ESRB Offers New Website Widget For Checking Game Ratings
ESRB Offers New Website Widget For Checking Game Ratings
April 1, 2008
The ESRB has launched a new search widget to help parents and game consumers find age ratings for commercially published video games.The widget is free and can be configured for installation on websites, social networking sites and blogs by grabbing the code from the ESRB site. In fact, we're taking the widget out for a spin here at GamePolitics, over in the right sidebar.
ESRB president Patricia Vance said of the new tool:
Our single most important message to consumers, particularly to parents, is that they should always check a game’s ESRB rating when considering a purchase or rental for their children.
Parents are hungry for this information, and research shows that three-quarters of parents regularly check ESRB ratings when making purchase or rental decisions about which games to bring home. Our ratings search widget makes checking the rating that much more convenient. We’re very excited to be offering this widget...
The widget's size, color and language (English, Spanish and French) can be tweaked by the user.
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Posted 11/07/09 at 11:33pm
JDKJ: BREAKING: In photo-finish at the wire, House passes health care reform bill. Relatedly, in fit of pique, Austin Lewis kicks innocent dog.
JDKJ: BREAKING: In photo-finish at the wire, House passes health care reform bill. Relatedly, in fit of pique, Austin Lewis kicks innocent dog.
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:27pm
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:26pm
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:23pm
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:18pm
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
Posted 11/07/09 at 03:34pm
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:58am
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:56am
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:51am
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:48am
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:11am
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:07am
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:05am
JDKJ: I'm no psychologist, but I'm told that crazy people have a tendency to do crazy things.
JDKJ: I'm no psychologist, but I'm told that crazy people have a tendency to do crazy things.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:03am
chadachada321: Whoops, was out of the convo for awhile. I do wonder what type of ammo he used etc, but the real issue is WHY he did it, not HOW
chadachada321: Whoops, was out of the convo for awhile. I do wonder what type of ammo he used etc, but the real issue is WHY he did it, not HOW
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:56am
JDKJ: But if it turns out that they actually did, they'll have Hell to pay.
JDKJ: But if it turns out that they actually did, they'll have Hell to pay.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:45am
JDKJ: And I'd tend to rule out the possibilty of FN Herstal supplying restricted ammunition to someone merely because they're ordering it from a military base.
JDKJ: And I'd tend to rule out the possibilty of FN Herstal supplying restricted ammunition to someone merely because they're ordering it from a military base.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:37am
JDKJ: I know you don't leave your gated community and get around much in dark alleys, so you may be surprised to learn that there's this thing called "the black market" where, if you've got enough money, ain't too much of anything which can't be bought.
JDKJ: I know you don't leave your gated community and get around much in dark alleys, so you may be surprised to learn that there's this thing called "the black market" where, if you've got enough money, ain't too much of anything which can't be bought.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:36am
Austin_Lewis: Or, maybe he or someone else at the base ordered the SS190 from FN Herstal.
Austin_Lewis: Or, maybe he or someone else at the base ordered the SS190 from FN Herstal.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:32am
Austin_Lewis: the hands of private owners. They run about 300 dollars minimum for a box of 50, and boxes of AP 5.7 are extremely scarce, mainly residing in the hands of Class III stores or individuals who for one reason or another got a demo box of it.
Austin_Lewis: the hands of private owners. They run about 300 dollars minimum for a box of 50, and boxes of AP 5.7 are extremely scarce, mainly residing in the hands of Class III stores or individuals who for one reason or another got a demo box of it.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:30am
Austin_Lewis: There are other firearms that fire the 5.7. However, I too would like to know where he got the ammo and what kind was used. Maybe Hasan, planning not to live through this, went out and bought one the boxes of SS190 that are floating around in
Austin_Lewis: There are other firearms that fire the 5.7. However, I too would like to know where he got the ammo and what kind was used. Maybe Hasan, planning not to live through this, went out and bought one the boxes of SS190 that are floating around in
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Comments
What do you mean? Looks fine to me. What browser are you using?
I'm on Firefox 2.0.0.13 on Ubuntu Linux 7.10
It's not the system that's broken, it's the parents.
Type in Manhunt 2. You see this:
Manhunt 2 (Wii) - Mature -
Manhunt 2 (Playstation 2,
Bit of a formatting issue there. Ideally, I'd like to see the ratings symbols themselves. They're much more recognizable (and take up less space).
Content descriptors can be seen by mousing over the title/rating but you shouldn't have to do that.
Great idea though. I just hope it’s further refined.
Andrew Eisen
Another issue with the 160x300 is the content descriptors get cut off if you mouse over too far to the right.
Again, it's a great idea, it just needs to be formatted better.
Andrew Eisen
I agree on the issue of the widget and the ratings symbol.
I punched in the infamous "Mass Effect" and it pulled up the right game, but then the info appears as a balloon off the mouse pointer. That's fine, but the symbols seem like a huge missing factor. It's definitely going in the right direction though.
BTW I was using IE 7.0 to browse it at the time.
This isn't really for them. It's specifically designed for parents who frequently use teh interwebs to research game content. To make it so they can more easily and quickly look up ratings info.
I wonder if I can use AIR widgets in the OS X dock? ... hmm...
On a side note, 75% of parents check the ratings?
So politicians are playing the the 25% that cannot think for themselves or their families?
Only, see, it's the ingredients that make up the game instead...
That's all well and good, assisting people who already show an interest in their kids and all of that but I think the community needs to work on winning over those that DON'T care about what their kids say, do, listen to watch or play. Those are the people who whole heartedly endorse these asinine laws that they end up having to pay for (out of their own taxes no less.) in the end.
As supporters of these laws have proven, it's much easier to preach to the converted...
I suppose the hope is, that by continuing to provide more tools, especially ones that people can put on their own blogs and websites, they make it just that much easier to access. Just like we know certain parents won't pay attention in-store, but we plaster giant posters, huge labels, and have tons of pamphlets, and even prompt them at the till. The idea is eventually they'll clue in. Pushing them, will only turn them away due to resentment over telling them how to raise their kids, ironic considering they'll back laws telling OTHER parents how to raise their kids... *shrug*
ESRB may have wanted to let this one cook for a while.
Type in "ecko" and run the search. As expected, Mark Ecko's Getting Up appears.
Scroll to the bottom where the Gex 3 games are (you'll have to use the scroll bar as the mouse wheel won't work). Notice the gray and white color bands have stopped alternating. All three entries are gray. Mousing over will correct the display problem.
According to the ESRB site, there are two Deep Cover Geko games. One for the PC/PS1 (rated T) and one for the N64 (rated E). Notice the E rated entry also includes the PC and PS1. The content descriptors don't line up either (animated violence vs. mild animated violence).
Now highlight the last Gex game. It comes up as Dead Reckoning!
If you mess with the scroll bar a bit (move it up and down, click the up and down arrows), Dead Reckoning will show up at the bottom of the list but there's no pop up window when you mouse over it.
The widget is still a great idea. It's just not done yet.
Andrew Eisen
Maybe it's a good idea, but it really doesn't seem like it'll be any more useful than the ratings already put down.
1. people are here to help you in anyway possiable
2. we have tutors on the subject matter with helpful tips
3. make a apppoiment with a teacher or a peer to peer talk about homework.
does any of this sound fimailar to what the ESRB is trying to do???
its like saying "we have people here to help you in anyway possible to understand the materials."
but its up to you if you want to put some effort in to it.
I circumvented all this trouble with my mom by taking a philosophy class, though. We have an agreement that she isn't allowed to complain until she solves the same logic puzzles I solved.
Why not look at the box?
that's like going to the store and buying your groceries without looking at the health lable or checking the experation date.
I'm using the exact same OS and browser as Jabrwock and can't see it..