Entertainment & Pop Culture—Vidoe Games

By Jerry Price - May 1, 2006 -

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), which rates video games, has seven categories in their rating system. They are as follows:

  • EC (Early Childhood)—age 3+
  • KA (Kids to Adult)—age 6+: Minimal violence, slapstick comedy, some crude language.
  • E (Everyone)—As of January 1998, the new “Everyone” designation replaced the “Kids to Adult” rating.
  • T (Teens)—age 13+: Violence, profanity, mild sexual themes.
  • M (Mature)—age 17+: More intense violence, profanity, mature sexual themes.
  • A (Adult Only)—Adults only: due to graphic violence and sexual themes, not for persons under 18.
  • RP (Rating Pending)—Product has been submitted to the ESRB and is awaiting final rating.

On June 26, 2003, the ESRB revised the system and added four content descriptors. They also required more visible descriptive labels on game packages. The added descriptors are:

  • Cartoon violence features “violent actions involving cartoon-like characters.”
  • Fantasy violence portrays “human or non-human characters easily distinguishable from real life.”
  • Intense violence shows “graphic and realisitic-looking depictions of physical conflict.”
  • Sexual violence warns of “depictions of rape or other violent sexual acts.”

Video Game Ratings Key, National Institute on Media and the Family [Accessed December 15, 2005]

“Stories of violence are familiar to anyone with a television in America today. Whether flashed on the nightly news, dramatized in a sensational movie of the week or packed into ‘action’ blockbuster films (a guy, a gun and an attitude!), not a day goes by that we don’t get a dose of aggression from the media. And it’s getting worse.”

That evaluation was made in 1993 when a group of people came together to attempt to find a set of ideas that could be used to overcome the problems. They made a list of 20 things that people could do to help overcome the violence in the media that often leads to violence on the streets. Five of them seem to be strategic:

  1. Nonviolent Computer Game Using CD-ROM technology, a computer game along the lines of Carmen Sandiego would challenge players to solve conflicts nonviolently. Anger management and conflict resolution skills could be employed as modes of action. The game would be equally effective as entertainment in the home and an educational tool in schools. Design and format could be developed for different age groups.
  2. Nonviolent Line of Video Games Already under criticism for the graphic violence in Mortal Kombat, which features bloody decapitations and dismemberment, Nintendo (as well as Sega and Genesis) could develop a line of video games whose characters score points through nonviolent action. Competition would be based on creative thinking, innovative problem-solving.
  3. Ethics Training in Film Schools Most people preparing for public service professions like law enforcement or medicine are required to take ethics courses during their training. Because television and film are considerable forces in defining American culture, a similar requirement should be made of film and television students. Classes would focus on the role of the filmmaker as a participant in a democratic society, the political and social implications of the film as well as the potential moral and ethical imprint of media on different types of audiences.
  4. Video Comparing Real Violence to Media Violence An educational video similar to Scared Straight, a film study of prison life, could demonstrate the differences between real and media violence. Primarily shown in schools, the video could also be part of an educational awareness program facilitated by film and television professionals (perhaps stuntmen or news reporters). It might compare the depiction of violence in film and TV to real violence with particular attention to the consequences of aggression.
  5. Kids’ Advisory Panel to Media Most major organizations and businesses have a board of directors that helps guide the organization. Similarly, a ‘board of directors’ paneled by kids would serve as creative consultants to advise various media. A board could be established in local schools and community groups and sponsored by a local television station. It would primarily function as a way to get children involved in the business of media.

Excerpted from Jay Dover, 20 Ways to Create a Caring Culture—Parts I & II (Center for Media Literacy) [Accessed December 15, 2005]

“After years of criticizing the ESRB ratings and calling for improvement and overhaul of the system, we have come to the conclusion that the system itself is beyond repair. The system supposedly put in place to keep killographic games out of the hands of kids seems to often produce the opposite results.

“In early July, we discovered that explicit pornography was included in the top selling video game, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. We issued a MediaWise Parent Alert, and a firestorm in the news media followed. It took two weeks for the game’s manufacturer, Rockstar Games, to cut short its string of denials and finally come clean. The results include lawsuits, a federal investigation, and major retailers cleaning the games off their shelves and sending them back to Rockstar. The so-called “hot coffee” scandal does not simply reveal the bad faith of one of the industry’s most prominent companies; it has shown once and for all that the present rating system is broken and can’t be fixed.

“The ESRB video game rating system, like its cousins in the movie and television industries, is owned and operated by the industry it is supposed to monitor. This obvious conflict of interest is why only eighteen games out of ten thousand have ever been rated Adults Only (AO). It seems that every year M-rated games are on average more violent, contain more sexual content and have more profane language than games released with the same rating the year before. Study after study shows that ratings would be stricter if parents were doing the job. It took explicit porn to get Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas an AO rating, even though the original version, still rated M, rewards players whose onscreen persona had sex with prostitutes and then killed them. We have been calling for AO ratings for the Grand Theft Auto series for years—now it is clear why the ESRB has ignored our request.”

Excerpted from Tenth Annual MediaWise Video Game Report Card (The National Institute on Media and the Family), November 29, 2005

“This year, we surveyed six hundred and fifty-seven 4th-grade through 12th-grade students in their classrooms. These students represented schools both public and private in rural, suburban and urban schools. Students averaging 13.7 years of age completed the surveys anonymously during the fall of 2005. Key findings include:

  • 87% of 8- to 17-year old children play video games at home. More than nine out of ten (92%) boys play video games at home, while 80% of girls say they play at home.
  • Less than half (47%) of children say their parents understand all of the ESRB ratings.
  • Only 26% say that a parent has ever stopped them from getting a video game because of its rating (28% boys, 23% girls).
  • Seven out of 10 children report playing M-rated games.
  • There are vast differences between boys and girls, with 86% of boys admitting that they play M-rated games compared to 49% of girls.
  • Almost two-thirds (61%) of children report owning their own M-rated games, up from 56% in 2003. 78% of boys say they own M-rated games.
  • Almost half of children (45%) say they have bought M-rated games themselves (up from 37% in 2003).
  • Only 55% of children said a parent was present the last time they bought an M-rated game (down from 65% in 2003).
  • Almost two-thirds (60%) of children list at least one M-rated game as their favorite (75% of boys and 35% of girls).

Excerpted from Tenth Annual MediaWise Video Game Report Card (The National Institute on Media and the Family), November 29, 2005

Interested in checking out a video game’s ratings? Check out the Entertainment Software Rating Board at http://www.esrb.com . There is also an option to file complaints or comments about a game.

Further Learning

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