Playing It Safe: A Guide To Good Gamer Parenting

Is there any other entertainment medium that moves as fast as the world of video games? Keeping up with the state-of-the-art is hard enough for seasoned gamers, let alone busy parents. So how are you supposed to make sure your offspring's gaming entertainment is age-appropriate? Worry not: follow these practical guidelines and you'll be well on the way to maintaining a healthy gaming environment for your youngsters. We'll even show you exactly how to configure the parental controls on your gaming hardware.

Crack the ESRB Code

Unfortunately, the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) doesn't use the same age suitability symbols as the film industry. The good news, though, is that the ESRB's ratings are consistent across all consoles, handhelds and PCs. Full descriptions are available on the ESRB web site, but here's the Cliff's Notes version:

EC: Early Childhood.

In the ESRB's opinion, this game is suitable for kids 3 and older. No inappropriate content whatsoever.

E: Everyone.

Should be suitable for everyone over 6, but may still have mild fantasy violence or colorful language.

E10: Everyone 10+.

One step up from the E rating, E10 ramps up the fantasy violence a little and might have suggestive themes. But if your kid is over 10, this should be fine.

T: Teen.

We're getting into the heavier stuff here: violence, gambling, minimal blood and infrequent strong language will all earn a title a T rating. Think of it as gaming's PG-13.

M: Mature.

In practice, this is the highest rating you're likely to see. Intense violence, sexual content, blood and gore, and bad language are all fair game here. The content of an M-rated game loosely matches that of an R-rated film, and the same 17 year-old age standard applies.

AO: Adults Only.

You won't see any titles with this stamp on shelves, and in fact you're very unlikely to see any at all, ever. Essentially restricted to explicitly pornographic computer games, and those simply aren't distributed in the USA to any significant degree. By law, AO games are only sold to those over the age of 18.

RP: Rating Pending.

You'll see this on publicity materials for unfinished games. It means exactly what it says: the publisher hasn't yet submitted it for rating, because it's not finished. If you're looking up info on an unreleased game, you'll just have to wait until the ESRB gets to it (which will always happen before release), and if you know the game in question is already out, then you are looking at outdated material.

You'll usually see a set of "content descriptors" next to the age-rating stamp. These are a valuable source of detailed information on exactly what potentially objectionable content a game may have. For example, Halo 3 (which carries the M rating) has the content descriptors "Blood and Gore," "Mild Language," and "Violence." Other descriptors can warn of drug use, gambling depictions, or sexual content.

Get educated

Though certainly useful in getting a general idea of a game's content, ratings only tell part of the story. Each parent has their own standards, and yours may not match up with the ESRB. For our money, we find them too prudish on sexual content and too easygoing on violence -- but that's just us. Understanding exactly what content a game contains is key to deciding whether or not it's appropriate for your family, and the only way to do that is to put on your lab coat and do some old-fashioned research. Search engines like Yahoo! will give you a good overview; if you have particular hot-button hangups, try combining the name of the game with words like "violence" or "bad language."

Other good strategies include checking out game trailers on sites like this one, because if a game is looking to trade on its controversial content, you can bet it'll be in the trailer. Specialist sites like What They Play and CCGR (which offers a specifically Christian perspective, but can prove useful for general queries, too) are well worth bookmarking, and don't underestimate the value of an appropriately honest older kid -- maybe a neighbor, family member or trustworthy game reviewer -- who can give you the inside track.