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Video game ratings lend a hand to holiday shoppers
By Renay San Miguel
(This column was originally published December 11, 2002) (CNN) -- That pre-teen in your family is getting so excited about the chance of getting a video game console this Christmas, you fear they will spontaneously combust like a video game character. The frenzy is fed by countless television commercials advertising new games such as "Tom Clancy: Splinter Cell," "Metroid Prime," "Star Wars: Bounty Hunter," "Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance." Technology is shown at its best in these commercials, as the microprocessors in gaming consoles and sophisticated software in the games themselves combine for a virtual entertainment experience unlike any in the history of the gaming industry. Any trip to a mall that has a GameSpot or Toys'R'Us shows a line of dazed-and-confused parents at the check-out counter, arms bulging with Sony Playstation 2's, Nintendo GameCubes and Microsoft Xbox's, along with various $50 games for these consoles. It's scenes like these that have industry analysts expecting record sales this Christmas for the video gaming industry. But do those parents know if the games in their hands are age-appropriate for the kids on their holiday shopping lists? According to the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, the answer seems to be yes.
The ESRB is the self-regulatory arm of the Interactive Digital Software Association, the industry's trade group. Since 1994, the ESRB has rated games according to their levels of violence and other adult content. The ESRB released a study this week by Peter Hart Research Associates showing that parents overwhelmingly approve of the ratings assigned to computer and video games. "That's especially important this time of year, because nearly half of all parents are expected to purchase computer and video games as holiday gifts," said ESRB president Patricia Vance. She's quoted in the press release announcing the survey findings. The ESRB says parents were shown actual footage from 80 of the most popular games and asked what rating they would give them. The Hart survey says 77 percent of the parents would have awarded either the same ESRB rating or a less restrictive one. But different parents have different levels of tolerance for video game violence. The violence in "Star Wars: Bounty Hunter" is fantasy-based, much like the blockbuster movies they are based upon. It's rated "T" for teens 13 and older, according to the ESRB.
"Medal of Honor: Frontline" is a great World War II game where the violence is reality-based, yet it also gets a "T" rating. "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" gets an "M" rating for its "Scarface"-style violence, language and sexual content. After all, this is the game where you get points for killing prostitutes, finding stolen drug money for your gangster bosses and generally wiping out your fellow criminals who exhibit a wide range of ethnic stereotypes. Full disclosure here: I own all three of these games and enjoy them. "Vice City" is a giant leap forward in open-ended game-playing environments. The technology on display in shooter games such as "Splinter Cell," "Hitman 2" and "Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance" is formidable. They're also splashed with blood and gore. So educate yourself by heading over to the ESRB's Web site and use its search engine to see if the games on your kids/friend's kids/niece-nephew's wish list are the stuff of fantasy, or the stuff of post-Christmas nightmares.
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