely noticed their single letter
rating system on the bottom corner of video games everywhere. The full
range of ratings are “EC” for Early Childhood, “E” for Everyone, “E 10+”
for Everyone ages 10 and older, “T” for Teen, “M” for Mature, and “AO”
for Adult Only. For a full description of these rating categories, see
the “ESRB ratings” portion of the website.
How does it work? At least in our country, there are no laws
requiring games to be rated by any system. However, would you pay full
price for the whole family to see a new movie without a rating? I’m
sure, like me, you’d be skeptical at best. I’d be more inclined to bring
the whole family to a movie I know is rated PG. Likewise, an ESRB rating
is really beneficial in marketing to a game developer’s target audience.
In addition many retailers, and even console manufacturers, have adopted
policies to only sell games that carry ESRB ratings. Once a game
acquires a rating, they are legally obligated to follow ESRB’s
guidelines about responsible advertising practices.
What about other rating systems? The ESRB is kind of the unofficial
official rating system for the United States and Canada. While there are
no laws against ratings by other organizations, the ESRB is by far the
biggest and most universal. Consistency is extremely important for
success. If people had five different rating systems to learn, it would
be to the detriment of the entire market, hence the effort of the ESRB,
our retailers, and console manufacturers to unify under a single rating
system.
Sounds perfect! Is it? Unfortunately, no rating system is without
flaws. Have you ever been disappointed in a movie that didn’t quite fit
its rating? The same thing happens with the ESRB. For example, a game
called Bully is rated T. Although there is no blood, the
character can slap women on the butt, beat on authority figures, and
other questionable actions. On the other hand, SWAT 4 is
rated M and may contain blood. However, it encourages and rewards the
use of non-lethal force to take down targets.
It would be far too time-consuming to play through an entire game in
order to rate it. Especially since games like the Final Fantasy
series are good for hundreds of hours of game play. Although the ESRB is
a great guideline and reference, don’t just take the ESRB’s word for it.
GamerDad,
IGN, and
GameRankings are just a few good resources to help get the feel of a
game. My best advice? Read a few reviews, read the back of the box,
watch kids playing, or even (dare I suggest it?) try to play yourself!
|
