The ESRB rating system is NOT broken

My RSS Technology feed turned up this article about video games tonight. As I expected when I read the news outlet it was coming from (the oh so prestigious ABC News), it pretty much bashes violent games, and their newest scapegoat is Grand Theft Auto IV.

I don't know if it's the mainstream media's job to create bad press for games rated M for mature or what. It seems every semi-violent game that is released nowadays receives some sort of criticism from groups that claim to be protecting children from these games. Another ABC News article questions the effectiveness of the current Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). No offense to author Ned Potter, but has he ever played any one of these games? He may have reported on topics like space and the human genome but they do not qualify him to bash violent games.

The ESRB does it's job and it does it well. They rate games. They are rated fairly. I don't know what else people like Senator Joe Lieberman want them to do. Mature games are meant for and marketed to people 17 and older. In otherwords: Parents, DON'T BUY YOUR CHILDREN MATURE RATED GAMES AND THEN BLAME THE GAMES! The system is there for a reason.

These are not isolated incidents either: EA asks Fox to Clear Up Mass Effect Mess