Video Game Ratings System Adds New Category

[Deepak]

Link

"The video game ratings system will add a new category to protect children under 10 from seeing certain kinds of violence, the board that administers the system said on Wednesday.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board said "E10+" would mark games that might contain "moderate amounts of cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes."

The E10+ rating will reside on the scale between "E," meaning a game is appropriate for all ages, and "T," meaning a game for teenagers. The ratings system also includes "M" ratings for those over 17 and the rarely-used "AO" for adult audiences only."

 

[jvd]

I don't understand why they didn't just go with the movie industrys ratings

G , pg , pg-13 , r , nc 17

much easier so parents know

 

[speng]

One reason is to clearly separate video games from movies. They are interactive while most movies aren't.

Another reason is to be more flexible and introduce these new ratings when appropriate or needed without having to go through a whole lot more of approvals.

I think this E10+ just created a way for more teens and non teens(10-12) to buy games with some violence and language like Everquest and the barely dressed Linage characters.

They just broadened the audience for a lot of other games that were Teen, only for some mild language or provacative suggestive themes.

Some 10-12 year olds already have seen and know those stuff already, others don't. It's up to the parent to decide still, but this puts more burden on the parents now.

Speng.

 

[V3]

I think this E10+ just created a way for more teens and non teens(10-12) to buy games with some violence and language like Everquest and the barely dressed Linage characters.

Hehe, that may be true. But what kind of game would fit to E10+ that doesn't fit in E ? Something like Legend of Zelda ?

 

[cthellis42]

Interactive or not, until the ESRB reflects that IN their ratings (like "porn you can only look at" versus "porn you can participate in" ) it doesn't matter; they're still targetting the same basic differences in subject matter.

I certainly wouldn't mind if they expanded ON the existing movie/TV rating system, but since most of the ESRB has a direct correlation to the VMRS, the only thing it effectively does is confuse the consumers more concerning something they already know pretty well.