ESRB Ratings: Unfairly targeted?

Conclusion

So we are left with two basic questions. One: is the ESRB ratings system for video and PC games providing more info to consumers about the content of those products than the movie and TV industry is doing for DVD releases? Based on our survey the answer is clearly “Yes”. Despite Assemblyman Yee’s comments to the contrary, the ESRB ratings system is on display in virtually all games and even some games (like the recent AO rated title Lulu 3D) that are only sold via digital download. Posters and other displays at the stores we surveys that explained how the ESRB system worked were clearly around and even TV ads about the ESRB system was shown via closed circuit TV. In short, we could not escape the ESRB system in the stores we surveyed and feel that they are indeed providing a lot of info about games and their content before they are purchased. This is certainly not true for DVD titles which frequently don’t have ratings at all, even for adult content, and even use the fact that they are unrated as a big marketing selling point. We have to wonder how much of a furor there would be from lawmakers and other groups if one of the large game publishers decided to go ahead and release a game with mature content without an ESRB rating, but the movie and TV industry do so for DVD releases of their product nearly every week.

The other big question, and the one raised by Professor Thompson’s survey is, “Can the ESRB provide more info about the content of games when they are rated by the board?” We have to say that the answer to that is also, “Yes”. While we believe the ESRB is doing a much better job in rating their product than the movie and TV industry does in rating their DVD product, everything can stand some improvement. We hope that the ESRB will use Professor Thompson’s study not as an attack on their board (as Assemblyman Yee has decided to do) but as one way to improve how games are rated in the future. As we mentioned in our previous interview with Thompson, she stated that she much prefer the video and PC game industry police itself rather than hand that responsibility to, say, the government, which is what Yee would like to see happen in California.

In the meantime, we hope that when politicians talk about how games like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Postal 2 and 25 to Life should be kept away from kids because of their content we also hope that they give equal consideration to clearly mature themed DVDs that, unlike all M rated games, sometimes don’t have ratings at all.