Have you ever wondered, “I wonder why this video game is rated this way?” If you have, then maybe this essay will be insightful for you. Video games are a popular source of entertainment on the market today. They are quite fun and can even bring people together. With the games of today you can even play online with others. This establishes the ability to play games with friends even if you are miles apart. Now I keep listing the benefits of video games, because in my eyes there are many benefits. But there is also a downside to some games, depending on if parents pay attention to what they are buying for their kids.

Have you ever heard your child swear, or start using some phrasing that seems unknown or you have not heard of before? It is possibly from the video game rated ‘M’ that they were just playing. M stands for Mature people…as in people eighteen and up should be playing the games. Of course I started playing mature games much sooner than eighteen, probably around fifteen or Sixteen, but I had the maturity to play these games. I’m not saying all swearing and phrases come from video games. It can also come from books, and music. I’m just trying to bring to light if parents really know what their kids are playing sometimes.

I would now like to go over the ratings that exist. We have the rating ‘E’, which means it is for everybody. So the chances are that a game with this rating is acceptable for anyone to play. A game with an E rating would be Diddy Kong Racing. It is rated E for cartoon violence. Now this is nothing bad, since Looney Toons had cartoon violence in it. Next we go to a game with a rating of ‘T, which is for Teen. These games are can contain some bad things within them, but nothing that is too bad. Consumers just have to be careful and look at what exactly they are buying. For an example of ‘T’ rated game, we have Final Fantasy XII. This game is rated ‘T’ for Alcohol Reference, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Partial Nudity, and Suggestive Themes. Some parents don’t mind if their children play a game with that type of content, but others would mind. So when your child wants to get a game, and you are one who is trying to have them stay away from anything I mentioned, then look at the rating. Near the rating on the game, it tells why it is rated so. Next we move onto a game title with a ‘M’ rating. This means it is for mature audiences. It says right on the case of the game that this is for people 17+. An example of an M rated game is Resident Evil 4. It is rated ‘M’ for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, and Language. There are other ratings you will see on games, but they are of a lesser sort, meaning you don’t really see them. If you happen to see a different rating from what I have mentioned, just be sure to look at what it stands for and why it is rated so. Now there are other reasons why games receive the ratings they do, besides the ones I have named. This being that not all games are the same and have different content.

Now you have heard about ratings, and how I feel about video games. But I wish to go back and direct your attention to the online aspect again. Yes, they are great for being able to remain in contact with your friends while playing a game with them. But there is a possible bad part to the online gaming community. What players say online cannot really be controlled. So games that are rated ‘T’ regularly might seen more like ‘M’ when played online due to language that other gamers use. You will most likely hear swears, jokes about sex, race, and all other sorts. Some of it could even be borderline disturbing or some of it can be quite funny. You just need to be careful of that sort of thing. Though if your child is under eighteen for Xbox live, then there is a parental control, and you can block them from hearing other online users and only have them hear people on their friends’ list. My warning is to just be careful with what your children are playing online.

My last bit I wish to mention is why this essay is titled the way it is. This is because there many parents who don’t pay attention to the ratings and have no idea what is in the game that their child is playing. So it would be unknown, hence my title Rating Unknown.