Joystiq [PlayStation]

While not the freshest news, it still slipped under PS3fanboy's radar and needs to be brought to light for those of us who may not know. It's called the "Truth in Video Game Rating Act" and it's coming to a legislation near you! Basically, this is a new bill that intends to "direct the Federal Trade Commission to prescribe rules to prohibit deceptive conduct in the rating of video and computer games." So, if something like the Hot Coffee Mod happens again and it's not listed on the game's content properly (even though it's a mod... or assuming this is the case), there will be criminal penalties against the game publishers and developers.

There's a second part to the bill that plans to monitor the ESRB more closely. It will decide if using the independant, voluntary rating system is enough, how marketing the game to certain demographics contradicts the rating the game receives, and finally whether a universal system should be adopted across all media. A universal system? That would be nice, since in some countries a movie rated R and a game rated Mature have different age restrictions, but essentially the same content. Anyone disagree? Agree?