This week the ESRB has announced a new campaign (press release). They are partnering with the Parent Teacher Association to help parents within the community to recognize and utilize the rating system in order to identify appropriate game content for children. The initiative includes a booklet (view the electronic version) that will be distributed throughout the 26,000 PTAs nationwide.

We at Game Apparent always encourage families to look for the ESRB ratings on games before purchasing them. It’s a simple way to help parents filter media for which their children aren’t prepared. It’s good to see the ESRB engaging in proactive initiatives like this and the Game Search Widget (see the yellow box in the upper left corner of our main page).

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By way of we make money not art.com I’ve learned that Steven Poole is now giving away his book Trigger Happy for free! I’ve just started reading it myself and have been enjoying it thus far. It takes a broad look at video games as a medium that is as expressive and important as other artistic forms.  It’s a perfect light read for someone not very familiar with video games.  From the authors description:

“Trigger Happy is a book about the aesthetics of videogames — what they share with cinema, the history of painting, or literature; and what makes them different, in terms of form, psychology and semiotics.”

It’s offered under a CC license, for a limited time only.  You can download a copy here.

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