Re: My Game

[Chris <chris@starforge.co.uk>]

Steve Baker wrote:


> I'd still like to see a voluntary version of the ESRB ratings
> that could be applied to OpenSource games.


I agree completely, a rating system would not only give guidelines to
parents but it would reflect well on the open source development community
as a whole.

If any list members want to know more about the ESRB rating system, some 
(unfortunately not very detailed) information may be obtained from
www.esrb.org. In particular, http://www.esrb.org/esrb_about.asp lists the
various rating certificates with basic information on the criteria for
each.

As another possible avenue of research, the BBFC (British Board of Film 
Classification) has guidelines on ratings which may be of interest:
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/  http://www.bbfc.co.uk/website/Guidelin.nsf
has a description of the various categories along with information about
how the ratings are determined.

I would suggest something closer to the ESRB system unless additional
information is provided with an age rating (if anyone has seen the ratings 
on most UK videos, you will notice additional information about the 
violence, language, sex/nudity content and so on)

Perhaps this list could come up with a series of classifications and 
matching criteria for such a system? If there is any interest in the
project I could make some graphic objects for developers to show as
classification marks on their websites.

Chris
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