Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas), a staunch critic of the ESRB, has written a new bill targeting the oft-beleaguered Entertainment Software Ratings Board. If the bill is passed into law, the ESRB may be required to actually play the games they rate. Most assume that the board has on-hands experience with the games they classify, but the reality is that the ESRB bases their conclusions on video demos and documents submitted by game companies, a problem, according to Brownback.
“The current video game ratings system needs improvement because reviewers do not see the full content of games and don,t even play the games they are supposed to rate. For video game ratings to be meaningful and worthy of a parent,s trust, the game ratings must be more objective and accurate," the senator said.
In addition to stricter standards before issuing ratings, the legislation would also require the Federal Trade Commission to "specifically define parameters for describing game content and what would count as a mischaracterization of a game,s content."
Brownback, a man referred to as "God’s Senator" by Rolling Stone magazine, has pledged not to run for reelection in 2010 and is believed by many Washingtonians to be considering a run for president in 2008.
