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| Nearly every major video-game release in North America receives a rating from the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, or ESRB, a self-regulatory part of the $10 billion-a-year video game industry. Founded in the early 1990s following a series of Congressional hearings on video game violence, the ESRB began to supply game ratings in 1994. Since that time, the industry's official word is that the ratings work, and that it's up to parents to decide what their kids should see and play. But the truth is that the ratings are broken. In fact, they never really worked that well, and more than ever they need to be changed to address the constant changes in electronic entertainment. The current system just confuses and misleads people — follow the link and I'll tell you why. Before you label me as another anti-game watchdog — the kind that never actually plays video games — let me set the record straight. I've been a game reviewer for more than 15 years. I've met with the major developers and publishers, seen thousands of game demos and even played countless hours of everything from shooters to sims. I'm not against the game industry, and I'm most certainly not pro-censorship. But the fact remains that the industry markets mature content to kids, and it, like big tobacco, really knows what it's doing. Land of Confusion The problem with the ratings is actually multilayered. The first problem is that the ratings are confusing. There is "E for Everyone," and "T for Teen," and then "Mature," which shouldn't be confused with the infamous "AO" or "Adults Only" rating. Many game creators will say to the press during the early demos, "We mean for this to be a game for adults," but don't expect them to acquiesce if the ESRB gives them an AO. In fact, the AO rating has all but been commandeered by the porn industry for sexually explicit games, while violence seldom gets an AO rating. Publishers fight AO ratings because if a game gets one, most major retailers, like Wal-Mart or Target, won't carry it. It should also be noted that Best Buy believes the ESRB ratings are so confusing that it has begun adding its own set of ratings. The issue is more complicated because all Mature-rated games are not the same. And notice the use of the word "Mature" instead of "Adult," which helps confuse the matter. Isn't some of the content in a Teen-rated game of a mature nature? More worrisome is that the step up from Teen to Mature is basically as simple as showing blood. No blood, and violent shooter or fighting game may get a Teen rating, but show some blood and you're looking at Mature. Show all sorts of dismemberment with a chainsaw, or walls covered in body parts and you still get the Mature rating. So once you've crossed the line to Mature there really is nowhere to go, violence-wise, so for many developers there's no reason not to go for blood. Graphics Violence Just as important to consider is that since 1994 games have come along way. The Mature rating was actually created to address Mortal Kombat, a title that by today's standards looks like a cartoon. Graphics have vastly improved since then, as has the ability of storytellers to create rich and deeply plotted games. This has changed not only the content, but also the context of the game's violence. And yet it hardly seems to be considered — at least not enough — when ratings are given. Since 1994 the ESRB has added descriptors to their ratings, but this doesn't clear up the confusion. In fact it makes it worse. Description such as "depiction of blood" or "graphic violence" can mean many things depending on the context. The next layer to the problem is that Mature-rated games, despite what the industry may say, are at least indirectly being marketed to an audience under 18 years old. According to the Entertainment Software Association, only a small portion of games sold actually receive an M rating. What they aren't so quick to say is that these are the games that typically get a lot of coverage. Any iteration of Grand Theft Auto is going to score the covers of major gaming magazines such as Game Informer or Electronic Gaming Monthly, while family fare (for example, a Nancy Drew game) is lucky to get any coverage at all. In fairness, when EGM puts the latest GTA title on the cover, the game is only in development so the publishers can happily say, "it wasn't rated." But considering that the last five GTA games received a Mature rating, it's very hard to play ignorant. For Mature Audiences Many in the industry would say that the ratings are just part of the equation, and that at the end of the day it should be up to the parents to monitor what their kids play. This is fair, but as I've mentioned all Mature games are not equal. A Dungeon Siege is a far cry from Postal2, but both received an "M." And unlike with a film, it's impossible to preview all the content. It's worth noting that one game, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, even had its Mature rating revoked by the ESRB because of hidden pornographic content that one diehard fan uncovered. The game has since been re-released minus that content, while the original version had been relabeled AO. And of course that was only after the game had already sold untold number of copies. The latest generation of games for the PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii are unlike anything that we were playing in 1994. 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