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 »

The long-running legal process over California's bill to restrict the sale of violent games to minors entered the homestretch today in a hearing before the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Zackery Morazzini opened the oral argument for the position of Governor Schwarzenegger by introducing the idea of a connection to the 1968 Supreme Court ruling in the case of Ginsberg v. New York. In that case the court ruled against a shop owner who sold "girlie" magazines to two minors. The finding held that the government could prohibit access by minors to sexually explicit material that would not be illegal for adults. Mr Morazzini argued, "California is no less concerned with a minor's access to the deviant level of violence that is presented in a certain category of video games that can be no less harmful to the development of minors."

As Morazzini asked the court to adopt a rule of law similarly restricting the sale of "deviant, violent video games," Justice Scalia interrupted him to ask what constituted deviant violence as opposed to "normal" violence. Justice Scalia then noted that Grimm's fairy tales are quite violent and asked whether they should be banned. Justice Ginsberg then interjected, "What's the difference? I mean, if you are supposing a category of violent materials dangerous to children, then how do you cut it off at video games? What about films? What about comic books? Grimm's fairy tales? Why are video games special? Or does your principle extend to all deviant, violent material in whatever form?" Read more »

During the commotion over Blizzard's ill-fated plan to use real names on its forums, around 1000 individuals emailed the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) at "privacy@esrb.org" for more information, updates, and to generally voice their concerns.Last night, in a moment of (not) irony, the ESRB replied to all of these people without blind-carbon-copying the bunch, revealing the e-mail addresses of these privacy-concerned people for all to see.

The purpose of that email was to inform these concerned citizens that Blizzard had abandoned its plan to force official forum participants to have their real names linked with their posts. Read more »

Encouraging children to play video games responsibly and make sure they're aware of age-based content ratings, the Boy Scouts of America has added two video game awards to its youth-centric Cub Scouts program.

Aimed at young boys in the fifth grade or below, the two awards--a belt loop and an academics pin--each have their own specific criteria, as outlined by the youth organization: Read more »

Activision Publishing recently conducted a survey regarding consumer awareness of the ESRB video games rating system with the help of marketing and research consulting organization The Harrison Group. Over the course of the survey, 1,201 online interviews were conducted with gamers from ages and their parents with participants ranging in age from six to forty-four.

Conducted as a part of Activision's "Ratings are Not a Game" initiative meant to increase general awareness and influence of the ESRB rating system, the results indicate that 82% of parents and 75% of children surveyed are familiar with the ESRB. Activision president and CEO Mike Griffith said the initiative "underscores our commitment to helping parents better understand and utilize the ratings system as they select age appropriate games and determine the best way for the entire family to enjoy the gaming experience." Read more »

Just in time for the holidays, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) has released a free iPhone application providing instant access to detailed game ratings information. The application could prove to be a real asset for non-gaming parents who have trouble deciding how appropriate a game might be for their kids.

Straight-forward descriptions of a game's mature content and its context are now at Mom and Dad's fingertips. Rating summaries provided by the app go beyond the brief rating summary information displayed on the box. Parents will be able to see specific examples of potentially objectionable content that impacted the ESRB's classification. Read more »

More than five years after its original release, Infinity Ward's Call of Duty is leaving the land of PC exclusivity and entering the console realm via PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

It's looking like the game will arrive as a PlayStation Store and Xbox Live Arcade download, based off a PEGI rating discovered by NeoGAF poster Tntnnbltn. Read more »

id Software's classic first-person shooter is headed to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, according to the ESRB game ratings list.

No further details are available but odds are it will be a downloadable release on Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Store, timed to promote the upcoming Wolfenstein game developed by Raven Software--coming this summer to PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. Read more »

Entertainment Software Rating Board president Patricia Vance has penned an open letter to Utah citizens, urging them to oppose legislation that would see retailers fined if they establish and then break a policy for not selling mature content to minors.

The bill, drafted with the help of renowned anti-game activist Jack Thompson, would amend Utah's "Truth in Advertising Act" to cover "a good or service labeled with an age restriction or recommendation," such as movies and video games. Read more »

As part of its ongoing family-oriented efforts, Microsoft today unveiled its "Get Game Smart" initiative to educate parents about family-friendly gaming practices.

The Get Game Smart website encourages families to play video games today, discuss appropriate content, set limits accordingly, practice online safety, and learn about parental controls in game consoles, such as Microsoft's own Xbox 360. Read more »

The Entertainment Software Rating Board has struck again, leaking the first concrete information of the recently-trademarked Guitar Hero Modern Hits via its website.

In development for the Nintendo DS, Modern Hits will include Sum 41's "Still Waiting," Franz Ferdinand's "The Fallen," and Finger Eleven's "Paralyzer," going by the ESRB's rating page and the lyrics contained in the summary. Read more »