Know Your Game Ratings

I play a lot of games, and honestly don’t usually pay much attention to the rating on the box since the games I buy are for myself. For a concerned parent, that rating icon would be important to consider. I’ve received a few questions from parents about what games are safe for their children to play. The answer is that it really depends on what you are willing to expose your child to.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has made it easy to make that decision with its rating system. It’s designed to provide information about computer and video game content so consumers (especially parents) can make informed purchase decisions specifically for games. You may have seen the icons on the box, in commercials or in print ads and wonder what they stand for.

There are six ESRB Rating categories (icons are shown on picture):

EC (Early Childhood): may be suitable for ages 3 and older. Titles in this category contain no material that parents would find inappropriate.

E (Everyone): 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.

E10+ (Everyone 10 and older): 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.

T (Teen): may be suitable for 13 and older. Titles in this category may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood and/or infrequent use of strong language.

M (Mature): may be suitable for ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content, and/or strong language.

AO (Adults Only): should only be played by persons 18 and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.

For your child’s sake, the next time you buy a video game, take a moment to check the rating according to the listed criteria above and make sure it’s what you want for him/her.