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Tuesday, September 13, 2005
ESRB Lays Down the Law

Source: IGN


In the wake of GTA San Andreas being re-rated to AO following the exposure of
content not intended to be accessible, the Entertainment Software Rating Board
(ESRB) has sent out an email to all major publishers that they must perform
internal audits of their products to determine if their titles contain similar
elements, dating back to September 1, 2004. Disclosure of hidden content is
regular practice, if it is deemed to be eventually accessible by the user
through conventional means (the controversial content in GTA:SA was exposed
through an unauthorized, third-party hack). A complicating factor is that many
games have content cut out but not removed from the programming code, for one
reason or another. Additionally, the ESRB mandates that this industry-wide,
internal audit must be finished by January 6th, 2006.

According to industry publication Gamasutra, the email further states: ""If
you fail to notify us of previously undisclosed, non-playable, pertinent
content by January 9, and such content becomes playable through a subsequent
authorized or unauthorized release of code to unlock it, rendering the
original rating assignment inaccurate, punitive in addition to corrective
actions may result."


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Lastly, the ESRB also addresses third-party modifications (of which
Counter-Strike, BF1942: Desert Combat, and GTA: Multi-Theft Auto are a few
examples), with specific attention to violent and/or sexual content. The email
continues, "ESRB remains concerned about third party modifications that
undermine the accuracy of the original rating, and we are exploring ways to
maintain the credibility of the rating system with consumers in light of
modifications of this nature."
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XP wrote:
> According to industry publication Gamasutra, the email further states: ""If
> you fail to notify us of previously undisclosed, non-playable, pertinent
> content by January 9, and such content becomes playable through a subsequent
> authorized or unauthorized release of code to unlock it, rendering the
> original rating assignment inaccurate, punitive in addition to corrective
> actions may result."

Well it looks like America has almost completed the transition to police
state.

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