We normally think of game ratings as little more than a useful marker of where we'll be able to buy a game, or whether or not it's suitable for children. But oh, let me tell you: ESRB literature can be so, so much more than that. » 10/06/14 2:30pm 10/06/14 2:30pm

It should be no surprise that South Park: The Stick of Truth is chock full o' filth-flarn-flarn-filth-flarn and hellbent for an M-for-Mature rating. It's still fun to hear the ESRB reading the dialogue aloud from its fainting couch. » 11/17/13 6:17pm 11/17/13 6:17pm

In 2011, Sony released LittleBigPlanet 2 for the PlayStation 3. Two years later, Sacremento, California's News10 uncovers the startling truth behind its misleading "E for Everyone" rating. » 7/01/13 3:00pm 7/01/13 3:00pm

The ESRB has asked the Chinese maker of a browser-based game to quit advertising it as rated Adults Only, reports GamesIndustry.biz, largely because the game has never been rated by the ESRB. » 5/13/13 11:00am 5/13/13 11:00am

Legislation passed in Australia's Federal Parliament adds a R18+ rating for video games on January 1, 2013, ending years of mature games being censored, banned, or simply unreleased due to lack of age-appropriate classification. [News.com.au] » 6/18/12 12:15pm 6/18/12 12:15pm

The Witcher 2: Assassin's of Kings' hero doesn't get laid all the time for nothing. In this launch trailer for the Xbox 360 edition of the game, Geralt of Rivia warns of mature content in a way that'll have your parents purchasing the game for themselves. » 4/13/12 1:15pm 4/13/12 1:15pm

The ESRB has a fairly detailed and complex system that determines what games are marked kid-safe and which are considered appropriate for adults' eyes only. All major publishers participate in the voluntary rating system, and it is instrumental in physical, retail game sales in stores like GameStop and Walmart. » 4/13/12 11:30am 4/13/12 11:30am

Earlier this year we published a rumor that the first three games in Capcom's famed Devil May Cry series would be getting an HD re-release. » 9/06/11 9:30pm 9/06/11 9:30pm

It's no surprise that Deep Silver's zombie title is getting an M-rating. The certificate just handed to it by the ESRB is still a little interesting for the bits of details it gives up from the game, from dialogue to gameplay features. » 7/17/11 6:00pm 7/17/11 6:00pm

The Nintendo DS game based on the Aliens franchise that leaked more than two years ago looks like its finally going to happen. Proof? Aliens: Infestation for the DS, a side-scrolling, alien-shooting platformer, was just rated by the ESRB. » 7/15/11 4:20pm 7/15/11 4:20pm

Developer CD Projekt has teased console versions of The Witcher games before, but it looks like it might actually happen for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. The game's producer talked around it to Eurogamer and the ESRB now has a rating for an Xbox 360 version. Maybe at E3, then? » 5/24/11 9:30pm 5/24/11 9:30pm

Microsoft may be running shorter on genuine new surprises for this year's E3 expo, as Australia's ratings classification board shines a light on new, unannounced Xbox 360 and Kinect games. That said, I'm dying to find out what Kinect Googly Eyes is. » 5/23/11 9:00pm 5/23/11 9:00pm

Looks like Microsoft is turning game show Hole in the Wall, the Western take on Japan's Nōkabe (aka Brain Wall or colloquially "Human Tetris"), into an Xbox 360 game. And, yes, that does seem like a very natural fit for Kinect... » 5/17/11 8:00pm 5/17/11 8:00pm

Already outed by Australian's ratings board, the ESRB details the next game in the Burnout series, a PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game that sounds... well, really different. » 5/06/11 5:40pm 5/06/11 5:40pm

Looks like the enhanced PlayStation port of Square Enix's seminal role-playing game Chrono Trigger is bound for the PlayStation 3 and PSP. The ESRB has just rated Chrono Trigger for those platforms, so expect the update of that JRPG favorite to show up as a PSone Classic on a PlayStation Store near you soon. » 4/22/11 7:40pm 4/22/11 7:40pm

Shortly after introducing ratings of individual video game developers, based on the aggregated ratings of games in which they are credited, Metacritic has scrapped the idea altogether, saying the information is incomplete and can't be trusted. » 3/31/11 9:30pm 3/31/11 9:30pm

Metacritic, whose 90s, 80s, 70s and dreaded 60s are points of pride and shame for the video game industry, will now be applying ratings to individual game developers, giving them a score based on an average of all the games they've worked on. » 3/26/11 5:00pm 3/26/11 5:00pm

Metacritic, whose cumulative scores provide a thumbs-up/thumbs-down barometer that can move games publishers' stock prices, has expanded. The review aggregator has begun listing iPhone and iPad apps. » 3/18/11 11:30pm 3/18/11 11:30pm