The Entertainment Software Association will kick off a national campaign...

encouraging parents to review the ESRB ratings and use existing videogame console parental controls, ESA said. It didn’t say when the PSAs will start running. The campaign will “connect with consumers in an immediate and sustained way in addition to the traditional mechanisms over TV outlets,” said ESA President Michael Gallagher. Each month, the videogame industry has more than 300 million interactions with consumers via online storefronts and videogame play, and the campaign will take advantage of that, ESA said. It will use the “interconnectivity and reach” of the game industry’s platforms to promote the PSAs and related content, and coordinate with videogame retailers to use their “physical store footprints” and dedicated online networks to educate customers about game ratings and parental controls, it said. It will also work with policymakers to extend the rating system to the broader games ecosystem of smartphones, tablets and online social games, it said. ESA will give consumers information on videogame-specific websites and online stores, and provide PSAs to game industry news and fan discussion websites for use, while encouraging broadcast outlets to run the PSAs on local channels, it said. About 50 percent of U.S. homes have at least one videogame console, and each console has password-protected parental controls that allow parents to limit their children’s game use, it said. For more than 18 years, all video and computer games sold at retail have been rated by the ESRB, and 85 percent of parents of children who play games are aware of the ESRB rating system, ESA said. The new campaign will “build on the already high awareness rate,” it said. In the future, the distribution channels established as part of the campaign “could also provide a platform for other educational and pro-social messages and information,” it said.