ESRB responds

FiringSquad also heard from ESRB president Patricia Vance in response to our survey. Here is her email statement:

It seems clear that there is an undeserved double standard when it comes to video game ratings as opposed to those for other forms of media like television or film. The simple fact, however, is that parents deserve to be informed of what's in the products they bring home to their families, regardless of the medium. That's exactly why ESRB ratings are prominently displayed on virtually every computer and video game sold in North America, giving parents useful and easily understood information about what type of content they may expect to encounter in a game. The support that the ESRB ratings have received from publishers and retailers has been overwhelming, and we're extremely proud of the service we provide to consumers.

The reason for this double standard is debatable, but I think it may stem in part from a fundamental lack of understanding about games by those who scrutinize and criticize them. There's a misperception, particularly among those who don't actually play video games themselves, that games are all intended for kids. The reality, though, is that the average gamer today is about 30 years old, and video games, just like movies and TV shows, are created for audiences of different ages. That's exactly why the ratings are so important, and we'll keep making sure that parents have the information they need to make educated choices about the games they buy for their families.

Finally we heard from the person who got us thinking about doing our survey in the first place in Harvard professor Kim Thompson. FiringSquad communicated with Thompson via email and phone. Thompson told us that she felt that her study of content descriptions of M-rated games was different than our informal survey comparing ratings of games to DVD products. Nevertheless, she did tell us that in a future study they might take a look into how the movie and TV studios go about rating DVD releases. Here is some of her comments about our surveys:

I commend you on your informal survey, which demonstrates the importance of improving all of the media rating systems and their use in the marketplace, and I hope that it further strengthens the case for parents to demand a single media rating system that would provide high-quality, consistent, and transparent information for all media products. Our study showed that the ESRB is rating the violence and blood in M-rated games, but that the ESRB is missing content in 81% of M-rated games that could be of concern to parents. Our prior study in T-rated games found content not indicated by the content descriptors in 48% of the games we played, and based on our repeated observations of inconsistently labeled content, we believe that the ESRB should play the games before assigning its ratings and content descriptors.

Our research studies on movies and video games indicate that ratings information provided by the industry do not provide full information for parents. It is important for all media rating boards to provide accurate, consistent, and high-quality rating information so parents can make well-informed choices about all media products with and for their children.