While Santa Monica Studios was initially undecided about the inclusion of a sex mini-game in God of War III, it seems the developer made its mind up. An ESRB listing for the game does include such a mini-game.

"The game contains a sex mini-game. Players will encounter a goddess and her two hand maidens, all topless, all holding and caressing each other," reads the ESRB listing. "If players wish to, they may join the goddess (and only the goddess) in bed. Actual sex is never depicted as the camera drifts, then fixes on the two maidens, who watch from a distance. As players respond to the on-screen prompts with button presses, the topless maidens will continue to watch, and sometimes caress. Moaning sounds from the bed can be heard throughout the sequence."

It's likely that our protagonist Kratos has an encounter with Aphrodite, who indeed had an affair with Ares, god of war, according to Greek mythology.

[via PlayStation LifeStyle]

The ESRB rating description for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has let the cat out of the bag. It notes that at the beginning of the game, the player will take part in World War II missions before jumping into modern combat.

"In single-player mode, players conduct missions on an unnamed Japanese island during World War II and then move into the modern day through jungles, deserts, and snowy terrain," the description reads.

It will be interesting to see how they tie the two together in terms of the game's narrative. We've contacted EA for comment.

[via Connected Consoles]

In order to avoid the lengthy ESRB rating process, Microsoft has gotten its new Game Room itself rated as E10+. While that means no more review submissions for Microsoft, it means that no games higher than E10+ can be on the Game Room. At first, this doesn't seem like a problem considering the Game Room is geared towards retro games, back from the days of yore when video game violence was but a fairy tale; however, on second thought, it means games like Street Fighter, Metal Slug, and Mortal Kombat are automatically nixed from the service.

Still, there are few games like those listed, and if you care enough about them, you probably already own them via the Xbox Live Arcade. So what do you think of this whole ordeal?

[via GamerBytes]

A report issued by Activision today suggests that the video game industry might not be the Antichrist after all. In fact, the industry has actually improved its job of protecting children from violent video games. According to the report, a surprising 70% of parents consult the ESRB rating of a game before purchasing it for their children, and a massive 82% said they are familiar with how the ratings system works. The report also indicates that 63% of parents also consider themselves gamers.

The survey was conducted by The Harrison Group as part of Activision's "Ratings Are Not a Game" educational initiative and focused on the awareness and influence of the ESRB rating system on both children and their parents.

"Parents rely on and value the ESRB ratings in helping them decide which games to allow their children to play," said Mike Griffith, President and CEO of Activision Publishing. "Our 'Ratings Are Not A Game' education initiative underscores our commitment to helping parents better understand and utilize the ratings system as they select age appropriate games and determine the best way for the entire family to enjoy the gaming experience."

The FTC released a report to congress concluding that the games industry "outpaces" all other entertainment industries in terms of responsible marketing and advertising. The report revealed that 80% of sales of adult games to minors are prevented by retailers. However, not only have ESRB game ratings done an effective job, but game marketing has also. M-rated game ads weren't shown prior to 10pm, advertisements and retailer websites displayed age ratings, and "little evidence" of inappropriate target marketing through the traditional media was found, the report states.

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