ESRB Ratings for the Real World

Recently, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty signed a bill requiring stores selling video games to put up signs explaining the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) rating system. The ESRB rating system is designed to provide accurate and objective information about game content so parents can make an informed purchase decision on which titles are suitable for kids and which ones are not. ESRB ratings symbols suggest age appropriateness and content description for the game:

• Titles rated EC (Early Childhood) have content that may be suitable for ages 3 and older. Contains no material that parents would find inappropriate.
• Titles rated E (Everyone) have content that may be suitable for ages 6 and older. Titles in this category may contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language.
• Titles rated E10+ (Everyone 10 and older) have content that may be suitable for ages 10 and older. Titles in this category may contain more cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes.
• Titles rated T (Teen) have content that may be suitable for ages 13 and older. Titles in this category may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language.
• Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.
• Titles rated AO (Adults Only) have content that should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.
• Titles listed as RP (Rating Pending) have been submitted to the ESRB and are awaiting final rating. (This symbol appears only in advertising prior to a game’s release.)

To help make their rating system even more hip (that is, people will actually read it), ESRB hired Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik to handle their new ad campaign through Penny Arcade. But that didn’t stop the people at Cheap Ass Gamers from coming up with their own version of the ESRB rating for the real world. You know, the world where the wicked stepsister actually marry into royalty and the good one end up working as a waitress in a seedy bar. That world.

Via CAG

Recently, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty signed a bill requiring stores selling video games to put up signs explaining the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) rating system. The ESRB rating system is designed to provide accurate and objective information about game content so parents can make an informed purchase decision on which titles are suitable for kids and which ones are not. ESRB ratings symbols suggest age appropriateness and content description for the game:

• Titles rated EC (Early Childhood) have content that may be suitable for ages 3 and older. Contains no material that parents would find inappropriate.
• Titles rated E (Everyone) have content that may be suitable for ages 6 and older. Titles in this category may contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language.
• Titles rated E10+ (Everyone 10 and older) have content that may be suitable for ages 10 and older. Titles in this category may contain more cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes.
• Titles rated T (Teen) have content that may be suitable for ages 13 and older. Titles in this category may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language.
• Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.
• Titles rated AO (Adults Only) have content that should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.
• Titles listed as RP (Rating Pending) have been submitted to the ESRB and are awaiting final rating. (This symbol appears only in advertising prior to a game’s release.)

To help make their rating system even more hip (that is, people will actually read it), ESRB hired Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik to handle their new ad campaign through Penny Arcade. But that didn’t stop the people at Cheap Ass Gamers from coming up with their own version of the ESRB rating for the real world. You know, the world where the wicked stepsister actually marry into royalty and the good one end up working as a waitress in a seedy bar. That world.

Via CAG