Windows Phone 7 users now have a new and free app that will allow them to learn more about the content of console and PC games sold in retail stores. The Entertainment Software Ratings Board announced this week via a press release that the free app gives WP7 users access to the ratings and content descriptions of over 20,000 games. They include more details on the content of games that cannot be displayed on retail store boxes. The ESRB has previously releases similar free apps for the iPhone and Android-based smartphones.
The free app also allows its users to take a picture of a game box with your Windows Phone 7 based smartphone in order to bring up the more detailed content summaries and ratings. The app gives users access to the ratings of games back to July 1, 2008. Patricia Vance, the president of the ESRB, stated, " ... before buying a video game for a child it’s important to check the game’s rating and understand its content to determine if it’s the right choice. Today we added our ESRB app to Windows Marketplace, further expanding parents’ access to a game’s rating or rating summary, anytime, anywhere."
Giving the public better and more detailed access to console and PC game ratings has been of greater importance to the game industry as a whole. Even now certain people and groups still attempt to be critical of the game industry for the content of certain "M" rated games. Recently the game industry scored a huge victory when the US Supreme Court ruled recently that a California law that attempted to ban the sale of certain games to minors was unconstitutional.
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