Activision promotes ratings, educational properties of games
by JC Fletcher 
on Nov 3rd 2009 12:50PM
While the overwhelming majority of Activision's marketing force is being put to use selling
Modern Warfare 2, one component of the company is hard at work
not selling it -- to kids. Activision is working with Dr. Cheryl Olson, co-director for the Center for Mental Health and Media at Massachusetts General Hospital (and co-author of
Grand Theft Childhood), on a campaign to help parents understand
ESRB ratings, called "
Ratings are not a Game." The first video deals with the obvious topic of "How Can I Tell If A Game Is Appropriate For My Child And How Do I Set Play Limits."
In the second video, Olson discusses the skills and information learned from games, even those of the non-educational variety. Even if the video
is sponsored content produced by Activision (and therefore isn't exactly unbiased), it's still novel to hear a reasonably positive message about games' effects on kids.
