The Rating List

[metshael]

I was searching for a rating guide for video games on the net but i couldn't find anything that suited me, i was even shocked by how incomplete some guide are, like the English Wikipedia page of the USK rating. So i thought "why not make one myself ?" and... well here it is. It's certainly not complete and probably have a few lot of errors, in the guide itself and also grammatically (English is not my native language), so feel free to correct me and even contribute if i forgot anything (which i certainly do).

*I give to the Moderators the rights do edit any of my post on this thread without asking me permission*

ESRB (North America)
PAS (North America)
3DO defunct
RSAC (North America) defunct
VRC (North America) defunct
INCAA (Argentina)
ClassInd (Brazil)
PEGI (Europe)
BBFC (UK)
aDeSe (Spanish)
USK (Germany)
ELSPA (Europe) defunct
VET/SFB (Finland) defunct
SELL (France) defunct
IGAC (Portugal)
ESRA (Iran)
FPB (South Africa)
RARS (Russia)
GSRR (Taiwan)
GRAC (South Korea)
KMRB (South Korea) defunct
CERO (Japan)
EOCS (Japan)
IMDA (Singapore)
ACB (Australia)
OFLC (New Zealand)
TIGRS (Online) defunct ?
GCAM (Saudi Arabia)
NMC (United Arab Emirates)
MRO (United Arab Emirates)
Calificación de Videojuegos (Chile)
IGRS (Singapore)
SMECCV (Mexico)
IARC (Online)
TecToy (Brazil) defunct
Sega (Japan) defunct
KFCB (Kenya)

[metshael]

The ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) is a rating system used in the United States, Canada and Mexico since 1994.

EC: Early Childhood, Games with that rating contain content that are aimed to young children.

K-A: Kids to Adults, this rating was used for games suitable to all ages, it was used during 1994 to 1998 before being replaced by the next rating below.

E: Everyone, this rating was created in 1998 to replace the K-A rating and like it's name simply say it, games with that rating are suitable for everyone.

E10+: Everyone 10+, games with this rating contain content generally suitable for those aged 10 years and older, this rating was created in 2004. Games with that rating can contain a greater amount of violence, mild language, crude humor, or suggestive content than the standard E rated games.

T: Teen, games with this rating contain content generally suitable for those aged 13 years and older. Games with that rating can contain moderate amounts of violence, mild to moderate use of strong language or suggestive themes, sexual content, and crude humor.

M: Mature, games with this rating contain content generally suitable for those aged 17 years and older. Games with that rating contain content with an impact higher than the T rating can accommodate, including intense and/or realistic portrayals of violence, stronger sexual themes and content, partial nudity, and more frequent use of strong language.

AO: Adults Only, games with this rating contain content suitable for those aged 18 years and older. Games with that rating contain content with an impact higher than the M rating can accommodate, including strong sexual themes and content, graphic nudity, or extreme portrayals of violence.

RP: Rating Pending, the rating is exclusively used in promotional material of games when the ESRB still didn't give them the final rating.

When the content of the product have different rating like compilation of games or demos, they can have a double rating like E-T, E-E10+ or even RP-M (the RP-# rating is used for demos when at least one of the games still not have the final rating from the ESRB). Here i an example of what those rating looks like:

So product with a E-T rating for example will have games rated from E (suitable for everyone) to T (suitable for 13 years old and older).

[metshael]

The PAS (Parental Advisory System) is the rating system for coin-operated video games. It's been created in the 90s after the controversies around the release of Mortal Kombat.

The rating system was revised in 2013 by the AAMA (American Amusement Machine Association).

Suitable for All Ages - Content is appropriate for game players of all ages.

Mild Content - May contain mild violence, suggestive themes, minimal blood or crude humor.

Strong Content - May contain strong language, sexual content, or strong violence involving human characters resulting in blood and gore.

This Game Not Yet Rated - The game has not yet been given a rating by the manufacturer.

You can get a list of all games rated by that system directly on their site (the list contain the new and the old variation of the ratings used on each game).

[metshael]

The 3DO Rating System, created by The 3DO Company in 1993, was applied to the games made by that company, when the ESRB rating system was created in 1994 The 3DO Company continued to provide their own rating to the publisher of their games, leaving to them the choice to use whether rating system they decide.

3DO E Everyone (game suitable for all ages).

3DO 12 Guidance for 12 & under (game suitable for ages 12 and older).

3DO 16 exclusive to Japan

3DO 17 Guidance for 17 & under (game suitable for ages 17 and older).

3DO AO Adults Only (game suitable only for adults).

[metshael]

The RSAC (Recreational Software Advisory Council) was founded in the US in 1994, it was closed in 1999 and reformed into an online rating called the ICRA (Internet Content Rating Association).

Instead of using an age rating they used a four levels rating of three different category (Violence, Nudity/Sex, Language), so a game can have up to three different rating based it's content.

a few examples:



Violence

Level 0: Harmless conflict; some damage to objects
Level 1: Creatures injured or killed; damage to objects; fighting
Level 2: Humans injured or killed; with small amount of blood
Level 3: Humans injured or killed; blood and gore
Level 4: Wanton and gratuitous violence; torture; rape

Nudity / Sex

Level 0: No nudity or revealing attire / Romance, no sex
Level 1: Revealing attire / Passionate kissing
Level 2: Partial nudity / Clothed sexual touching
Level 3: Non-sexual frontal nudity / Non-explicit sexual activity
Level 4: Provocative frontal nudity / Explicit sexual activity; sex crimes

Language

Level 0: Inoffensive slang; no profanity
Level 1: Mild expletives
Level 2: Expletives; non-sexual anatomical references   
Level 3: Strong, vulgar language; obscene gestures   
Level 4: Crude or explicit sexual references

A game without a level (or a level 0) in all those three category can have another rating:

RSAC ALL (suitable for all audience)

[metshael]

The VRC (Videogame Rating Council) created by Sega of America in 1993 and used to rate all games released on the Sega Genesis, the Game Gear, Sega CD and the Sega Pico. This rating was replaced by the ESRB near the end of 1994.

Those ratings mostly comes as a black & white design but can also be found in a lot of different colors variations (like blue & white for Barney's Hide & Seek Game, red & black for Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures or even red & white like shown below)

GA - General Audience (Appropriate for all audiences)



MA-13 - Mature Audience - Parental Discretion Advised (Game suitable for ages 13 and older)



MA-17 - Mature Audience - Not appropriate for minors (Game suitable for ages 17 and older)

[metshael]

The INCAA (Instituto Nacional de Cine y Artes Audiovisuales / National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts) is the actual the system rating in Argentina.

ATP Apta para todo público (Suitable for all audiences)

+13 Sólo apta para mayores de 13 años (Only suitable for people over 13 years)

+16 Sólo apta para mayores de 16 años (Only suitable for people over 16 years)

+18 Sólo apta para mayores de 18 años (Only suitable for people over 18 years)

[metshael]

The ClassInd (Classificação Indicativa / Advisory Rating) is the rating system used in Brazil since 2001, before that the ESRB rating system was used by some Brazilian distributors but without any translation from English or being adapted to the Brazilian culture this system was considered inappropriate for the Brazilian market (leaving most consumers uninformed by the meaning of those rating) and so this rating system was created.

ER - Especialmente Recomendado para crianças e adolescentes (Especially recommended for children and teenagers). This rating was abandoned in 2007.

L - Livre (General Audience)

10 - Não recomendado para menores de dez anos (Not recommended for minors under ten)

12 - Não recomendado para menores de doze anos (Not recommended for minors under twelve)

14 - Não recomendado para menores de catorze anos (Not recommended for minors under fourteen)

16 - Não recomendado para menores de dezesseis anos (Not recommended for minors under sixteen)

18 - Não recomendado para menores de dezoito anos (Not recommended for minors under eighteen)

[metshael]

The PEGI (Pan European Game Information) is the main rating system used in Europe, it was created in 2003 and have replaced many others national age rating systems in Europe.

The rating had a few change over the years, going for a black & white design with an ISFE (Interactive Software Federation of Europe, who founded the PEGI rating system in 2003) watermark in the background at first to colored version with a PEGI watermark in 2009, then in 2010 the third and (for now) final version was created, a colored background but without any watermarks (a few others minor variations than those shown below can still be found, like for the 2010 version, they can have a white contour with a black "www.pegi.info" instead of the black contour with a white "www.pegi.info" shown below).

PEGI 3 (games suitable for 3 years old and older)

2003 version, black edition. 2003 version, white edition.
2009 version. 2010 version.

PEGI 7 (games suitable for 7 years old and older)



PEGI 12 (games suitable for 12 years old and older)



PEGI 16 (games suitable for 16 years old and older)



PEGI 18 (games suitable for 18 years old and older)



A few countries have a modified PEGI rating system like the Portugal where the PEGI 7 doesn't exist instead it's replaced by a PEGI 6, here are those PEGI ratings:

PEGI 4 (games suitable for 4 years old and older): this rating was used to replace the PEGI 3 in Portugal until June 2017, the PEGI 3 rating is now officially used.


PEGI 6 (games suitable for 6 years old and older): This rating replace the PEGI 7 on the Portuguese released games, this is the only different PEGI rating still used at this date.


PEGI 11 (games suitable for 11 years old and older): this rating was used in Finland to replace the PEGI 12 rating until January 2007, the PEGI 12 rating is now officially used.


PEGI 15 (games suitable for 15 years old and older): this rating was used in Finland to replace the PEGI 16 rating until January 2007, the PEGI 16 rating is now officially used.

[metshael]

The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) Rating system is a system used in the UK, it was created in 1912 to rate and censor movies exhibited at cinemas and video works (such as television programmes, trailers,...). That system also rated games to some extend (while others were rated by the ELSPA rating system), but in 2010 the responsibility for the classification of video games in the UK has passed to the VSC (Video Standard Council) who use the PEGI Rating system to rate games. A game can still be submitted to the BBFC if it contains strong pornographic material or if it includes video material that is not directly accessible through the game itself (like a documentary for exemple).

BBFC U Universal All ages admitted. There is nothing unsuitable for children aged 4 years and over.

BBFC PG Parental Guidance All ages admitted, but some certain scenes can be unsuitable for young children. They should not disturb children aged 8 or older.

BBFC 12  Suitable for people aged 12 and older. It is illegal to supply a work with a 12 certificate to anyone under that age.

BBFC 15 Suitable only for people aged 15 and older. It is illegal to supply a work with a 15 certificate to anyone under that age.

BBFC 18 Suitable only for people aged 18 or older, which means adults only. It is illegal to supply a work with an 18 certificate to anyone under that age.

[metshael]

The aDeSe (Asociación Española de Distribuidores y Editores de Software de Entretenimiento / Spanish Association of Distributors and Publishers of Entertainment Software) rating system was used in Spain from 1996 to 2003, when the PEGI rating system was created. That aDeSe rating system still exist and is still used to rate games (it's pretty rare and it's mostly for the PC).

TP apto para Todos los Publicos / For all Audience (Suitable for all ages)

+13 No Recomendado para Menores de 13 Años / Not recommended for minors under 13 years old

+16 No Recomendado para Menores de 16 Años / Not recommended for minors under 16 years old

+18 No Recomendado para Menores de 18 Años / Not recommended for minors under 18 years old

[metshael]

The USK (Unterhaltungssoftware SelbstKontrolle, Entertainment Software Self-Regulation) is the German rating system.

It was founded in 1994 and had a lot of change during the years, going from the same colored logo (except for the USK 18) to a different color for each rating in 2003 then to a full colored logo with a translucent background on the border and a better emphasis on the number in 2009 (example of the real 2009 version).

USK 0 (Geeignet ohne Altersbeschränkung / Suitable without age restriction)

(1994 version)
(2003 version)
(2009 version)

USK 6 (Geeignet ab 6 Jahren / Suitable from 6 years old)

(1994 version)
(2003 version)
(2009 version)

USK 12 (Geeignet ab 12 Jahren / Suitable from 12 years old)

(1994 version)
(2003 version)
(2009 version)

USK 16 (Geeignet ab 16 Jahren / Suitable from 16 years old)

(1994 version)
(2003 version)
(2009 version)

USK 18 (Nicht geeignet unter 18 Jahren / Not suitable under 18 years)

(1994 version)
(2003 version)
(2009 version)

USK Einstufung ausstehend / Rating Pending

This rating is only for promotional and advertising uses when a game still haven't been officially rated. For example it can be found on empty box that are available in some shops and that are used as pre-order copy (like this one)

During the transition to the last rating version in 2009, stickers with the new rated logo have been put on a lot of already released games to cover the old versions, a few variations of those stickers exist like a fully colored one (with no translucent background): example, a less colored background variation (example) or even with totally a transparent background : example.

[metshael]

The ELSPA (Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association) rating system rated games in the UK and in Europe between 1994 to 2003 where it was replaced by the PEGI rating system.

The system didn't really change until 2002, it started as a rectangle where all four rating were shown but the suitable ages were indicated by a green hook while the unsuitable ages were indicated by a red cross, in 2002 this was changed to a smaller blue rectangle where only the suitable age was shown.

ELSPA 3+ (suitable for ages 3 and older)

(1994 version)
(2002 version)

ELSPA 11+ (suitable for ages 11 and older)

(1994 version)
(2002 version)

ELSPA 15+ (suitable for ages 15 and older)

(1994 version)
(2002 version)

ELSPA 18+ (adults only)

(1994 version)
(2002 version)

[metshael]

The VET/SFB rating system (VET: Valtion elokuvatarkastamo in Finnish and SFB: Statens filmgranskningsbyrå in Swedish, the Finnish Board of Film Classification) was used to rate games in Finland from 1998 to 2003 when the country adopted the PEGI rating system but the VET/SFB system reserved themselves the right to replace the PEGI rating by their own rating on some games until late 2011, when the system was dissolved, the PEGI system rating was the only rating used in Finland since then.

The ratings can either be "Classified" or "Registered", Classified ratings were circular while Registered rating were of a square shape. Under the VET/SFB system video games are exempt from classification but they still need to be registered and display a recommended age on their cover, so the square symbol were the most commonly seen on video games. However some rare case where a circular (classified) rating was applied to a game exist (like this one), it would mean that the game was presented to the authority for classification.

The "XXXXXXX" on the picture shown below were either an identification number issued by the VET/SFB or the EAN of the product.

S/T Suitable for all ages

3 Suitable for ages 3 and older

7 Suitable for ages 7 and older

11 Suitable for ages 11 and older

12 Suitable for ages 12 and older

13 Suitable for ages 13 and older

15 Suitable for ages 15 and older

16 Suitable for ages 16 and older

18 Suitable for ages 18 and older

[metshael]

The SELL (Syndicat des Editeurs de Logiciels de Loisirs / Union of Publishers of Entertainment Software) rating system was used in France from 1999 to 2003 when it was replaced by the PEGI rating system.

It can be found alone on French only or FAH (French / Netherlands) variants but could also be found alongside others rating (like the ELSPA and the USK ratings) on the back cover of the CD case (PS1 or Dreamcast for example) of some European variant (the box of the DVD case, like the PS2 or the Xbox, only have one rating even for European release).

Pour tous publics / For all audience

Déconseillé aux moins de 12 ans / Not Recommended for 12 years old or under

Public Adulte - Déconseillé aux moins de 16 ans / Adult audience - Not Recommended for 16 years old or under

Interdit aux moins de 18 ans / Restricted under 18 years old