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Former ESRB rater dishes on organization
In the April issue of EGM, Jerry Bonner, one of the first full-time raters for the ESRB, tells his side of what's going on behind the ESRB's iron curtain. Bonner says he rated 700 games during this six-month stint and has some suggestions he believes could help the organization. He recommends things like dropping the "Adults Only" and creating a "Teen 16" rating, actually letting raters play the games instead of watching videos submitted by the publisher, and for the organization to be less secretive. One of Bonner's great reveals is that the ESRB rates sequels based on "parity," meaning whatever the game's predecessor received is what the sequel will receive.ESRB president Patricia Vance doesn't take the criticism lightly and retorts that Bonner's information has "misleading statements, factual inaccuracies, and misrepresentations." She goes on to say that the organization does not "arbitrarily" change ratings, nor does it give blanket ratings to franchises. The ESRB's secrecy is apparently in the interest of national security "integrity and trustworthiness of the ratings system." All we can say is if people didn't have to sign an NDA to get a job with the ESRB -- they will now!
ESRB: Number of M-rated games declined in 2007
Entertainment Software Ratings Board head Patricia Vance writes in the organization's winter newsletter that 2007 saw "8.5 our of every 10 games" rated as appropriate for ages 13 and under. In a flood of numbers and stats, the newsletter states there were 1,563 ratings given last year (a 22% increase over 2006), 94% of ratings "assigned were appropriate for ages 13 or younger."The ESRB sure has some slick spin going on with its "appropriate for ages 13 or younger" stat. With its cunning use of "or" instead of "and," the organization deftly lumps T-rated games with the two levels of "E" titles. Really, it's teens 13-16 who have 'approved' access to 94% of games, while the younger crowd should only tango with 74%.We spoke with the ESRB about why E rated titles make up such a large majority of ratings now. A spokesperson told Joystiq, "[The E ratings] growth is due in part to the recent influx of casual games for the PC, handheld devices and online arcades, etc." We learned a game could receive duplicate ratings to boost a certain category unless a publisher submits a game for multiple platforms at the same time. Also, all versions must share the same "graphical realism/intensity, and any other elements that might impact the assignment of the rating" for it to only count once. If there is "differing content, graphical realism/intensity, etc." then a single title could have multiple ratings. A game like Peggle, which has staggered onto multiple platforms over time, would boost "E" ratings for each of the game's versions.
ESRB explains how game ratings work
The ESRB is drawing back the curtain on how they rate games. ESRB president Patricia Vance explains to Gamasutra that they employ six full-time raters who are hired in a "fairly straightforward interview process." These people review a DVD or videotape created by the games' publisher regarding the content up for consideration. Vance says they prefer raters who have experience with children, whether it be their own or through their profession, and are able to express thier views regarding content. The raters don't have to be gamers, but they do need to know how to use a controller because "part of their job is to test final product after its release to confirm that the original submission materials prepared by the publisher reflected the final product."Vance says rating games can be difficult, especially in deciding what language to use as descriptors on the box. A prime example she uses is if an animated looking character smacks another over the head with a frying pan; is that "Comic Mischief" or "Mild Cartoon Violence?" She also says that the presence of sensitive social issues like sexual or racial stereotyping has led to "internal debate" on how to address these issues in the rating. We would have to laugh (and be disturbed) if the rating labels ever started warning of "Ridiculous Cleavage" or "Potential Homosexual Content."
ESRB responds to Manhunt 2 rerating complaints
The ESRB is moving to put out the bizarrely intense flaming body of controversy caused by rerating Manhunt 2 as M rated. The re-rating happened following review of a "modified version" of the game. Advocacy groups like CCFC and political-crusader Leland Yee have demanded US government intervention by the Federal Trade Commission. The ESRB has now released a statement (full text after break) attributed to ESRB president Patricia Vance.Vance says in the statement, "The FTC, the national PTA, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and Peter Hart Research have all found that parents are overwhelmingly satisfied with the ESRB rating system. Rather than publicly second-guessing what is unmistakably a strong warning to parents about the suitability of a particular game for children, which presumably neither Senator Yee nor CCFC have personally reviewed, we feel a more productive tack would be to join us in encouraging parents to take the ratings seriously when buying games for their children." Yee and the advocacy groups would have such a better leg to stand on if the movie industry in the US were handled in a more "transparent" way. The Motion Picture Association of America has had a secret society for decades rating movies (see This Film is Not Yet Rated for more details). It just doesn't make sense to hold the video game industry to a completely different standard than films, especially considering the prevalence of torture porn is far less in video games.[Via Press Release]
Rhode Island AG partners with ESRB for PSA
State Attorney General Patrick Lynch of Rhode Island announced yesterday that we would work with the ESRB on a PSA campaign designed to raise awareness with parents about the video game ratings system. The campaign will have both television and radio ads. Something Gov. Schwarzenegger of California obviously can't be bothered with and would prefer to waste the court's time and taxpayer dollars on bills destined to fail. Lynch, who has two pre-teen children, said in a statement, "Most parents routinely check the ratings of movies before taking or allowing their children to see films, and I'm honored to join with ESRB to ask parents to use that same level of vigilance concerning video games. It's up to us, as parents, to take every measure possible to increase protections for our children."Lynch joins a growing list of attorney general's across the country hooking up with the ESRB. GamePolitics points out Pennylvania AG Corbett, Geogia AG Baker and, our favorite, Utah AG Shurtleff have all become ESRB supporters. Shurtleff. Shurtleff not only pulled a Jack Thompson authored bill because he thought it was unconstitutional, he also did one better by putting out a PSA about the ratings as well. Don't be surprised to see the ESRB working with more AGs to bring legal reason to legislative disorder.
