Intro

Midway, developer of Mortal Kombat, spent $10 million in a marketing campaign titled “Mortal Mondays” to promote their game. The campaign was successful but it also brought attention to its violent content. It soon drew the attention of politicians when a boy asked his parents if they could buy him a copy of the game. The father was upset after reviewing the game’s content and told his boss about it, Senator Joe Lieberman. Along with Mortal Kombat, Night Trap and Legal Enforcer also raised concerns over their content.

The First Hearing

On December 9, 1993, Senators Joe Lieberman and Herb Kohl held a congressional hearing for violence in video games. The hearing focused on getting the video game industry to propose an independent rating system to give consumers an idea of the amount of violence and sexual content in games.

Going into the hearing, Sega had its own independent rating system but it was deemed vague. Nintendo had no rating system but did have guidelines that prohibited graphic violence and sexual content. Nintendo dismissed concerns over Sega’s Night Trap allegedly promoting violence against women, and Konami’s Lethal Enforcers promoting criminality by advertising a gun-shaped controller, as they had nothing to do with those games.

Vice President of Nintendo of America, Howard Lincoln, stated a game like Night Trap “simply has no place in our society.” Sega’s Vice President of Marketing Communications, Bill White, argued video games weren’t played only by children, and the average Sega user was 19-22 years old. Regarding White’s statement, Sen. Lieberman argued Sega was marketing mature games to children by showing a Sega pamphlet with no distinction between mature and children games.

Lincoln argued Sega had only adopted the rating system after the backlash over Night Trap. “There was no rating on this game at all when the game was introduced. Small children bought this at Toys “R” Us and he knows that as well as I do.” He continued, “Today just as I’m sitting here, you can go into a Toy “R” Us store, or a Walmart, or a Kmart, and you know as well as I do that you can buy this product, and no one, certainly no sales clerk at retail is going to challenge you.”

Sen. Lieberman believed the best solution was for the video game industry to self-regulate. He stated, “it’s not only gonna be important for our kids, it’s gonna be important to the ultimate credibility and success of your business.”

The Second Hearing

On February 3, 1994, Sens. Lieberman and Kohl introduced the Video Game Rating Act of 1994 which would allow the government to create a commission that would help the video game industry create a rating system. The bill never went anywhere as video game companies established the Industry Rating Council (IRC), and announced major companies, including Nintendo and Sega, would comply with the new rating system.

In order to have all video game companies follow the rating system, the IRC gathered support from major retailers such as Walmart and Toys “R” Us. Merchandising Manager of Walmart, Chuck Kerby stated, “upon implementation of an industry-wide rating system, Walmart will only purchase video games that have gone through the rating process and received a rating.” Toys “R” Us Vice President, John Sullivan also stated Toys “R” Us would only buy rated games.

The Creation of the ESRB

The IRC met with congress once more in July of 1994 as the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA). Sen. Lieberman stated, “Today, the video game industry is announcing the establishment of an independent rating system that promises to give parents for the first time a clear idea of which video games are good for their kids and which should stay out of their homes.”

The IDSA established the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). They created five categories for rating, early childhood (eC), kids to adults (K-A), teen (T), mature 17+ (M), and adults only 18+ (Ao) along with several content descriptors. In order for the ESRB to rate a video game, developers had to pay a fee and send in the most extreme content of a game. All sides agreed a game’s rating was to appear on its packing as well as in any promotional material. The ESRB was to work closely with retailers to educate staff and consumers on the ratings.

The ESRB Today

Polygon took a look at the effectiveness of the ESRB. In their findings, a 2008 Federal Trade Commission’s study reported, “Undercover Shoppers Find It Increasingly Difficult for Children to Buy M-Rated Games.” The 2011 study found, “FTC Undercover Shopper Survey on Enforcement of Entertainment Ratings Finds Compliance Worst for Retailers of Music CDs and the Highest Among Video Game Sellers.” Sen. Lieberman has stated the ESRB ratings are “the most comprehensive in the media industry.”

The issue now regarding violent video games is that these games are rated by the ESRB as “M” for mature but parents are unaware or don’t care. These same people are then upset when they find out about the content in the games their children are playing. M-rated games can only be purchased by someone who is 17 or older. No retailer in the United States will sell an M-rated game to a minor.

Any retailer will ask for I.D. and explain the contents of the game to a parent. For example, a game like Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, a clerk would tell a parent, “This game features blood, gore, drug reference, intense violence, and strong language. Is that okay for little Jimmy?” Parents then say, “oh yeah my little Jimmy is mature for his age, he can handle it.” I’ve often heard of this example in person and this is where the problem stems.

Some parents may take issue with the ESRB deciding 17 is an appropriate age for blood, gore, and intense violence, but the Motion Picture Association of America thinks it’s appropriate for 17-year-olds to watch R-rated movies, and the U.S. government finds it appropriate for people of 18 years of age to buy tobacco products.

The ESRB may not be flawless and parents will still complain about violent video games, but the ESRB achieved its goal of establishing a unified rating system followed by all major video game companies in the U.S. The ESRB also partnered with the Parent-Teacher Association, U.S. Senators, as well as NFL teams in an effort to educate Americans. It is now up to parents to educate themselves and their children on the rating system.

“The control is in your hands”

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