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Videogames trace their history to the 1960s, but games did not feature content labels until the industry formed the Entertainment Software Raging Board (ESRB) after Congressional intervention in 1994. For 30 years, the ESRB has been the de facto regulatory body of videogame content, with practices informed by systems used in films, comics, and music. This panel reflects on the ESRB’s history, formation, and influence (for better and worse) in shaping videogame content and culture.
Moderator: Nicholas David Bowman, Syracuse University Panelists: Amy Kristin Sanders, Pennsylvania State University; Blood-spatter effects and breasts that jiggle during combat: Are we effectively regulating video game content? Nick Bowman, Syracuse University; Moral Panics and motivated myopia: How the ESRB influences broader views of videogames as (il)legitimate leisure Sam Srauy, Oakland University; Violence? Whose violence: The imagined gamer, race, and the ESRB hearings 30 years later Trystram Spiro-Costello, Temple University, Digital involution: Three decades of ESRB ratings
