1. Ratings and Censorship of Video Games

2. The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB)
Self-regulatory, mandate is to assign ratings to video games so that parents can make informed choices
System is voluntary, but many retailers + most major chains will only stock games with ratings
Almost all video games are rated by the ESRB

3. The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB)
1. Rating Categories – suggest age appropriateness
o Everyone, Everyone 10+, Teen, Mature, Adults Only, Rating Pending
2. Content descriptors – indicate content that may have triggered a particular rating or may be of interest or concern
o Examples = blood and gore, mature humour, drug reference, simulated gambling, suggestive themes etc.
3. Interactive elements – highlight interactive or online features of a product, including users' ability to interact with each other, the sharing of users' location with other users, if purchases of digital goods or services are offered, and/or if unrestricted internet access is provided
The inclusion of microtransactions is a recent addition after pressure from a US senator

5. The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB)
The Rating Process
The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB)
Developers pay a fee and submit an online questionnaire detailing the game’s pertinent content
Must also submit a video that captures all pertinent content including typical gameplay, missions, cutscenes, and the most extreme instances of relevant content
The video is reviewed by at least 3 trained raters who collectively deliberate -> this is then reviewed by RSRB staff

6. Violence in Video Games

7. The International Age Rating Coalition (IARC)
Used for digitally-distributed games and apps
No fees for the developer
Content ratings are generated for Classificação Indicativa
(Brazil), ESRB (United States, Canada, Mexico), PEGI
(Austria, Denmark, Hungary, Latvia, Norway, Slovenia, Belgium,
Estonia, Iceland, Lithuania, Poland, Spain, Bulgaria, Finland,
Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Sweden, Cyprus, France, Israel,
Malta, Romania, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Greece, Italy,
Netherlands, Slovak Republic, United Kingdom), USK (Germany)
and Generic (all other countries)
Developers complete a questionnaire and are immediately assigned the ratings

10. Criticisms of the ESRB - Enforceability

11. Adult Only Rating - Censorship?

12. Criticisms of the ESRB - Oversight
Two-Take is a company at the centre of some of the ESRB’s largest controversies
Conflict of interest in a system where the industry is allowed to self-regulate?
"Clearly the ESRB has a conflict of interest in rating these games, plain and simple, parents cannot trust the ESRB to rate games appropriately or the industry to look out for our children's best interests"
Leland Yee, California State Assembly Member
Take-Two released Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and co-published The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, both of which were re-rated after launch due to the inclusion of content not disclosed in the original ratings submission.
Take-Two that saw its Manhunt 2 given an AO for Adults Only, then re-worked it to get an M for Mature, but declined to detail what had been cut in the process. (The ESRB backed Take-Two up on that count while also refusing to detail changes.)
In 2005, the National Institute on Media and the Family criticized the ESRB for seldom-using the Adults Only rating, arguing because it has a vested interest in the video game industry, it did not want to perform actions that would affect their commercial availability.

13. Criticisms of the ESRB - Rating Accuracy
Because of the interactive nature of video games, experience may vary greatly from user to user making it difficult to accurately rate
To rate video games, the ESRB depends on video footage of the game sent to them by the developers and can only assign ratings based on the information that they are given

14. Criticisms of the ESRB - Mods

15. Criticisms of the ESRB - Mods

16. Is government intervention the solution?
After the controversy surrounding GTA San Andreas, Senators Hillary Clinton, Joe Lieberman, Tim Johnson and Evan Bayh introduced a bill known as the Family Entertainment Protection Act, which would impose fines on individuals or businesses found selling M- or AO-rated games to minors, as well as launch an investigation into the ESRB to determine whether it has been properly rating games.
This bill did not become law, but does reflect concerns that the ESRB is not sufficient and that there is a need for government intervention
This was a reaction to GTA San Andreas
government officials attempted to intervene by enforcing the ESRB as a federal mandate
In the US, laws have been proposed and paseed on state levels that require warning labels and result in fines or jail time for selling games to children -> these laws are often overturned by the courts
Courts in the US say these laws violate the 1st amendment and have, in 2003 courts ruled that video games are on par with other forms of literature and therefore protected

17. Australian Classification Board (ACB)
Overview
Government body and system created by statute
Board members are appointed by the federal government
Mandatory — all video games must be reviewed in order to be legally sold in Australia
The board reviews not only video games, but also films and, in some cases, books and magazines
Has the power to refuse classification, banning the video game from sale in Australia
Importing games that have been refused classification is illegal
Sale of material in restricted categories to anyone younger than the age on the rating is illegal

18. Australian Classification Board (ACB)
The System
Divided into advisory and restricted categories
Prior to 2013, video games were not eligible for any category higher than MA 15+
Games that would have been rated higher were refused classification
Video games are assessed on a different set of criteria than films
Ratings can contain “consumer advice” which list the classifiable elements that led to the rating being chosen

19. Australian Classification Board (ACB)
The Review Process
There are six classifiable elements: drug use, language, nudity, themes, sex, and violence
The board looks at the impact and the context of the classifiable elements
For example, drug use cannot be incentivized even at an R 18+ rating
Applicants fill out a questionnaire, and provide footage of any gameplay elements that may be contentious. Some applicants must physically demonstrate gameplay before the board

20. Australian Classification Board (ACB)
Mods
As of 2015, minor modifications do not requires a separate approval as long as they “would not affect the original classification of the game”
However, more major modifications are required to be classified in order to be sold.

21. Criticism of the ACB

22. Decisions of the ACB Censored Video Games

23. Decisions of the ACB Censored Video Games

24. Decisions of the ACB Censored Video Games

25. Which System Works Best?
Kahoot.it

26. Censorship Around the World

27. Censorship Around the World

28. Censorship Around the World

29. Censorship Around the World

30. Censorship Around the World

31. Censorship Around the World