After the Gamecube was released in 2002, and was relatively ineffective at wedging itself into the market shares of Microsoft and Sony, Nintendo took a second try at it with the Nintendo Wii.
The most unique part of the Wii was that it was more interactive than the systems prior to it. The controller can actually respond to being physically moved and allow players to swing the controller like a golf club, a baseball bat, a bowling ball or even a sword (in Dragon Quest Swords), granting a new sense of 'realism' to gaming. No more hitting the 'X' button to somehow kill the slime, now you actually are swinging at it and stabbing towards the screen with your controller!
Later in its timeframe, Nintendo realized that people were more conscious about getting fit and exercising, and with a controller that responds to movement already, why not go the next step and make fitness related games, hence came Wii Fit.
The folks at Nintendo really put innovation on a pedestal with their ideas with the Wii, and keeping a tight hold on their staple icons of Zelda and Mario Bros. made it that if you wanted to have a go with these all-time favorites, you needed to return to the Nintendo franchise to have access to them.
Nintendo Wii actually beat both Xbox 360 and PS3 in sales numbers worldwide, and in Dec. 2009 broke the sales record for a single month in the U.S, with their DS handheld device coming in 2nd for the month. (^ "Wii and DS thrash competition in US News". Eurogamer. January 14, 2010. Retrieved Nov. 24, 2013)
Wii has sold over 100.3 million units worldwide, with a game library consisting of over 1,200 games, but their network store also allows you to play games from older systems (NES, SNES and even Sega Genesis games) on the Wii, which brings it's totals to 1778 games (according to Nintendo Inc. Official Site) (http://www.nintendo.com/games/gameGuide accessed Nov. 24, 2013)
Showing posts with label game ratings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label game ratings. Show all posts
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Sunday, November 3, 2013
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 ,
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 ,
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