Game Raters Try To Give Parents More Info
Four New Terms Added To Descriptions
POSTED: 12:53 p.m. EDT June 27, 2003
Like the movie and television industries before, the people who rate computer software and video games are tweaking their rating system.
The Entertainment Software Rating Board has increased the number of phrases used to describe game content.
Four news terms -- "cartoon violence," "fantasy violence," "intense violence" and "sexual violence" -- were added to the existing 26 descriptions. (Learn more about the ratings at right.)
ESRB President Patricia Vance said the new ratings should make it easier for consumers to get a handle on the kind of activity depicted in the software and video games they buy.
The ESRB also said that, starting in September, there will be new labels on the back of game boxes. The new labels will be easier to see and will have more information about the games.
ESRB gets its ratings from a consensus of three trained raters. Along with the descriptions, the games are placed in one of five broad categories -- early childhood, everyone, teen, mature and adults only.
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