Submitted by Andrew Eisen - February 8, 2008 at 3:04 am -050075.85.162.194
“Why have a ratings system if it’s not going to be enforced?”

It’s a question I see a lot. Here’s the answer: a ratings system should not restrict, only inform.

Luckily, that’s exactly what the ESRB does. The ratings are there to inform you of content so you can make an educated purchasing decision for yourself and your children. The age part of the rating is only there as a recommendation, not a rule. Ratings do not say “this game is inappropriate or harmful to players under a certain age.” That’s not for anyone but a parent to decide.

The point of a rating is information, not to keep content out of certain hands.

Another point I see brought up a lot is “but if the ratings aren’t enforced, kids could just buy adult games and there parents may be too crap at parenting to know.”

My response to that is: so what?

Seriously. So what? So a kid buys and plays GTA. So what? It’s not going to hurt him. I’ve never seen anything in the hundreds of games I’ve played or the dozens of studies I’ve read to indicate that mature games cause harm to children.


Andrew Eisen

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