Imani Simmons

Apollo

Mr. Wimmer

September 27th, 2022

ESRB History

On September 16, 1994, the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) was created

following the 1993 congressional hearing on video games. The organization was made after

parents complained about graphic content in various gameplays. Mortal Kombat, Doom, and

other first-person shooters or fighting games sparked lots of controversies. The ESRB laid out

the blueprint for many games to come and many companies to develop. What is the ESRB, and

how does it affect video games today? Why and how would the government control video

games? To answer this question, we need to take a look at the context behind failed bills, how

writing bills work, and how companies work with congress.

A total of three bills were threatened to be enacted. First, How do bills become laws?

Bills don’t become laws easily. There are many processes they have to go through. It’s a

series of around eight steps that could take months to complete. The first is to have an idea to

solve an issue, next is to draft. After finding the issue senators can join together with the house

of representatives or the legislation so they can draft multiple bills in one. For senators to have

strong support, they can sign on a cosponsor. In case they did not work with legislators. When

the document is written up and completed, it's given to the Senate Parliamentarian. The

Parliamentarian assigns specific groups of people called committees to further the process.

After being approved, it is time for the debate. When introduced, the committee can hold a

hearing and invite experts or representatives. They then debate. Committee members are

allowed to negotiate and modify the bill. Most of these video game bills got dumped after this

step. If favored, the bill is given for the full senate to vote on. But to pass, it needs unanimous

approval. Then after another vote on a motion to proceed and a cloture vote (Carper). After
more negotiation, the bill is sent to the president for a signature but can always be denied. This

is called a veto. Congress can then attempt to turn over the veto, but the senate and house

must sign by a two-thirds majority vote. Then it becomes a law. Companies have the opportunity

to influence congress, as long as it is considered lobbying and not bribery. Lobbying is meeting

legislators, drafting or negotiating terms, or discussing the contents of an upcoming bill (Cave).

This is how companies can work with congress and oversee everything that stays right. But

while lobbying is influencing, to lobby you must offer contributions. Not to be considered the

same as bribery, bribery is the payment to gain special treatment and to buy power. Lobbyists

can give contributions, not to official legislators but to finance fundraisers or a favored charity.

Some companies spend up to millions of dollars lobbying. This is the official way Companies

and congress work together.

H.R. 1531, The Video Game Decency Act of 2007. This bill was offered to the court but

failed to be enacted. This law would have made it unlawful for anyone to distribute video games

without disclosing a proper age rating. Meaning that video games should be rated harsher and

should not get any lower rating (Upton). Any violation of this act would be considered a

deceptive act, drafted by Republican Fred Upton. This bill having no votes quickly died.

S.568, Truth in Video Game Rating Act, another failed bill. It was introduced by Senator Sam

Brownback, a Republican. This bill would have made the ESRB need access to every game.

The current system needs improvement due to reviewers not seeing the full content. The bill

was proposed in federal and state legislation. The goal of the bill was to hand the ESRB over to

the hands of the government. It would become overseen by the Government Accountability

Office (GAO) and written by the Federal Trade Commission. "The current video game rating

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.” Comment
made by Brownback. All sparked by games Hot coffee, GTA: San Andreas, And Elder Scrolls IV:

Oblivion. While the bill failed, it did cause the ESRB to change the ratings and re-evaluate these

games (Video Game Decency Act). Months later this bill was proposed again but failed once

more. Beforehand, Brownback and other senators, such as Hillary Clinton had tried to introduce

another bill. This was the Family Entertainment Protection Act (Family Entertainment Act). This

tried to mandate enforcement of ESRB ratings to protect children. This bill quickly died along

with the rest of them.

H.R.2958, Children Protection from Video Game Violence and Sexual Content Act is another

dead bill but was close. This bill could have become law if included in another bill. Because

legislative bills can be reintroduced and put into groups, it is still possible for this to be enacted.

Introduced by Democrat Joe Baca, this bill would’ve made the Federal Trade Commission study

every ESRB rating. Also requiring reports to congress on their opinions to see if the rating

protects kids from explicit content. This required research on the impact of video games on

children and teens, this relates to the trial of 1993. Robert Chase of the National Education

Association, Professor Eugene F. Provenzo of the University of Miami, and Dr. Parker Page of

the Children's Television Resource and Education Center all testified against video games

(1993 United States Senate hearings on video games). These three are kids researchers who

agreed with this bill, testifying research on kids being negatively affected by video games.

The concluding statements of the 1993 US hearing were that companies had to work to

create a content rating system that would signify parents of any explicit content to their games.

This system was to be modeled after the film rating system made by the Motion Picture

Association of America. It widely affects video games all across North America. Every game is

ruled and rated from E for everyone to M for mature (ESRB official). This is what came to be

known as ESRB, the Entertainment Software Rating Board. Nintendo and Sega, while amid

their war, agreed to do so. ESRB history is critical to big game companies as well as smaller
developers. Places like Steam, a platform for indie games, even use the ESRB rating system.

It's important for parents and companies all around North America.

In the process of bill making, Nintendo and Sega were able to be apart of the process of

lobbing with congress. In the 1993 US congressional hearing they only lobbied with congress to

help the bills take down one another. In 2022 alone, Nintendo of America spent around $60,000

in lobbying (Open Secrets). The ESRB in general is apart of these bill making processes as

well. They are called to testify, work with congress, and craft bills. It is a self regulated company

who is also allowed to lobby and be involved with the government.

 Works Cited

“1993 United States Senate Hearings on Video Games.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7

July 2022,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_United_States_Senate_hearings_on_video_games.

“ESRB Game Ratings.” ESRB Ratings, 29 Aug. 2022, www.esrb.org/.

“How a Bill Becomes a Law.” United States Senator Tom Carper,

www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/how-a-bill-becomes-a-law.

“Nintendo Co Lobbying Profile.” OpenSecrets,

www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/summary?id=D000042273.

joaowilian1. “Violence In Video Games - Highlights of the American Senate Committee Hearings

in 1993.” YouTube, YouTube, 21 Apr. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhwM3ZMTCR0.

“The Truth about Lobbying: 10 Ways Big Business Controls Government.” The Guardian,

Guardian News, and Media, 12 Mar. 2014,

www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/mar/12/lobbying-10-ways-corporations-influence-gove

rnment.