I was recently introduced to Techlicious, an online resource for families navigating the world of technology. Their founder hosted a lunch with GameStop, the nationwide retailers for all things gaming. At this lunch I picked up some great tips for parents who want to keep “gaming” family-friendly.
Tip 1: The ESRB has a new mobile app to help parents search and ratings for video game titles.
The ESRB is the acronym for Entertainment Software Ratings Board, the industry body who assigns age and content ratings for video games and mobile apps (similar to the Motion Picture Association who assigns the “R” and “PG” ratings for movies). So if you pick up a game, and turn it over to the back, this app helps you figure out which apps are “everyone” rated, versus which apps are “mature” rated. The app can be downloaded free from Apple, Google Play, Amazon and Windows, links here: http://www.esrb.org/mobile/.
Tip 2: What do the ratings mean? There are tools for that.
If you visit this ESRB page, you will see a list of definitions for every ratings category: http://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_guide.jsp#descriptors. So, if you see a game marked with “Comic Mischief” and you aren’t quite sure what that means, you can visit this page for more information, and it will show the definition, “depictions or dialogue involving slapstick or suggestive humor.” If you happen to be in a GameStop store, the employees are well versed on the games, and can go into more detail on how that feature is implemented in the game title. There is even a nifty 30 second video from ESRB about game ratings and parental controls. They seem get it!
Tip 3: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Applies to Games and Gaming Devices
My favorite tidbit from the Techlicous/GameStop lunch was learning about GameStop’s Trade In program. Did you know that you could walk into any GameStop store and trade in an old smartphone, tablet or console (anything game-able) for either store credit or cash? I’m not kidding! They have a refurbishing center in Texas to take in the old electronics and refit them for resale. This is a great message for our kids to become more mindful of their footprint on the environment. Thanks GameStop. Now I know where to take my old iPad. 🙂 More information available here: http://www.gamestop.com/collection/trade-in.
Special acknowledgement to Beth Blecherman of Techmamas for inviting me to this event.
Happy Gaming!
Great tips! Pixelkin.org is a website for families of gamers–we’re experts in family gaming, so if you’re interested in more like this, check out Pixelkin. We have several posts about the ESRB (here and here) , and a game library with family-specific content. Happy gaming!