HEALTH BRIEF

Video game ratings not always accurate

ARTICLE REPRINT • From April 2004 AAP News, the official news magazine of the American Academy of Pediatrics

Nearly half of video games rated as appropriate for teenagers contained content such as profanity or sexual themes that was not noted on game boxes, according to an analysis of 81 randomly selected games.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) was created in 1994 to rate video games for consumers. The group uses materials supplied by game manufacturers to assign content descriptors and age-based ratings to games (E for everyone, T for teens and M for mature).

Children's exposure to violence, sexual themes and substances (alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs) in the media is a source of public health concern. However, no quantitative studies have been done on the content of T-rated games played by adolescents.

In this study, researchers analyzed the content of T-rated games to determine if information displayed on game boxes was accurate.

An undergraduate student played 81 of the 396 T-rated video games for at least one hour and recorded all game play on videocassettes. A researcher then viewed the videos and determined whether each game included violence, blood, sexual themes, substances and profanity. The results were compared with the content descriptors assigned to each game by the ESRB.

Results showed the ESRB almost always indicated when a game contained violence but often failed to specify the presence of blood, sexual themes, profanity and substances.

Specifically, 79 of the games that investigators viewed contained intentional violence, with 77 games receiving violence ratings. They observed blood in 34 games, with 22 receiving content descriptors for blood.

Sexual themes were observed in 22 games, with 16 receiving content descriptors. Profanity was observed in 22 games but only 14 received content descriptors. Twelve games contained the use of substances but only one received a content descriptor.

The authors concluded that adolescents and their parents who rely on content descriptors when choosing games may be surprised at what the games actually include. They suggested that pediatricians ask patients about their experience with video games and educate them about content. In addition, parents should observe their children playing games so they can discuss game content.

Reprinted with permission. American Academy of Pediatrics, AAP News, April 2004.