The National Institute on Media and the Family has given “A” grades to videogame organizations in their annual report card this year. Parents were given a grade of “incomplete.”
In its 13th report card, the institute awarded two “A” grades to the Entertainment Software Ratings Board for adding content summaries to its Web site that explain why a game earned a certain rating. A mobile-friendly site makes the summaries available to cell phone users. The ESRB received another “A” for its work promoting game ratings to parents.
The game industry also earned an “A” for family-friendly features like parental controls and play timers.
Parents received a grade of “incomplete” with an explanation stating that with all of the information and tools available, “parents need to pay more attention to the amount of time and the types of games their kids play.”
In 2007, the ESRB received a “B-“ grade, the game industry got a “C,” and parents also earned a “C.”
The institute also provides a buying guide for parents, which lists games like LittleBigPlanet, Rock Band 2 and High School Musical 3: Senior Year DANCE!. A “Games to Avoid” list includes Dead Space, Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead among others.
Rock Band has gone country? That’s right! Harmonix and MTV Games have announced today that they are set to give their first country track-pack that will become available next week. The “Going Country” track-pack features five hit singles from renowned country artists like Brad Paisley and Brooks & Dunn.
Each track will be priced individually at $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points) or the “Going Country” track-pack can be purchased with all five tracks for $8.49 (680 Microsoft Points). The tracks will be available starting December 16, 2008 on the Xbox 360 and on December 18, 2008 for the PlayStation 3. Hit the jump for the full track listing. READ MORE
Thirteen new tracks will be available next week from No Doubt’s album “The Singles 1992-2003.” The album is a compilation of hit singles from previous No Doubt releases. The album will be priced at $19.99 (1600 Microsoft Points) or you will have the option to purchase each track individually for $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points). The album hits the Rock Band Music Store starting December 9, 2008 for the Xbox 360 and December 11, 2008 for the PlayStation 3. READ MORE
Guitar Hero: World Tour is set to recieve its next dose of DLC marked for release in December of 2008. The content will include artists The Eagles, Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, and more. Each week new content will be available beginning December 4, 2008. Rounding out the DLC for the month of December will be three free tracks, assumingly a Christmas present from Activision, available on December 23, 2008 from artists Pepper, Slightly Stoopid, and Expendables.
The Eagles, Nirvana, and The Smashing Pumpkins track packs will be priced at $5.49 (440 Microsoft Points) with each track available for $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points) each. READ MORE
A nice variety of, well, everything with the DLC available for the week of December 2, 2008. Nine more songs will make their way into the Rock Band Music Store. Six songs, six artists all priced at $0.99 (80 Microsoft Points) each for a limited time of one month only; the tracks should remain in the Music Store after one month at an unknown increased price point. The six songs include: “Are You Dead Yet” by Children of Bodom, “Tutto E’ Possible” by Finley, “Hay Poco Rock N Roll” by Platero Y Tu, “Tempted” by Squeeze, “Ready, Set, Go” by Tokio Hotel, and “Real World” by The All-American Rejects.
Two tracks by the Naked Brothers Band will also be available. These tracks are “Body I Occupy” and “I Don’t Want to Go to School.” The Naked Brother’s tracks will be permanently priced at $0.99 (80 Microsoft Points) each. In addition to the odd pricing schema for this week there will be a free track, “Headphones On” by Miranda Cosgrove. All of the tracks will become available on December 2, 2008 for the Xbox 360 and December, 4 2008 for the PlayStation 3. All tracks are master recordings.
