It looks like the nation’s largest consumer electronics retailer thinks that what its customers need more than lower prices is a little bit of common sense on their side. Best Buy recently announced plans to integrate reviews, content descriptions, and other Common Sense Media tools into their website an attempt to make the video game buying experience more family friendly than ever. From the press release:
“At Best Buy we understand the importance of giving customers clear and accurate information to help them make good decisions about the video games they buy,”
“The information from Common Sense Media provides guidance about both the content of a game and its entertainment value. We want parents to be confident they are buying games that are appropriate for their families and fun to play.” said Jill Hamburger, vice president of entertainment at Best Buy.
Although everybody already agrees that education is the key to broadening the appeal of video games beyond its current reach, don’t we already have the ESRB to do this for us? If simplicity is the crux of understanding, then this just might be another unnecessary tool thrown in to further confuse some parents. Just when we were doing so well, too.
Now back to those lower prices I spoke about earlier. How about using some of that common sense, ditching the bloat, and passing the savings on to us consumers? We need more games.