In America, there was a time when game companies had standards and practices of what content could be published, with Nintendo in particular had a rigid code. When adults only games were made during the 8-bit era, Nintendo did not allow the use of the NES cartridge to house the game, so the cartridges used required fighting with the slot.

Then came the fact Sega had their own rating system for their games. The ratings were like GA (General Audiences, like for Sonic the Hedgehog and countless collaborations with Disney, Warner Brothers and Nickelodeon) and MA-13 (for games like the Street Fighter series.)

The watershed moment when the rating system we are familiar with came in the form of Mortal Kombat. Due to its graphic and gory content, this lead to lobbying and the eventual formation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board. Initially the ratings we have today didn't start off like that.

There are 6 ratings a title can get from youngest to oldest:
eC (Early Childhood, age 3 and up. These were mostly educational titles using characters from little kid franchises. It is normal for the game to be shorter and inoffensive.)

E (Everyone, age 6 and up. Formerly K-A, Kids to Adults. A variety of games we know and love are aimed at this group. Some content may offend if you're not into cartoon violence or slapstick humor, common reasons that games in this category would receive descriptors of the game)

E10+ (Everyone 10 and Up. Introduced in 2005 as a way to have a tween market, games too harsh for E and not harsh enough for T were put in this rating. One title in particular, the dark hardcore Shadow the Hedgehog spin-off from Sonic the Hedgehog would be one of the first to receive the new rating due to thematic elements, mild language and the use of firearms by a hedgehog.

T (Teen. Ages 13 and up. Mostly restricted to fighting games like Street Fighter and Tekken, two entries in the Smash Brothers series and our favorite life Sim, The Sims since 2000. The use of sexual themes, crude humor, violence and language a bit harsh for E10+, fell into this category.)

M (Mature. Age 17 and up. This is about as severe as mainstream games gets. The violence, sexual content and language are pushing to an R-rated equivalent.)

AO (Adults Only. Ages 18 and up. Reserved for gambling games or sexual content too strong for minor consumption, Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft made a pact to forbid AO rated games from being manufactured for their consoles, which leaves games of this nature for the PC.)

While we're on the subject, certain incidents involving leftover data being accessed, with GTA San Andreas' sex minigame dubbed Hot Coffee as reference to the hero stopping by for "coffee". This brought out a now-disbarred lawyer, Jack Thompson, who in past cases was pro-censorship and in fact, was one of the lawyers present when music was being scrutinized for content. Frank Zappa, in his flippant nature, quoted his song about dental floss farming when asked of imitatible acts. Hot Coffee was a real blow to the gaming industry, not even The Sims 2 was safe from the bat-crap crazy Jack Thompson, who attacked it by saying under the blur was anatomically correct features and that it was a pedophile simulator.

A few years later, games with Easter eggs or extra content would be scrutinized due to an RPG containing a topless skin.

Today, the board is committed to meeting the standards and practices of their organization when games are submitted for approval.

The board consists of anonymous judges who screen the content of the games presented. Like movies with "This film is not yet rated" the RP rating is given during the time before a final approval of whatever rating the game will have.

However, like egg grading, the rating process is not mandatory. Some games do not receive ratings. Also, software outside the entertainment genre is exempt from rating but can receive a rating depending upon the criteria of the software.



What do guys think of this? I studied this stuff over the years and this is the culmination of hard work from gleaning articles as they came.

i liked this thread.

well currently i experience a weird situation in sims 4 forum with they crazy rules, one day i was posting pictures of games to compare graphic quality then i posted one from resident evil and another from final fantasy XIII, the resident eveil was just the character posing and one was holding a gun the final fantasy too.
then i get the post deleted because of "violence' and pictures with "weapons"
then i looked into the forum rules
´http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/dis...um-rules#latest

then sims 4 esrb rating
http://www.esrb.org/ratings/Synopsi...ms%E2%84%A2%204

then i was liked wtf, why this game is rated teen and have violence??? then when i asked about the sim gun frozen ray, she told which is just a prank and don't kill, as if you don't have a lot of games for kids or teens which display of guns even if they don't kill
then the moderator showed me another part of the forum rules

that line is completly contradictory, is the same of say the game is teen but you can only post kid content O.o, because even weapons can be rated teen we not allow, sometimes is really hard to understand the rates or some game rules, the sims can fight but since most of the fight is under a smoke screen is not considered violence >.>.