So now how much to get a game rated? 15k?

Either way this will not be enough for David Walsh and the PTC.

That would be a serious problem, if they couldn't get to an entire game because they didn't have the time. A solution there is that if a group of people each took a different section of the game to play. It might help, but we all know how Jack reacted when the judge made a ruling after only playing Bully for an hour or so. We'll be hearing a lot of "Well, you don't know what you were playing" if that happens. It's basically turning into a scenario where we're screwed, no matter what we do.

Then maybe the ESRB should start a mass-marketing campaign to educate the public? Kinda the same thing Thurbert Baker and Mark Shurtleff did with their PSAs, only with magazine, newspaper, T.V., and radio coverage.

It's a step in the right direction for the ESRB, but by no means is it a total solution. Part of the problem with the ESRB stems from the fact that, well, people -don't pay attention to the ratings-. It doesn't matter how many people you have rating a game, biased or not, if some dolt wants to buy an M-Rated game for their 8-year-old kid, we're going to be hearing focus groups and anti-game lobbyists screaming about how kids are being "exposed" to violence, etc.

The best way to dissolve this whole dispute, in my opinion, would be a joint effort between the ESRB and retailers to actually -inform- all those buying these games what the ratings are, and what they mean. I could see something along the lines of a form that outlines the ratings, what the potential content would be, and the buyer would have to acknowledge that they know what the rating means -before- buying the game. That would probably let most of the steam out of these anti-game arguments, because people would no longer be able to claim ignorance.

I still have to say that this could wind up being a problem for the ESBR

It does make sense to me, not only will full time raters make for more experience at rating, but also, by using people who actually play these things for leisure, they are going to be far more aware of what they are dealing with and looking at.

Last time I heard, the ESRB rates by video, so there will still be a large bridge of trust between them and the Industry itself, so that makes it all the more important that gamers do the ratings, that way both consumer AND producer are responsible for making sure the product gets a fair and acceptable rating and that all neccesary content has been seen.