The Entertainment Software Ratings Board has a huge responsibility -- to rate and regulate the entire medium of video games -- but only has so many resources with which to do so. With the rise of digital delivery, it's become increasingly difficult to fulfill the task of rating every single title that comes out, but the ESRB is betting on a new initiative that'll help streamline that process. The new "Digital Rating Service" employs an online questionnaire to determine a wide variety of criteria, beyond just age-appropriateness: content, interactivity, and privacy settings (whether or not it shares your data). As the name implies, the DRS specifically applies to digital delivery services: Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network (on PS3 and Vita), PlayStation Certified devices, Nintendo's eShop (on the Wii, DS, and 3DS), and Windows 8.

That last one sounds new because it is -- Windows 8 games are now part of the ESRB's rating system. In addition to the new initiative and new platform, the ESRB is also adding more guidance to its game ratings. "Shares Info," "Shares Locations," and "Users Interact" are all now part of ESRB guidance, per the changing nature of digital, portable games. The ESRB says its new system will help to streamline its rating process for both itself and game creators, and this will resultant in faster ratings for consumers.

Continue reading ESRB now supports Windows 8, introduces cost-free questionnaire for rating digital games

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ESRB now supports Windows 8, introduces cost-free questionnaire for rating digital games originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 12:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.