The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) announced plans today for a new series of public service announcements to educate parents on ESRB ratings and console parental controls. The awareness blitz will include new announcements on video game platforms, information on game-specific websites and stores, cooperation with state and federal officials to get information to constituents, and PSAs distributed to video game sites, broadcast channels, and retailers.

Read more: Politicians "commend" industry for educating parents »

A slew of Rockstar Games will be joining the PS2 Classics line-up on the PlayStation Network. Perhaps the most noteworthy release of all: Bully, the classic open-world boarding school game from Rockstar Vancouver. The title recently received an updated ESRB rating for PS3, and will likely arrived untouched--much like the PSN re-releases of the GTA games.

Read more: Midnight Club, Vice City Stories also coming »

The indie hit Cave Story appears to be coming to a few other platforms. The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has updated its rating for the game to include the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Vita -- among some platforms that are more suspect.

Read more: PS2, PSP mentioned as well »

The times, they are a-changin, and the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is changing with them. Today the board formally announced its new "Digital Rating Service," a free questionnaire-based ratings format that will allow digital developers easier access to getting an official ESRB rating on their games.

The ratings body says the new system will be put into use for upcoming downloadable games on the Windows 8 marketplace, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, and Nintendo eShop. By offering this more approachable offering, more downloadable games will don the ESRB's recognizable ratings.

Read more: Includes online sharing descriptors »

With Grand Theft Auto fans waiting anxiously for the next installment in the open-world gangland series, it looks like the franchise's classic PS2 games may be coming to the PlayStation Network, according to new entries posted by the ESRB.

Read more: Both games listed for PS3 »

The insanely gorgeous Insanely Twisted Planet appears to be heading to the PC. Originally an Xbox Live Summer of Arcade release, the Metroidvania-inspired shooter has been re-rated by the ESRB for release on Windows PCs.

A PC release is likely, given XBLA games' penchant for reappearing on other platforms. For example, Bastion and From Dust have already received PC ports.

Read more: Developers respond with a wink »

The original Killzone is coming to the PlayStation 3. The Entertainment Software Rating Board website now includes Sony's current generation console as a platform for the 2004 PlayStation 2 title from Guerrilla Games, and Sony has confirmed it is coming.

Unlike recently released HD updates to Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, the Killzone release will be digital version of the PS2 game. It is set to arrive on the PSN on January 24 for $9.99.

Read more: Not an HD upgrade »

Angry Birds is rated E for Everyone--and not just because everyone in the developed world seems to have the game. The ESRB has announced a new partnership with the CTIA Wireless Association to bring ESRB ratings to mobile phones and applications.

The storefronts for AT&T, Microsoft, Sprint, T-Mobile USA, US Cellular, and Verizon Wireless will support ESRB ratings during the application submission (onboarding) process. According to the announcement, "other storefronts" have indicated interest in joining as well.

Read more: Promising a 'convenient, cost-free process' for developers »

The Electronic Software Ratings Board has spilled the beans on yet another PS1 Classic, this time an entry from the cult hit fighting series Darkstalkers. A new rating for Darkstalkers: The Night Warrior has been found on the ESRB site. If history is any indication, that means you'll soon be able to plunk down seven bucks for some classic fighting action.

Read more: Darkstalkers is not dead, says Ono »

You may recall the "No Russian" mission in Modern Warfare 2 kicked up a bit of a kerfuffle. While you didn't have to gun down civilians, you could, and that didn't sit well with some people. EA may have found a way to top that moral ambiguity in Battlefield 3, as outed by the Electronic Software Ratings Board (ESRB).

Be warned, this may contain Battlefield 3 campaign spoilers.

Read more: EA's response to almost-certain controversy »

Chrono Cross, the gorgeous looking and sounding role-playing title from the PSone era, is coming to the PlayStation Network, according to the ESRB.

The ratings board recently re-rated the 2000 title for the PlayStation 3 and PSP, along with the compilation release Final Fantasy Origins.

Read more: Japan already has it »

HD collections are all the rage these days, and Capcom is no stranger, thanks to its forthcoming HD ports of Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil: Code Veronica X. The ESRB has outed Capcom's next, by rating the first three Devil May Cry games for current-gen platforms.

Read more: PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 releases »

Chrono Trigger (also known as one of the best games ever made) has been rated by the ESRB for the PS3 and PSP, Joystiq discovered earlier today.

The SNES classic role-playing game has made its way to a number of formats--in North America--since its original 1995 release: Square nearly ruined it with load-times in the Final Fantasy Chronicles collection in 2001, while Crono and his allies ventured through time on the Nintendo DS in 2008. Read more »

The Federal Trade Commission's annual undercover shopping survey has yielded some positive results for the video game industry. According to the report [via GamesIndustry.biz], the FTC found that the game industry was best at self-policing and keeping mature-rated material out of the hands of children.

According to the FTC's findings over the last decade, the video game industry has had a steady decline of youngsters being able to grab games intended for an older audience. The most recent survey found that only 13 per cent of underage shoppers were able to acquire M-Rated titles, down from 20 per cent last year. Read more »

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is switching to a questionnaire to assign ratings to online games, the New York Times reports. Starting this week, digital games like those released on Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, WiiWare, and DSiWare, will let publishers answer an automated set of questions to determine the content of their games.

The questions are fairly detailed. One example offered, for offensive language, is split into minor profanities, epithets, scatological vulgarities, racial obscenities, sexual vulgarisms, and oddly enough, the word "ass." Other vices like sexuality, drugs, and gambling will be determined by how prominently the acts are portrayed. Read more »