Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) (2025)

Entertainment Software Rating Board was a regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings to consumer video games in the USA, Canada, and Mexico.

October 14, 1994–May 22, 1999[]

1st Logo (October 14, 1994-May 20, 1996)[]

Nicknames: "The Powder", "The Diagonal Letter", "The Viridian Powder", "The Pixelated Shadow"

Logo: A thin rectangle with granite inside appears in the center of a black background, and slowly grows so that it takes up the whole screen. A diagonal letter zooms out past the golden lights and falls onto a white sheet of powder. The impact causes viridian powder underneath to rise and be sent flying. By the way, the surrounding area fades to black, revealing a letter in a stylized, pixelated look, inside an etheral white rectangle. On top of the rectangle, there was a rating's name in Helvetica Ultra Compressed. On the bottom of the rectangle, there was a rating's line in Helvetica Light. Over the on-screen rating logo's run, the byline fades in underneath.

Bylines: The company used different bylines:

• October 14-November 18, 1994: "A TURNER Company" (in Helvetica; there was no line on top of the text)
• December 16, 1994-May 20, 1996: "A Turner Company" (in ITC Garamond Cond Book, it appears chyroned in since it fades out before the rest of the logo)

Ratings: The company used different ratings:

• Early Childhood (rated "eC", ages 3+): May contain content which was aimed towards preschool viewers.
• Kids to Adults (rated "K-A", ages 6+): May be suitable for all ages. May contain cartoon violence, crude humor, mild language, and mild suggestive themes.
• Teen (rated "T", ages 13+): May be suitable for teenagers. May contain an infrenquent use of coarse language or suggestive themes, sexual content, brief nudity, and crude humor.
• Mature (rated "M", ages 17+): May be suitable for young adults. May contain realistic portrayals of violence (including blood, gore, multilation, and consisting death), strong sexual themes and content, nudity, and more frequent use of coarse language.
• Adults Only (rated "AO", ages 18+): May be suitable for adults only. May contain violence, sexual content, nudity, and an even more frequent use of coarse language.

FX/SFX: The diagonal letter zooming out and falling onto a sheet of powder. The first two logos are designed by Pittard Sullivan. This logo was animated at Walt Disney Feature Animation.

Music/Sounds: A clicking projector sound, a whimsical pipe organ, the woodpeckers cracking, accompanied by various sound effects (water gushes, a man yelling, tool whirs, grunts, scrapes, seal bark, seagull squawk, an old-style foghorn, ship bells, and a klaxon horn).

Availability: Very common.

• The first to use the "M" rating was Wes Craven's New Nightmare, released on October 14, 1994.
• The first to use the "K-A" rating was the two-part episode of the second season of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (called "White Light"), which first aired on October 17, 1994.
• The first to use the "T" rating was the three-part episode of the sixth season of The Simpsons (called "Treehouse of Horror V"), which first aired on October 30, 1994.
• The first to use the "eC" rating was the AAAHH!!! Real Monsters season 1 episode "Monsters, Get Real!/Snorched if You Do, Snorched if You Don't", which first aired on November 5, 1994.
• The first to use the "AO" rating was The Swan Princess, released on November 18, 1994.
• The last to use the prototype Turner byline was the aformentioned film.
• The first to use the official Turner byline was Dumb and Dumber, released on December 16, 1994.
• The last to use the first logo was the Power Rangers Zeo episode "Found and Lost", which last aired on May 20, 1996.

Editor's Note: When you'd watch some of the episodes and had a great time, it has some sort of tobacco reference.

2nd Logo (September 9, 1996-May 22, 1999)[]

Nicknames: "The Powder II", "The Diagonal Letter II", "The Viridian Powder II", "The Pixelated Shadow II", "Content Rated by ESRB"

Logo: Same as last time, however, on the bottom of the rectangle, a rating's line was replaced by the words "CONTENT RATED BY ESRB" in white, with the byline fading in on the bottom. Both of only the two ratings, "T" and "M", have moved to the bottom corner of the rectangle.

Shortened Variant: Starting in 1997, the logo was shortened, that begins with the letter falled onto a sheet of powder, already-formed.

Bylines: The company used different bylines:

• September 9, 1996-June 25, 1997: "A Turner Company" (in ITC Garamond Cond Book, it appears chyroned in since it fades out before the rest of the logo)
• August 1, 1997-May 22, 1999: "A TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY" (in Adobe Garamond Pro, however, up until 1998, the line was in a hybrid of Didot and Bodoni)

Ratings: The company used different ratings:

• Early Childhood (rated "eC", ages 3+): May contain content which was aimed towards preschool viewers.
• Kids to Adults/Everyone (rated "K-A"/"E", ages 6+): May be suitable for all ages. May contain cartoon violence, crude humor, mild language, and mild suggestive themes.
• Teen (rated "T", ages 13+): May be suitable for teenagers. May contain an infrenquent use of coarse language or suggestive themes, sexual content, brief nudity, and crude humor.
• Mature (rated "M", ages 17+): May be suitable for young adults. May contain realistic portrayals of violence (including blood, gore, multilation, and consisting death), strong sexual themes and content, nudity, and more frequent use of coarse language.
• Adults Only (rated "AO", ages 18+): May be suitable for adults only. May contain violence, sexual content, nudity, and an even more frequent use of coarse language.

FX/SFX: Same as above.

Music/Sounds: Same as above, however, various sound effects have been replaced by four boat horns. Starting in 1997, four boat horns may have been omitted.

Availability: Very common.

• The first to use the second logo was the Power Rangers Zeo episode "Brother, Can You Spare an Arrowhead?", which first aired on September 9, 1996.
• The last to use the official Turner byline was Head Above Water, released on June 25, 1997.
• The first to use the Time Warner Entertainment byline was Spawn, released on August 1, 1997.
• The last to use the "K-A" rating was the Power Rangers in Space episode "Flashes of Darkonda", released on May 16, 1998.
• The first to use the "E" rating was Fallen, released on January 16, 1998.
• The last to use the second logo was the Power Rangers Lost Galaxy episode "Redemption Day", which last aired on May 22, 1999.

Editor's Note: It has held up remarkably well over the past twenty years it was used, though some people might be annoyed due to it plastering some older logos, like its predecessor.

September 25, 1999–March 29, 2003[]

3rd Logo (September 25, 1999-May 27, 2000)[]

Nicknames: "The Diagonal Letter III", "Content Rated by ESRB II"

Logo: On a blue/white ethereal background, a black box zooms and twirls from the screen. In the background, several filmstrips float by, as the box is connected by two filmstrips. One of the filmstrips attaches itself to the side of the box, and the other filmstrip tilts to half a right angle and attaches itself to the top right of the box. The white ball of light flashes and dissipates to reveal the ESRB rating with its cleaner appearance, which takes place in a black environment. As a result, the Time Warner Entertainment byline fades in beneath the rating logo.

Ratings: The company used different ratings:

• Early Childhood (rated "eC", ages 3+): May contain content which was aimed towards preschool viewers.
• Everyone ("E", ages 6+): May be suitable for all ages. May contain cartoon violence, crude humor, mild language, and mild suggestive themes.
• Teen (rated "T", ages 13+): May be suitable for teenagers. May contain an infrenquent use of coarse language or suggestive themes, sexual content, brief nudity, and crude humor.
• Mature (rated "M", ages 17+): May be suitable for young adults. May contain realistic portrayals of violence (including blood, gore, multilation, and consisting death), strong sexual themes and content, nudity, and more frequent use of coarse language.
• Adults Only (rated "AO", ages 18+): May be suitable for adults only. May contain violence, sexual content, nudity, and an even more frequent use of coarse language.

FX/SFX: The spinning box and filmstrip, and the flashing ball of light. The third and fourth logos are designed by Anspach Grossman and this logo was animated at Tenth Annual Industries, also known as "TAI" for short.

Music/Sounds: A wind-blowing chime theme, ending in a 3-note synth-string fanfare.

Availability: Common.

• The first to use the third logo was the Power Rangers Lost Galaxy episode "Destined for Greatness", which first aired on September 25, 1999.
• The first to use the "M" rating was The God and Devil Show, which was first uploaded on November 9, 1999.
• The first to use the "T" rating was Body Shots, released on October 22, 1999.
• The last to use the fourth logo was the Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue episode "The Cobra Strikes", which last aired on May 27, 2000.

Editor's Note: Very good 2D animation, albeit a little dated.

4th Logo (August 19, 2000-March 29, 2003)[]

Nicknames: "The Diagonal Letter IV", "Content Rated by ESRB III", "The Fireworks", "Fireworks at Night"

Logo: We pan up from a field of grass, where a family (father, daughter, son, mother, in order) looks up at the night sky and there are firecrackers going off. After a few seconds, a revamped version of the ESRB rating turns upright as it zooms out (that time, with a reflection of clouds), revealing a navy blue/orange evening environment with slightly more cream-colored, morning sky-style clouds, which takes the logo at the "float in" effect (one has a black backdrop with clouds coloured in the first four colours of the rainbow, one has a black sky with grey clouds, and one was a hand-painted sky in high quality). As a consequence, it has no nickname first. The so-called toucan (in his 70's style) then leans over the rating logo, puts a hoop-like, piece of pie around it, and spins it around. The byline suddenly fades in under the rating logo, and the spinning stops, revealing the inscribed words above. The rating logo shines with a bright gleam (on the top left corner of the rectangle) and an attentioned lens flare, and the toucan keeps his hand on it as he leans, brandishes a large bowl and takes a little bite of cereal on it.

Shortened Variant: Beginning in 2001, the logo was eventually shortened, starting with the toucan leaning over the logo.

15 Minutes Variant: After the rating settles into place, the logo transitions to a graffiti drawing of the shield on a red brick wall. Also, the logo appears darker than usual at the beginning.

Bylines: The company used different bylines:

• August 19, 2000-January 26, 2001: "A Time Warner Company" in Trajan Pro
• March 9, 2001-March 29, 2003: "An AOL Time Warner Company" in Times New Roman

Ratings: The company used different ratings:

• Early Childhood (rated "eC", ages 3+): May contain content which was aimed towards preschool viewers.
• Everyone ("E", ages 6+): May be suitable for all ages. May contain cartoon violence, crude humor, mild language, and mild suggestive themes.
• Teen (rated "T", ages 13+): May be suitable for teenagers. May contain an infrenquent use of coarse language or suggestive themes, sexual content, brief nudity, and crude humor.
• Mature (rated "M", ages 17+): May be suitable for young adults. May contain realistic portrayals of violence (including blood, gore, multilation, and consisting death), strong sexual themes and content, nudity, and more frequent use of coarse language.
• Adults Only (rated "AO", ages 18+): May be suitable for adults only. May contain violence, sexual content, nudity, and an even more frequent use of coarse language.

FX/SFX: The firecracker, and the rating logo rotating. An excellent mix of live-action and CGI animation, which was designed by Gary Goldman and Bill Mechanic & animated at Fox Family Films.

Music/Sounds: An accordion, spoons, trumpets, and hiccuping sounds played to the tune of "Aquarela do Brasil" finishing off with a keyboard note.

Availability: Uncommon.

• The first to use the fourth logo was the Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue episode "Olympius Ascends", which first aired on August 19, 2000.
• The last to use the Time Warner byline was Sugar & Spice, released on January 26, 2001.
• The first to use the AOL Time Warner byline was 15 Minutes, released on March 9, 2001.
• The last to use the fourth logo was the Power Rangers Ninja Storm episode "Nowhere to Grow", which last aired on March 29, 2003.

Editor's Note: A very well-known logo among fans of Power Rangers.

May 10, 2003–October 5, 2019[]

Nicknames: "The Diagonal Letter V", "Content Rated by ESRB IV" (up until 2013), "ESRB in the Sky"

Logo: It features another revamped version of the ESRB rating and the "www.esrb.com" URL address on the bottom of the byline (also depending on the version). Beginning in 2013, the rating was stream lined and the line "CONTENT RATED BY" may be removed, and also, the byline wasn't partially shown.

• May 10, 2003-December 15, 2007 (AOL Time Warner byline): The "www.esrb.com" URL address is in the Garamond font on the bottom of the byline reading "An AOL Time Warner Company".
• September 9, 2003-August 18, 2008 (Viacom "Wigga-Wigga" byline): When the byline was changed to "A VIACOM COMPANY", the "www.esrb.com" URL was now updated to the custom Didot/Bodoni hybrid font. Also, starting with this version, the sky background was simplified.
• September 29, 2008-January 11, 2014 (News Corporation byline): Once again, the text above and below the logo and the byline was changed in favor of the byline change to "A NEWS CORPORATION COMPANY". As a result, the "www.esrb.com" URL was now in the Meta typeface.

Bylines: The company used different bylines:

• May 10, 2003-December 15, 2007: "An AOL Time Warner Company" in Times New Roman
• September 9, 2003-August 18, 2008: "A VIACOM COMPANY" in the 1990 "Wigga-Wigga" font
• September 29, 2008-January 11, 2014: "A NEWS CORPORATION COMPANY"

Ratings: The company used different ratings:

• Early Childhood (rated "eC", ages 3+, up until 2018): May contain content which was aimed towards preschool viewers.
• Everyone ("E", ages 6+): May be suitable for all ages. May contain cartoon violence, crude humor, mild language, and mild suggestive themes.
• Teen (rated "T", ages 13+): May be suitable for teenagers. May contain an infrenquent use of coarse language or suggestive themes, sexual content, brief nudity, and crude humor.
• Mature (rated "M", ages 17+): May be suitable for young adults. May contain realistic portrayals of violence (including blood, gore, multilation, and consisting death), strong sexual themes and content, nudity, and more frequent use of coarse language.
• Adults Only (rated "AO", ages 18+): May be suitable for adults only. May contain violence, sexual content, nudity, and an even more frequent use of coarse language.

FX/SFX: This logo was designed by Lippincott.

Music/Sounds: Here are the main variants:

• May 10, 2003-January 11, 2014: A six-note tricycle horn honking, as conducted by the late Milt Franklyn.
• August 13, 2011-November 18, 2014: A bunch of ascending electronic notes that explodes into a techno tune.
• January 18, 2014-September 22, 2018: A gentle piano sounder, composed by Eric "Elvis" Simonet.
• September 29, 2018-October 5, 2019: A more majestic rearrangement of the 2014 theme, however, with pianos and strings played in a different scale (this time in F minor).

Availability: Ultra common.

• The first to use the fifth logo was the Power Rangers Ninja Storm episode "Boxing Bopp-A-Roo", which first aired on May 10, 2003.
• The last to use the AOL Time Warner byline was the Power Rangers Operation Overdrive episode "Crown and Punishment", which last aired on November 12, 2007.
• The first to use the "Wigga-Wigga" byline was the first season of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which first aired on September 8, 2003.
• The last to use the "Wigga-Wigga" byline was the Power Rangers Jungle Fury episode "One Last Second Chance", which last aired on August 18, 2008.
• The first to use the News Corporation byline was the Power Rangers Jungle Fury episode "Don't Blow That Dough", which first aired on September 29, 2008.
• The last to use the News Corporation byline was the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic season 4 episode "Pinkie Apple Pie", which last aired on January 11, 2014.
• The last to use the fifth logo was the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic season 9 episode "The Big Mac Question", which last aired on October 5, 2019.
• Starting with the last two My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes "The Ending of the Problem" and "The Last Problem", this logo has been removed and simply have the DHX Media and Allspark logos at the end.

Editor's Note: The music was a bit strange, though it was meant to be funny.