One of the misconceptions the mainstream media pushes about gaming is that it is a "toy" for kids. I disagree and more adults are playing games then ever before. Videogames are rated by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) which is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings, enforces industry-adopted advertising guidelines, and ensures responsible online privacy principles for computer and video games as well as entertainment software in Canada, Mexico and the United States. So when I bring up the rating of games I am referring to the ESRB rating.
There are games made for early childhood to games rated E for everyone to games for teens (rated T for Teen) and finally games for adults (rated M for mature). For example, in 2010, 5% of games were rated M for mature but 5 out of 10 of the best selling games were mature rated games.
ESRB: Majority Of 2010 Releases Received E Rating, 5 Percent Rated M
Though M-rated games make up just a fraction of distinct 2010 titles, such games tend to dominate industry sales. Five of the top 10 selling new retail games in the U.S. in 2010 were rated M, including overall top-seller Call of Duty: Black Ops, which NPD recently named the best-selling game of all time in the U.S.
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