What is the ESRB anyway?

Since my topic is game censorship, a lot of my blog posts are going to be related to the ESRB. Therefore, I thought it would be useful to take a few minutes to explain exactly what the ESRB is and how video games are rated.

The ESRB stands for the Entertainment Software Ratings Board. It is a non-profit organization that was established in 1994. The ESRB assigns ratings and regulates the advertising of video games that are distributed in Canada and the US. The ESRB ratings apply to video games that are sold and distributed in Canada and The United States. Most major retail outlets and consoles will only support games that have received an ESRB rating. The ESRB rates approximately 1,000 games a year. The ratings exist as : E (everyone), E 10+ (Everyone above the age of 10), T (teens ages 13 and up), M (mature, ages 17 and up), and A (Adult, ages 18 and up).

The games are rated by at least 3 trained analysts who review many different criteria. Their identities are kept anonymous, and are not permitted to have any ties with any distributors or the game designers themselves, in order to keep the rating as an unbiased judgement call. The ratings are based on a questionnaire submitted by the game distributors listing all of the game content, as well as a DVD exposing such content. The DVD includes standard gameplay, differen scenes, graphic content (i.e. violence, sexual content, drug and alcohol use, etc.), as well as scenes that are "locked out" or "mini-games". Once the DVD and the questionnaire is reviewed, the raters must play the game. The raters develop an individual rating and meet with other raters until a consensus is reached. Once a consensus is reached, the rating is turned over to the distributor along with a list of factors which affected the rating. Once this is passed to the distributor it is up to them to maintain the rating or revise the game. If the game is revised the ratings process begins all over again. The publisher also has a chance to appeal the rating if they feel it is not warranted. Once the game is ready to be published, a final copy is sent to the ESRB. The ESRB evaluates the final package, making sure that the rating is properly visible to the consumers. Once everything has been approved, the games are then shipped off and sold in stores.