ESRB criticizes NIMF over Video Game Report Card

North America‘s ESRB has sent out a reply to the GamePolitics blog criticizing the the National Institute of Media and the Family (NIMF)’s Video game Report Card, released earlier today. Among other details, the said report card criticized the industry as a whole for its alleged inability to enforce its M-ratings. Details are available in the full article.

North America‘s ESRB has sent out a reply to the GamePolitics blog criticizing the the National Institute of Media and the Family (NIMF)’s Video Game Report Card released earlier today. The ESRB’s reply noted that the NIMF’s Report Card contradicted with results reported in the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) findings.

The ESRB further criticized that the NIMF “grossly misrepresents the facts surrounding last monthÂ’s hack into pirated versions of Manhunt 2,” referring to the recently uncovered hack for the game’s PSP port which allowed players to access footage of previously removed scenes.

The NIMF had pounced on the edited scenes to criticize the ESRB’s apparent laxity with Take-Two and Rockstar’s title, revising its previous AO rating to an M. The ESRB further reiterated on the FTC’s ratings:

[The FTC report] called the ESRB rating system “a useful and informative tool that parents increasingly use to help them make informed decisions about games for their children.” Its nationwide survey of over 1,300 parents showed that nearly nine in ten parents with children that play video games are satisfied with the ESRB rating system, three in four use it regularly, 94% find the ratings easy to understand, and 59% never let their children play Mature-rated games.

As a recap, NIMF’s recently published report card had given the group an overall grade of C+. Apparently flunking their card were national retailers, which received a D, and game rental shops, which received an F. The poor scores come in as the NIMF released a survey indicating that 46% of these said stores sold M-rated titles to minors.

Via GamePolitics