Entertainment Software Rating Association

Entertainment Software Rating Association (ESRA)

Type	Self-regulatory
Industry	Organization and rating system
Founded	2007 in Islamic Republic of Iran
Headquarters	Tehran, Iran
Area served	Iran
Key people	Reza Ahmadi (President, CEO) Seyed Mohammad Ali Seyed Hosseini (Founder)
Website	www.esra.org

The Entertainment Software Rating Association (ESRA)^[1] is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings in Iran.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} The system was established in 2007 by the Iran National Foundation of Computer Games^[8][9] and has the status of a research project.^[10][11][12] ESRA principle, the result of a one-year investigation and research on different harmful content of computer games from three aspects of sociology, psychology, and Islamic teachings, launched its rating system in 2009 in five categories of 3+, 7+, 12+, 15+ and 18+ years of age.^[13][14] ESRA researching approaches based on Psychology or the cognitive behavior, Sociology, the science of community and human’s interaction and Religion.The contents are designed based on the culture, society and the special values of Iran. Macro, micro and analysis were two important bases in defining contents. After some level of changes in designing the contents, 187 contents in the form of 8 main criteria were extracted.^[15]

Goal

After the establishment of the National Institute of Games, creating the best model for optimal use of video games became the main goal of the ESRA.^[16][17][18] The ESRA aimed to take advantage of the power and effectiveness of educational games while avoiding potential mental distress and damages caused by their inappropriate use. The main reasons that the ESRA was established:

• The lack of a suitable model for using video games.
• Concerns of parents regarding violence, horror, and sexual content in video games.
• Psychological and social damages caused by inappropriate use of video games.
• The lack of sufficient knowledge about harmful effects of video games.
• Lack of accurate information for parents about video games.

ESRA, Ratings and Symbols

The ESRA began rating video games in 2009, giving consideration to different aspects of the games such as psychology, sociology, and religion. The ESRA rating system was designed with the collaboration of over 20 experts and academic codifications to achieve the best accuracy possible in rating video games. The ESRA uses the following symbols to indicate video game suitability:^[19]

Video Game rating Systems

Rating	Description	Logo
+3	Suitable for All Ages
+7	Suitable for Ages Over 7 years old. (Childhood)
+12	Suitable for Ages Over 12 years old. (Early adolescence)
+15	Suitable for Ages Over 15 years old. (Late adolescence)
+18	Suitable for Ages Over 18 years old. (Adults, most likely, single)

One of the most important reasons of the observed necessity for ESRA principle is the lack of a proper pattern of use for computer games and the negative physical and mental effects of computer games caused by misuse and the concern of parents regarding such issues due to their lack of information about the improper and inappropriate content of such games.^[20]

ESRA has 7 main criteria which consist of 187 sub-categories

criteria	Description
Violence	It is the display of a behavior to harm someone. It ranges from destroying the assets and making the unanimated out of order, shouting with violence, fighting physically, any sort of physical or mental injury to taking the life of an animated creature.
Tobacco and drug	Watching the use of drug and tobacco in games can lose the internal-social taboo of not using it for the addresses. This kind of behavior, when done by the protagonist is much more harmful. Losing this taboo can be considered as a serious harm.
Sexual stimuli	Sexual diversity, sexuality out of social norms, religious comments like the Anti-homosexuality and rape from one side and nudity or semi nudity and suasive behaviors in games can end to the social and physical harms related to the sexual needs of the addressees and his /her social situations.
Fear	This internal feeling in different ages leads to chronic stress, stuttering in kids, cardio respiratory diseases, pessimism and conservative behaviors in social atmosphere.
Religious values violation	The violation of religious values is in accord with the Islamic principles. Four of the important elements are: The violation of the basic principles or religious believes (the display of the heaven or hell), Inattention to religious comments (boozing and gambling), Sacrilege to the prophet and their followers (belittling or discriminating between the Muslims and the rest) Sacrilege to the holy places (mosque, church)
Social norms violation	Using the vulgar words and the improper behaviors which lead to breaking the social norms are amongst the social harms that computer games brings for the kids and the adolescents. Also creating an atmosphere for the mental and physics experience of abusing behaviors can end to the characteristics and social disorders.
Hopelessness	This content in games is related to a kind of feeling: When the gamer have to do or not to do something against his will, which makes him/her feel sinful. The gamer feels despaired and disturbed in the game in a way that he/she has no favorable goal. Or the gamer finds the goal he/ she try to catch, vain and meaningless at the end of the game. The deep feeling of sorrow the gamer experiences due to the death of a lovable character.

ESRA, Studies and Researches

In addition to controlling the content of video games, the ESRA has conducted research on the subject. Some of this research includes:

• A qualitative analysis of the content in horror games: In this study, four popular horror genre video games (Dead Space, F.E.A.R 2, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, and Silent Hill 5) were studied to determine the techniques these video games used and the components they incorporated to elicit fear from their audience. The theoretical framework of the study was based on the opinions of psychologists and experts on the horror genre.
• An analysis of the lifestyle presented in The Sims video game: These were case studies of The Sims 3 and the lifestyle it presents. In this study, theories of cultural imperialism, ideology and hegemony were used. The extracted patterns of life in The Sims 3 indicate that this game is promoting the American lifestyle.
• Content analysis of 40 popular characters in computer games: In this study, quantitative content analysis techniques were used. Forty famous characters confirmed reputable by gamers in the National Foundation of Computer Games in video games were selected. These characters were compared with each other in three aspects: their appearance, character traits and psychological environment.
• Classification of video game characters: This study identifies different types of characters that are often used in video games. The characters are classified in two general terms: Race and Class.

References

External links

• Official website
• Iran Computer and Video Games Foundation