The Entertainment Software Rating Board or ESRB is an organization that gamers know quite well. It is the main organization that provides ratings for games in the United States. The ESRB’s domain has always been limited to video games that come out on game consoles, PCs and gaming handhelds. But the organization is now setting its sights on the fastest growing gaming niche in the market today, mobile devices.
The ESRB, along wth the CTIA Wireless Trade Association, is planning to release a new rating system that is aimed solely at mobile games. The unveiling is reportedly scheduled on November 29. The ESRB’s presentation will be held in Washington DC at an event that will be hosted by ESRB President Patricia Vance and CTIA President Steve Largent. The event is going to have some political flavor with US Senators Kelly Ayotte and Mark Pryor attending as well.
The ESRB ratings system for mobile games will follow the same ratings system the ESRB has imposed on video games, that is, it will assign grades according to the content of the game and also give recommendations as to what age groups the games are suitable for.
The ESRB has been in the business of rating games since 1994. It has already rated more than 21,000 games but has allowed entities like the Xbox Marketplace or the Playstation Network to police the downloadable games it offers by means of a questionnaire. Apple and Android have implemented their own ratings systems for games but it is not a unified system. The ESRB system will universalize the ratings system to make it more easily understandable and adaptable.
Originally posted on November 22, 2011 @ 5:39 pm
