Kirby's Dream Collection is rated E10 for "animated blood", though every other Kirby game including the ones in it are rated E.

There are a number of conclusions I could draw from this:

- The ESRB is finally going through the games to completion and marking accordingly instead of taking one look at the box art and going "oh come on, this is an E". This is the least likely explanation.

- Zero's infamous status as Mood Whiplash personified (and perhaps the general weirdness of the series) is known by so many that even the ESRB picked up on it.

- The value of the E has descended from "Everyone" to "Babies and Grandmas". Things that were once rated E are now E10, and a plain E now carries very little weight.

The last point I think is best illustrated by the re-release of Ocarina of Time for the 3DS. As you all probably know well, the original got an E despite having some mature themes, as well as visually... interesting portions, such as the Shadow Temple. Twilight Princess got a T, though I didn't think it was even at OoT's level.

The addition of E10 made sense, but it had the side effect of becoming the new "standard" as far as things like the classic Nintendo series go, and most games reach for that rating at the very least. A plain E is for Mario, and that's about it now.

By the way, all the mentioned games are rated CERO A (all ages) in Japan, besides Twilight Princess, which got a B (the general equivalent to E10).

What are your thoughts on the ESRB rating system?

They apparently are asleep most of the time

All of those factors probably contributed to the new Kirby rating, basically. The ever-subjective criteria for the ratings system has apparently evolved over time, so a game that received a certain rating years ago might get a higher one today.

To be honest, I'm still a bit surprised about some of the things that Nintendo let the Ocarina of Time development crew insert in an E-rated Nintendo game. Not just the blood-soaked walls of the Shadow Temple...

As for the ESRB itself: I think the whole concept of a rating system is fairly silly, because a theme or scene that's offensive or frightening to one player (or that player's parents) might be as disturbing as a Barney & Friends rerun to someone else. However, I don't have any problem with the ESRB's existence unless these rating systems are used as a means of censorship, like they have been in a few countries.
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Edited by: Bibby, Sep 19th, 2012 @ 10:15 pm

Ironically, let's not forget this as well.