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!
