As per  Eliot Mizrachi of MarketWire, “Since their inception in 1994, the ESRB ratings have become a trusted resource for parents when choosing computer and video games. In April 2007, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a report(1) which found that nine in ten parents are aware of the ESRB ratings, 87% expressed satisfaction, and nearly three quarters use them regularly when choosing games for their children.”

I am very pleased that ESRB has released this application for the iPhone. I actually find myself, more and more, going to the ESRB site or using the ESRB widget to look up game ratings. The app offers instant access to ESRB’s Ratings Guide and access to the over 18, 000 reviewed game titles. Which means, if you want to make certain that a game is age appropriate – you can quickly search for the game and get back ESRB ratings results. This is also helpful when you are not certain what the game Content Descriptors mean – for example “Comic Mischief” or “Lyrics.”

ESRB is not forgetting about those dads/parents who do not have iPhone’s. If you happen to fall into that category then you can access ESRB mobile from your web enabled phone - m.esrb.org.

The interface is what you would expect from ESRB – clean and simple. You have three options:

1. Search
2. Home
3. Ratings Guide

Moving between screens is a bit slow but let’s just blame the appalling AT&T network, for that one. I have a couple of concerns with the user interface (UI) – text is small and some of the buttons are small and too close to each other. There appears to be enough real estate so the text and buttons could be larger. This would make the UI more user-friendly. Honestly, these concerns are superficial and I have been recommending, to all my iPhone carrying dads, that they need to get this (free) app, sooner than later.

Photo credit: New York Times

“All consumers should know that piracy is illegal and that modifying their Xbox 360 console violates the Xbox Live terms of use, will void their warranty and result in a ban from Xbox Live,” Microsoft said in a statement on Wednesday.

The timing of this announcement corresponds with the release of “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.” This is one of the most anticipated Xbox games of the year. COD is a very profitable franchise for Microsoft and means big sales during the holidays; as such Microsoft is coming down hard on pirated copies. This is self evident by the actions Microsoft took this week. They explained that anywhere between 600,000 and 1 million players who use Microsoft’s Xbox Live gaming service will be cut off from the service. Why? Because gamers have modified their 360 or played games that were illegally downloaded from file-sharing sites, according to Microsoft.

In its Xbox Live “Terms of Use” Microsoft says that players are to use “only authorized software and hardware to access the Service,” and that they agree that their software and hardware “have not been modified in any unauthorized way.” Microsoft takes piracy and hardware modifications very seriously. I understand the consumer argument “but it’s my 360.” In Microsoft’s defense – we are using their services so we have to play by their rules.

Photo credit: Dimitris Kritsotakis