http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/ Engadget Comments for http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 10:01AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/
]]>Oct 12th 2009 10:39AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 11:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 2:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/
As a developer I'm a bit shocked to find I've been financially supporting the ESRB all these years. I had naturally assumed it was a non profit organization with the children's best interests at heart. So much for that naievete.]]>Oct 12th 2009 3:47PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 10:07AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 11:21AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 11:56AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 3:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/]]>Oct 12th 2009 4:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/
And seriously? I don't think you need to be 17 years old to play Killer Instinct....]]>Oct 12th 2009 10:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 10:32AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 10:41AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 10:48AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 10:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/
In essence, Sony has revealed a benefit to the App Store that most developers took for granted. Other articles mentioning the cost of ESRB ratings have spun the story to say that Apple will eventually be pressured into using ESRB's ratings, but I doubt this will happen. There's no way Apple would let another company skim off of their profits so easily, especially if there's no law to force it to happen. And, as much as people demonize the App Store, $99 to start up a business is dirt cheap. I'm pretty sure Apple is happy to keep it that way.]]>Oct 12th 2009 10:50AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/
As everyone has probably noticed, videogames are the scape-goat for societies deficiencies. ESRB allows the industry to say that they are responsible, or else, there is a real fear of government regulation and censorship of games. Which would be much worse. The ESRB is much better then the FCC.

However, Sony still needs to think about the market. Taking away restrictions may be the right way to go about Minis release. Or Developers/Sony could rate them themselves with a "ESRB-like" system. Giving some level of guidance to parents but circumventing the ESRB's $2,500+ fee for rating them.]]>Oct 12th 2009 11:23AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/
For a PC, no one's reviewing the game, right? Microsoft or Dell or whoever makes a product and then EA or Ambrosia or whoever make some software. The ESRB provides a service to retailers (perhaps arguably to parents) who need to know the content but don't want to be responsible for previewing each title before it can show up on the shelf.

On the iPhone (and, I thought on the PSP Go) there is no independent channel. Everything has to pass by the equivalent of the "Microsoft or Dell or whoever" on the way to the consumer, cutting out the Gamespots or whoever.

If Apple stopped reviewing titles then there would be a need for a gatekeeper, perhaps. But for now I think a developer has to attach an age rating and then Apple's reviews evaluate whether that is accurate.
]]>Oct 12th 2009 12:59PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 10:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 10:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 10:13AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 10:18AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 10:18AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/
I'm not saying the game ratings are perfect, but at least they provide some sort of benchmark. Some stuff falls into a gray area, but again, no system is perfect.]]>Oct 12th 2009 10:28AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/
Have read the explanation once somewhere on the net...]]>Oct 12th 2009 10:31AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 4:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/As long as Sony doesn't care, it won't matter. But if they do require it, then small devs may be SOL unless they pay up.


Apple app store? Why bother with it? There isn't anything on there higher then pg-13 anyway.

And I seriously doubt the creator of iFart would even give a crap about ratings.]]>Oct 12th 2009 10:20AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/
/sarcasm]]>Oct 12th 2009 10:34AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 4:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 10:27AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 10:42AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Now the game developers can say, "well, we warned you" when Junior gets medieval on the neighbor's cat and blames it on his PSP GO.]]>Oct 12th 2009 10:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/
It should be illegal to sell an M rated game to someone under 17. For some reason it is not.]]>Oct 12th 2009 10:43AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 10:49AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Pretty sure its a store enforced policy, it would be next to impossible to police that.

I do remember being carded at a brick and mortar retailer once when playing a demo game they had setup. I felt bad/old cause a bunch of underage kids were watching me play. So you can watch you just can't play.

Ohh and Hook Em!!]]>Oct 12th 2009 11:03AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 10:57AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 10:58AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 11:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 11:24AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/
ESRB is optional, much like movie ratings. However most theaters won't show an unrated movie, same as how stores won't sell an unrated game.

BUT of course Wally World will sell you the "Unrated Directors Cut of Latest Teen Sex Comedy!" without blinking an eye. No double standards there!]]>Oct 12th 2009 11:23AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 11:27AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 1:59PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2009/06/esrb-on-iphone-games-we-can-handle-this/

So if you're already dropping 250k+ on a title, the ESRB fee would be 1% or less. You have to more than double the price of your app due to a 1% cost increase?

There may be other reasons a dev has to charge significantly more for titles purchased for the PSP Go, but ESRB fees shouldn't be to blame.]]>Oct 12th 2009 11:31AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/
I think they are doing just fine and need to stop their whining.]]>Oct 12th 2009 12:56PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/
http://kotaku.com/5378438/psp-minis-pay-a-premium-for-esrb-ratings

You have to understand, $2,500 is a sizable amount when you think about the volume and the budget of these games. You can do the math, if you are selling a 99 cent game on the iPhone you will need to sell 2,500 copies before you pay for the ESRB rating alone- then you have the development budget to think about. The reality with iPhone games are that only a small handful sell in the tens of thousands on the iPhone, the PSP Mini logically will sell a fraction considering the userbase that buys DL games on the system.

The whole point of these Minis is to give homebrew style developers. We are not talking $250,000 budgets for minis or iPhone games, we are likely talking $5,000-10,000 budgets, usually made by a single person on his freetime.

The ESRB needs a rating system that gives discounts for games that have budgets $5000 or less.]]>Oct 12th 2009 2:39PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/
After about 20 minutes of searching, I can't find any kind of fee schedule for ESRB ratings. Joystiq links to a GameDev.net post that says 'another' site says the fee is $2500. I found an article from 2007 discussing this exact problem for Wii games:

http://www.digitalbattle.com/2007/07/01/wiiware-developers-required-to-spend-2500-us-for-esrb-rating/

That article also mentions a $2500 fee, but doesn't say whether or not that would be the fee for a small-time title.

My question is this - what is the 'base' price for an ESRB game rating? If it's $2500, then there is already in place a discount for low budget games. For a small game, the rating fee might be only $500. That's still a lot for a single person, but considering getting such a rating could give you access to a market of several million more potential customers, it could be considered an investment. And at an additional $4 per copy, you'd only need to sell 125 copies to cover that cost.

Now if the '80% off' price is $2500, that seems a bit exorbitant, as that indicates the price for rating a larger budget game could be as high as $12,500. Absurd.

Even so, how many copies does the dev expect to sell? 5,000? 10,000? Even if the fee was the ridiculous $12,500, charging $4 per copy to cover an ESRB rating would cover said cost in just 3,125 copies sold. I agree that the cost of an ESRB rating should be passed on to the consumer, and it's fair to pass it on only to those who make said cost necessary, but $4 per copy is exorbitant.

While $2500 (assuming that is the absolute lowest price for a rating) would be a significant barrier for entry for a single dev writing games on the side, if you're in it for the cash then it's really just an investment. What business wouldn't spend $2500 to gain access to several million more potential customers? ]]>Oct 12th 2009 4:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 12:06PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 12:20PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 1:57PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/12/sony-psp-go-game-dev-taken-aback-by-lofty-esrb-rating-costs/Oct 12th 2009 3:11PM