At first glance, the Entertainment Software Rating Board’s (ESRB) “Mature” and the “Adults Only” ratings seem quite similar. After all, both ratings involve people aged 18 and up. What’s the real difference between the two ratings, anyway?

Two words: intensity and volume. According to the ESRB, AO titles “may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity” (emphasis ours). Compare that with the description for Mature-rated titles that “have content that might be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category might contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language. In other words, Adult Only games are simply too adult.

If you’re a concerned parent or guardian, there’s another point that’s especially important for you to know: out of all the games that have crossed the ESRB’s path, only 23 of them have been given the AO rating.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, April 12th, 2008 at 1:23 pm and is filed under Video Games. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.