ESRB instituted, the video game rating system is born

In 1994, the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) was founded, in reaction mainly to the institution of violence in video games.

During this time, the arcade game Mortal Kombat grew very popular, and for the first time in mainstream video gaming and arcades, violence and blood shed had taken the spotlight, leading to a massive reaction among society.  This new craze led to many psychological studies conducted on if violence in video games leads children to commit violence in reality.

Many studies were done on this topic, but there was never a clearly-defined statistical correlation between the two. However, society was concerned enough about this new bloodshed in games, namely in Mortal Kombat that it paved the way for a rating system to develop on par with the already instituted system on movies. (such as PG, PG-13, R, etc.)

That ratings board became the ESRB, which still exists today, and is now prominently displayed on all packaged games on all current systems that are both for retail and rental.

There are currently 8 rating categories in the ESRB to guide consumers to age appropriateness of the games.

These ratings are Early Childhood (EC), Kids to Adults (K-A), Everyone (E), Everyone 10+ (E10), Teen (T), Mature (M), Adults Only (Ao) and Rating Pending (RP).

Also on the package is a more detailed description of certain criteria that was used to determine and classify the rating level. (ie. Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violent themes)

The ESRB serves as guidance for parents and consumers as to what games are appropriate for what age groups.

To this day, ESRB ratings are not used to censor games, or even legally limit sale of Mature or Adults Only rated games to minors, however, the ESRB does work closely with retailers and renters of software about informing their customers about the rating system. Many retailers have generated their own policies against sales of Mature ESRB rated or above games to minors.

ESRB website ,