The Entertainment Software Rating Board has just posted the ratings breakdown of games published in 2010. As you can see in the chart above, a little more than half of all games received the all-ages rating, while games rated E10+ and teen were fairly even at around 20% each.
Games rated mature only made up 5% of all games released this past year, a statistic which may surprise you. With how much drama is drummed up in the media, you would think that most games were hyper-macho bloodsports filled with enough raw sexual energy to make even Dr. Ruth bow her head in shame. In reality, those games are but a drop in the pond.
I personally am not surprised. Mature games have never taken up a large slice of the pie. There was a peak in 2004 and 2005, during which 12% of all published games were rated M, and after which the percentage kept declining. What does surprise me is how M-rated games are able to gather the lion's share of consumer and enthusiast press awareness despite their relative rarity.
http://www.destructoid.com/very-few-games-are-m-rated-but-they-take-all-the-glory-196480.phtml
wow thanks a lot for sharing the information!
ReplyDeleteI saw this around the web earlier; still blows my mind that media get so involved.
ReplyDeletegood post on ESRB. i swore there were more M games, guess its just the great games that are "M" that i see so often it makes me seem like i see a ton.
ReplyDeleteearly childhood :D .. that's right
ReplyDeleteHaha wow the media was put in its place.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post! I hate how everyone bags on Mature games and say they are bad for kids. But in reality, it is the parents fault for either buying their young child a mature game or just them, themselves playing it around their child.
ReplyDeleteIt feels like there are more than 5% of the games that are rated M
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard as much of a fuss about videogames since things like GTA 3 came out. maybe it's just cause i'm old enough to buy them and idgaf
ReplyDeleteI think these are good idea being a young parent myself.
ReplyDeleteI think that the mature games get a lot more publicity, so they make more noise and ppl think that theres only those types of games.
ReplyDeleteNot all that arsed about the ratings, the graphic and choice of colours is lovely though man! Who produced it?
ReplyDeleteIt is a very nice point, although I personally believe ESRB is full of themselves for "rating" other peoples work for who they can sell it to.
ReplyDeleteIts a very good point, I hate how everyone thinks that games are all mature when its almost rare for a mature game to be released. Most games now a days are "Hello Kitty Island Adventure" or some sort of pet or cooking game.
ReplyDeletefox new's is is just way to christian.they got all but hurt about the baby slaying in dante's inferno
ReplyDeletewas the last game rant i heard from them
i just don't understand what people are thinking, they're video games, not a scapegoat to get you out of a murder trial.
ReplyDeleteagree with amBored :D
ReplyDeletehmm this is interesting. and your point is definitely valid about the media coverage
ReplyDelete