Gaming 101: A cheat sheet for parents

Paul Hochman TODAY gear and technology editor

As the newspapers print frightening tales about American economic woes, one industry is doing quite well, thank you: the video game business. According to the Entertainment Software Association, video game companies posted record sales in 2007, selling 267.8 million units, bringing in $9.5 billion, barely behind Hollywood’s $9.8 billion box office number last year. On average, nine video games were sold every second of every day in 2007.

Why is this no surprise? Because, in uncertain economic times, Americans have historically spent their shrinking discretionary income on entertainment. During the Great Depression, the movie business thrived, thanks to entertainment’s unique ability to distract citizens from their troubles, if only for a few hours. And one reason video game sales are booming is, they’re often even more economical than movies: One $49 Nintendo Wii game can entertain the entire family for months, even years; taking a family of four to the movies can cost $50. And that’s just for the popcorn.

With that in mind, and with the rush of holiday buying just around the corner, here are a few tips on great games for the family … and how to make sure the game you’re buying is appropriate.

Know the ratings system
Just because 9-year-old Johnnie looks at you with his doe eyes and says he is ready for “Grand Theft Auto IV” doesn’t mean he’s right. On the other hand, just because Nintendo’s “Wii Bowling” involves knocking down helpless pins doesn’t mean it’s too much for little Johnnie to handle. And it can get confusing, especially if you want to be responsible about buying a video game for someone.

So, in much the same way the Motion Picture Association came up with a rating system for Hollywood movies, the ESRB, or Entertainment Software Rating Board, also created a guide for parents and friends of kids who want to make sure they are buying an appropriate game for their children, nephews, nieces, cousins and pals.

Unlike Hollywood’s rating system, however, the ESRB has gone one step further … making sure that there is not only a clearly marked rating on the cover of each video game, there is also a so-called “content descriptor” on the back of the game, detailing the game’s basic level of appropriateness.

For those of you who haven’t seen them, there are a total of seven ratings symbols:

• eC: For early childhood
• E: For everyone
• E10+: For everyone 10 years of age or older
• T: For teen
• M: For mature (17 years of age and older)
• Ao: For adults only
• RP: Means “Rating Pending,” and you’ll only see it in ads before a game goes on sale.

I won’t waste space here with the seven content descriptors that the ESRB provides, because there is an incredibly useful Web site that does a great job of listing all of them in one, easy-to-follow place. The ESRB teamed up with the world’s largest video games retailer, GameStop, to create the guide, and it works. Here’s the Web site: RespectTheRatings.com

The great thing about the site is, there are other parent resources, too, including suggestions about how to handle online video games, suggestions about how to monitor your child’s video game use and so on.

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