7 Legal Decisions That Changed Gaming History

5. Video Games Start Being Age-Rated & Legally Stated "Not For Children"

Ever wonder why video game gore or risqué content ever gets tagged with the assumption that children will have access to it? Anti-Rockstar lawyer Jack Thompson seemed obsessed with the notion, correlating the mature content of GTA with the likes of a small child wiling away the hours.

The reason behind this misconception harkens back to the 90s, back when games were classed as "toys" or "products", rather than works of entertainment or fiction. Such an idea of literally any video game being thought of as a "toy for kids" was promptly blown out the water when DOOM and Mortal Kombat came along; challenging any notion of "child-friendly content" with buckets of gore and endless dismemberments.

Naturally, various parent groups were outraged (as they had right to be, given the state of the law at the time), leading to the formation of the ESRB (Entertainment Software Ratings Board), and the re-classification of video games as anything but "toys for kids".