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ESRB Adds New 'Tween' Rating
The Entertainment Software Rating Board announced yesterday that it was adding a new category to the entertainment software rating format. The new "E10+" "would mark games that might contain moderate amounts of cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes." This puts the category between "E" and "T", and allows for racing games with violent crashes and superhero violence.
The only problem is that when the parents forget to make informed decisions, they'll just find someone else to blame REGARDLESS of the attempt to inform them.
E was not created to fill a new niche - it was a replacement for the K-A rating. It's similar to how the NC-17 rating superseded X.
I've moved on.
" but also do not want to get most of the "E"-rated games that only pre-schoolers would enjoy"
E-rated games are not only for preschoolers. E stands for "everyone". Gran Turismo 4 is rated E, and is surely a game that appeals to kids and adults. Dismissing an E-rated game as "for preschoolers" is missing the point of the rating system.
Having kids myself though, I do agree that the new rating is a good idea.
Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
Tween was coined by J.R.R. Tolkien in LOTR as a hobbit between the ages of 20 and 32. That is, a hobbit too old to be a Teen and to young to be considered adult, thus Be'tween'. Thus, the term tween somewhat predates Mary Kate and Ashley
Actually, justification for the rating is on the box, usually on the back at the bottom of the ratings box, in the form of qualifiers like "Cartoon Violence," "Mild Language," or "Drug Use."
http://www.esrb.com/
IMO, the ESRB has a much better system than film or TV: the (extremely challenging) problem is teaching people about it. They can make the qualifiers more prominent, but it's hard enough trying to teach every mom who comes into Wal-Mart what a "T" means.
I'm a teenager myself, and i find that games ratings don't really seem to matter. No games store i have ever bought something in has asked my age, and i don't think they care. Neither of my parents ever check what games i buy, and its the same for all of my friends, will it really make that much of a difference?