Entertainment Software Rating Board

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Overview

The ESRB applies ratings to games based on their content, similar to the motion picture rating systems used in many countries. Their aim is to aid consumers in determining a game's content and suitability. A game's rating is displayed on its box, the media, in advertisements and on game web sites.

The rating system is voluntary, although senators Joe Lieberman and Hillary Clinton have been pushing for harsher video game regulations, and companies do not have to submit a game for rating before selling it. However, most game publishers in the United States use the system.

The rating has two parts: rating symbols and content descriptors. The rating symbols are usually found on the lower right or the lower left hand corner on the front of the box, they suggest what age group the game is best suited for. The content descriptors are found on the back of the box, usually in the lower left or right hand corner, they describe particular content elements that may be of interest or concern.

Ratings

The symbols the ESRB uses are stylized depictions of alphabetical letters meant to convey at a glance a game's suitability.

Current

	EC — Early Childhood: Contains content that may be suitable for ages 3 and older. Contains no material that parents would find inappropriate. Games that fall under this rating are specifically intended for young children and are usually educational in nature. However, some educational games with more complex problems (Such as the Dr. Brain series) may be rated E. EC is generally said to be the same as the MPAA's "G" rating or a "TV-Y" rating in television.
	E — Everyone: Contains content that may be suitable for ages 6 and older. Titles in this category may contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language. It is often likened to the MPAA's "G" or "PG" rating or a "TV-Y7" or "TV-G" rating in television. Examples of games with this rating are Sonic Advance, Super Mario Advance 4, Luigi's Mansion, and Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire and most sports and puzzle games.
	E10+ — Everyone 10+: Contains content that may be suitable for ages 10 and older. Titles in this category may contain more cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language, minimal and/or infrequent blood and/or minimal suggestive themes. Added to the ESRB ratings icons on March 2, 2005. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat was the first game to receive this rating. This rating is often likened to the MPAA's "PG" rating or a "TV-PG" rating in television. Examples of games with this rating are Shadow the Hedgehog, Project Gotham Racing 3, Kingdom Hearts 2 and Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy.
	T — Teen: Contains content that may be suitable for ages 13 and older. Titles in this category may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language. It is often likened to the MPAA's "PG or "PG-13" rating, or a "TV-PG" or "TV-14" rating in television. Examples of games with this rating are WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, The Sims 2, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Ratchet and Clank and Metroid Prime.
	M — Mature: Contains content that may be suitable for ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language. It is often likened to the MPAA's "R" rating or a "TV-MA" rating in television, and is the video game equivalent. Many retailers (such as Wal-Mart) have a policy of not selling games with this rating to minors without parental presence and approval. Examples of games with this rating are Dead or Alive 4, Duke Nukem 3D, Doom, Mortal Kombat, Grand Theft Auto 3, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Saints Row, and the Halo series.
	AO — Adults Only: Contains content that is suitable only for adults. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity. This is often compared to the MPAA's "NC-17" or "X" ratings because of the similar age limit and amount of restrictions that are placed on sales. As of 2006, there are 23 AO-rated products, most of which are available on Windows and Apple Macintosh computers, as well as the Phillips CD-i. The AO rating is a subject of heated controversy because of the extreme restrictions it puts on game sales. Notably, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was re-rated AO due to the release of the "Hot Coffee" mod. Note: After the code in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was patched on the PC, a second edition was released with the old "Mature" rating.
	RP — Rating Pending: Product has been submitted to the ESRB and is awaiting final rating. This symbol appears only in advertising and/or demos prior to a game's release. It is often likened to the unofficial "Not Yet Rated" or "Subject to Classification" designation for movies.

Retired

The following ratings have been updated and are no longer used, but they may appear on games published previously.

K-A — Kids to Adults: Contains content that may be suitable for ages 6 and older. These titles will appeal to people of many ages and tastes. They may contain minimal violence, some comic mischief (for example, slapstick comedy), or some crude language. It was replaced by Everyone on January 1, 1998. Examples of games with this rating are Donkey Kong Country, Sonic 3D Blast, Kirby Super Star, Star Fox 64, Crash Bandicoot and Super Mario 64.

Content descriptors

Please note that the content descriptors are not always printed as shown below, they may have additional words added to further clarify the highlighted content such as "Mild Blood" and "Mild Suggestive Themes".

Current

• Alcohol Reference — Reference to and/or images of alcoholic beverages.
• Animated Blood — Discolored and/or unrealistic depictions of blood.
• Blood — Depictions of blood.
• Blood and Gore — Depictions of blood or the mutilation of body parts.
• Cartoon Violence — Violent actions involving cartoon-like or animated situations and characters. May also include violence where a character is unharmed after the action has been inflicted.
• Comic Mischief — Depictions or dialogue involving slapstick or suggestive humor.
• Crude Humor — Depictions or dialogue involving vulgar antics, including "bathroom humor".
• Drug Reference — Reference to and/or images of illegal drugs.
• Edutainment — Content of product provides user with specific skills development or reinforcement learning within an entertainment setting. Skill development is an integral part of product.
• Fantasy Violence — Violent actions of a fantasy nature, involving human or non-human characters in situations easily distinguishable from real life.
• Informational — Overall content of product contains data, facts, resource information, reference materials or instructional text.
• Intense Violence — Graphic and realistic-looking depictions of physical conflict. May involve extreme and/or realistic blood, gore, weapons, and depictions of human injury and death.
• Language — Mild to moderate use of profanity.
• Lyrics — Mild references to profanity, sexuality, violence, alcohol, or drug use in music.
• Mature Humor — Depictions or dialogue involving "adult" humor, including sexual references.
• Mild Violence — Mild scenes depicting characters in unsafe and/or violent situations.
• Nudity — Graphic or prolonged depictions of nudity.
• Partial Nudity — Brief and/or mild depictions of nudity.
• Real Gambling — Player can gamble, including betting or wagering real cash or currency. (Note: This descriptor only appears on games rated Adults Only)
• Sexual Themes — Mild to moderate sexual references and/or depictions. May include partial nudity.
• Sexual Violence — Depictions of rape or other sexual acts.
• Simulated Gambling — Player can gamble without betting or wagering real cash or currency.
• Some Adult Assistance May Be Needed — Intended for very young ages, used for games rated Early Childhood.
• Strong Language — Explicit and/or frequent use of profanity.
• Strong Lyrics — Explicit and/or frequent references to profanity, sex, violence, alcohol, or drug use in music.
• Strong Sexual Content — Graphic references to and/or depictions of sexual behavior, possibly including nudity.
• Suggestive Themes — Mild provocative references or materials.
• Tobacco Reference — Reference to and/or images of tobacco products.
• Use of Drugs — The consumption or use of illegal drugs.
• Use of Alcohol — The consumption of alcoholic beverages.
• Use of Tobacco — The consumption of tobacco products.
• Violence — Scenes involving aggressive conflict.

Online Rating Notice

Online games that include user-generated content (e.g., chat, maps, skins) carry the notice Game Experience May Change During Online Play to warn consumers that content created by players of the game has not been rated by the ESRB.

Retired

The following content descriptors have been updated and are no longer used, but they may appear on games published previously.

• Animated Blood and Gore — Cartoon or pixelated images of blood or the mutilation of body parts.
• Animated Violence — Cartoon or pixelated scenes depicting animated characters in unsafe and/or violent situations.
• Gambling — Betting-like behavior.
• Gaming — Betting-like behavior.
• Mature Sexual Themes — Provocative material, possibly including partial nudity.
• Mild Animated Violence — Mild cartoon or pixelated scenes depicting animated characters in unsafe and/or violent situations.
• Mild Realistic Violence — Mild photographic-like detailed depictions of characters in unsafe and/or violent situations.
• Reading Skills, Fine Motor Skills, Higher-Level Thinking Skills — These phrases are found only on products rated Early Childhood and indicate whether children's reading, computer, or other skills are used in these titles.
• Realistic Blood — Photographic-like detailed depictions of blood.
• Realistic Blood and Gore — Photographic-like detailed depictions of blood or the mutilation of body parts.
• Realistic Violence — Photographic-like detailed depictions of characters in unsafe and/or violent situations.

Examples

The Putt-Putt computer game series is rated EC (Early Childhood).	Nintendogs is rated E (Everyone).	Super Mario 64 was rated K-A (Kids to Adults) upon its original release.	Daxter is rated E10+ (Everyone 10+).
Metroid Prime Hunters is rated T (Teen).	Resident Evil 4 is rated M (Mature).	X-Change is rated AO (Adults Only).	Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is currently RP (Rating Pending).

Process

To obtain a rating for a game, a publisher sends the ESRB videotaped footage of the game's most graphic and extreme content. The publisher also fills out a questionnaire describing the game's content.

The ESRB states on its website that three trained raters, working independently, then watch the footage and recommend a rating. If all raters agree on the rating, content descriptors are added and the ESRB notifies the publisher of its decision.

When the game is ready for release, the publisher sends copies of the final version of the game to the ESRB. The game packaging is reviewed, and the ESRB says that its in-house personnel randomly play games to ensure that all the information provided during the rating process was complete and accurate. Penalties may apply to the publisher if it is eventually found, either through the in-house personnel's playing or consumer comments that the game's content is more extreme than the publisher stated in its application.

The identities of the ESRB raters are kept confidential and selected randomly from a pool of 100 people. According to an ESRB introductory brochure from 1994: The raters represent a wide range of backgrounds, races, and ages and have no ties to the interactive entertainment industry. Raters include retired school principals, parents, professionals, and other individuals from all walks of life. Essentially, the ratings are decided by the consumers themselves.

Compare with The MPAA film rating system's process.

Background and history

As videogaming progressed into the 16-bit era, graphics and sound capabilities were dramatically increased. Blood and gore was much clearer and vibrant than 8-bit games. For example blood in an 8-bit game may look blocky and pixelated while in 16-bit it can be a fluid graphic that can easily be identified. After the release of games such as Mortal Kombat, Doom and Night Trap, there was much controversy over video game content. Congressional hearings on video game violence and the corruption of society, headed by Joe Lieberman and Herb Kohl were held in late 1992 to 1993. The result of the hearings was that the entertainment software industry was given one year to form a workable rating system or the federal government would intervene and create its own system. Around this time, the Videogame Rating Council (VRC) was formed by Sega of America to rate mostly, its own games. In 1993, the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) was formed to unite the entertainment software industry. In 1994, the Recreational Software Advisory Council (RSAC) was formed by the Software Publishers Association. However, because of some criticisms of the both the VRC and RSAC, the VRC was phased out in 1994 and RSAC in 1999. On July 29, 1994 the proposal from the IDSA for a rating system, the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) was presented in Congress and approved. In September 1994, the ESRB was established and became the official rater of video games in the United States. At this time, many companies who produced computer games such as LucasArts, Sierra On-Line and 3D Realms continued to follow the RSAC system as they were members of the SPA. This resulted in video games having ESRB ratings and some computer games having them as well while other computer games had RSAC ratings. Eventually, all companies agreed to follow the ESRB ratings.

Initially, there were five different ratings: Early Childhood, Kids to Adults, Teen, Mature and Adults Only. Shortly thereafter, the Informational and Edutainment descriptors were added. In 1996, the rating icons were altered so that it would be more clear who rated the product (this can be seen in the image of the Kids to Adults icon above). On January 1, 1998, the Kids to Adults rating was replaced with Everyone. Also in 1998, the Entertainment Software Rating Board Interactive (ESRBi) was formed which rated websites and online games. In late 1999, in order to make the rating symbols more legible, the pixelated rating icons were replaced with black and white icons. Beginning in early 2001, and continuing for the next couple of years, several of the content descriptors were retired and replaced. Content descriptors with "Animated" or "Realistic" in them had those portions removed. Also, the "Skills" descriptors used for the Early Childhood rating were removed as well. A short time later, the Gaming descriptor was changed to Gambling, which itself was split into Real and Simulated Gambling in the following years.

In mid 2003, the ESRBi was closed down. On June 26, 2003, the content descriptors were made larger and more legible and newer, more thorough descriptors for violence (Cartoon, Fantasy, Intense) were added as well as a descriptor for Mature Humor. Also, the Mature and Adults Only icons had a 17+ and 18+ added to their title band in order to clearly singnify the age appropriateness. On March 2, 2005, after conferring with academicians and child development experts, the Everyone 10+ rating was introduced.^[1]

Criticism and controversy

The ESRB has often been accused of not rating games harshly enough for violence. Games such as Harvester, Soldier of Fortune and Manhunt have shown gruesome violence, yet only got the M rating, which is supposed to be the entertainment software equivalent of the R rating. Many critics have claimed that these games deserve the AO rating. The ESRB has only given out the AO rating for violence for two games: The Punisher and Thrill Kill. However, The Punisher was edited before release in order to qualify for the M category and Thrill Kill was never released after the original publisher, Virgin Entertainment, was purchased by Electronic Arts who was more concerned about the adult content. ^[2]

Critics have claimed that the ESRB will only rate games AO if they have sexual content in them, regardless of how much violence is present. Twenty three products have been given the AO rating. One was given it for unsimulated online gambling. The rest were given it for sexual content and/or nudity. One of the games with "Strong Sexual Content" as a content descriptor also had "Realistic Blood & Gore", Riana Rouge, and another one had "Violence", Critical Point. Critical Point is an eroge, and Riana Rouge has Playboy Playmates in softcore sex scenes which leads some critics to believe that these games were rated AO because of sex, not violence. Also, Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy Director's Cut received the AO rating. While the game contains content identical to the original North American version titled Indigo Prophecy ("Blood", "Strong Language", "Use of Drugs and Alcohol" and "Violence"), the only content which was added in the director's cut version was sex scenes with nudity, one of which was interactive. Lula 3D also contains descriptors for "Blood", "Strong Language" and "Violence" however, it also contains sexually explicit material. Much like Fahrenheit, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas received an AO rating because interactive sex scenes were found within the game. Some critics believed that the ESRB in-house personnel may have overreacted to the attention the game received from the federal government and that the game was not explicit enough to have been re-rated. It should be noted that many adult oriented products, including erotica have actually received M ratings. ^[3] However, these products are not carried by major retailers (and many are usually grouped with adult products anyway) because of the sexual content.

Also, the ESRB has often been accused of rating games overly harshly compared to video game rating systems in other countries. The differences in ratings reflect differing cultural attitudes and standards towards certain subjects however, games with relatively mild content have appeared to receive higher ratings, according to some. For example, nudity is rare in games rated lower than Mature. As well, many video games are made in Japan (where they use the CERO rating system) and imported to America. However, when these games are imported, the ESRB often rates these games much more harshly than the CERO raters. Some examples of games that were given a CERO rating that is equivalent to the ESRB's everyone rating, and yet rated much more harshly by the ESRB are: .hack (Teen), Dragon Quest VIII (Teen), Gradius V (Teen), Metroid Prime (Teen), as well as Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne and The Space Adventure, Drakengard 2 which both received a Mature rating by the ESRB.

There has also been criticism that the rating system does nothing to tell parents how difficult a game may or may not be for their children. For instance, the rating system does nothing to take into account whether a game requires reading skills or not and thus the rating system is useless for parents with small children.

In November 2005, Senators Hillary Clinton, Joe Lieberman and Evan Bayh introduced the Family Entertainment Protection Act, which calls for a federal mandate enforcement of the ESRB ratings system as what they claim is in order to protect children from inappropriate content.

Another important criticism is the vagueness of the ESRB's ratings and content descriptors. Sometimes games will be borderline M or T, such as The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion or Geist, but one cannot figure out exactly why something was given a certain rating. Some critics have said that if they added an indepth look at games ratings and the reasons for said ratings on their website for game buyers to consider, it may improve upon their current strategy and layout.

Hidden content

In 2005, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for Windows was modified by players into allowing one to play an incomplete sex mini-game that Rockstar North decided to leave out of the final game. California assemblyman Leland Yee used the situation to rebuke them both and has cited this as a case of the ESRB not doing its job. U.S. Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Joe Lieberman, a video game censorship advocate, joined in on the disapproval. Rockstar claimed that the code was actually rewritten and that gamers are altering, not just unlocking the game. The PlayStation 2 version of the game is also modifiable with the third-party Action Replay Max device. In light of this, Rockstar conceded that the disputed scene was in the final game on all formats. ^[4] The ESRB responded to the controversy by re-evaluating San Andreas' Mature rating and changing it to Adults Only. This would make Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas the most popular and best selling game to receive this rating. Rockstar released a patch that disabled modding on PC versions. Rockstar also released version 2 of the console version of the game, which did not include the necessary files for "Hot Coffee"

In 2006, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion had its rating changed from Teen to Mature due to "more detailed depictions of blood and gore than were considered in the original rating, as well as the presence of a locked-out art file or 'skin' that, if accessed through a third-party modification to the PC version of the game, allows the user to play with topless versions of female characters." The game's publisher decided to not remaster or rerelease the game to remove the hidden texture, stating that it believed the original rating was the most accurate assessment of what parents should expect from the game, since the texture was intended to be inaccessible to players. However, this texture was actually only used to provide a non-clipping texture for some armor types. ^{[5] [6] [7]}

References

1. ^ A majority of the information in this section was obtained from the archived ESRB website, available at Internet Archive.
2. ^ [1] - ZDNet News - October 15, 1998
3. ^ Examples: Babes of Summer Jigsaw Puzzles, Beverly Hills Models, Blue Heat: The Case of the Cover Girl Murders, Club 21, Club Royal - The Exclusive Striptease Club of the Beyond, Cyber Photographer and Printshop, Fantasy Vixens Jigsaw Puzzles, The Girls of Paradise Cove, The Guy Game, Julie Strain, Leisure Suit Larry series 1-7, Malibu Models, Playboy Screensaver II, Tabloid Beauties, TV's Lifeguard Babes
4. ^ [2] - BBC News - July 21, 2005
5. ^ [3] - ESRB press release - May 3, 2006 (PDF)
6. ^ [4] - GameSpot News - May 3, 2006
7. ^ [5] - GameSpot News - May 3, 2006

• ESRB's website.

See also

• Censorship
• Censorship in the United States
• Entertainment Software Association
• List of AO-rated products
• MPAA film rating system, the U.S. film industry equivalent to ESRB
• PEGI, Pan European Game Information, used in many european countries, not associated with the European Union.
• TV Parental Guidelines

National rating systems

• Australia - Office of Film and Literature Classification (Australia)
• Finland - Valtion elokuvatarkastamo, Finnish Board of Film Classification
• Germany - Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle
• Japan - Computer Entertainment Rating Organization
• New Zealand - Office of Film and Literature Classification (New Zealand)
• United Kingdom - British Board of Film Classification

External links

• Official Website - ESRB.org
• The ESRB Game Ratings & Descriptor Guide
• Do game ratings really do their job? - CNN article on Manhunt.

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