Computer Entertainment Rating Organization
The Computer Entertainment Rating Organization is a Japanese entertainment rating organization based in Tokyo that rates video game content in console games with levels of ratings that informs the customer of the nature of the product and what age group it is suitable for. It was established in June 2002 as a branch of Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association, and became an officially recognized nonprofit organization in December 2003.
CERO rating marks
On March 1, 2006, CERO implemented the latest revision of its rating system. The symbols that CERO uses are stylized Latin letters, named after academic grading, except "F" is replaced with "Z". Each is meant to convey a game's suitability for minors. "CERO rating marks" are grouped broadly into "age classification marks" and "other marks". Age classification marks include the following five marks. One of the marks is indicated on the left bottom of the game box front, and a corresponding color bar is also shown on the box spine.| Mark | Rating | Description |
| All Ages | Expressions and content subjected to age-specific limitation are not included in the game, thereby being suitable for all ages. All games that used to be rated All go into this category. | |
| Ages 12 and up | Expression and content suitable only to 12-year-olds and above are included in the game. All games that used to be rated 12 go into this category. | |
| Ages 15 and up | Expression and content suitable only to 15-year-olds and above are included in the game. All games that used to be rated 15 go into this category. | |
| Ages 17 and up | Contains some adult material. Anyone under 17 cannot buy video games with this rating without parental consent. Expression and content suitable only to 17-year-olds and above are included in the game. Some games that used to be rated 18 go into this category. | |
| Ages 18 and up only | Content is clearly adult. It is illegal for anyone under 18 to buy video games with this rating. Expression and content suitable only to 18-year-olds and above are included in the game. Some games that used to be rated 18 go into this category. | |
| Educational/Database | A special rating applied only to non-game, educational/utility software released on consoles aimed to older audiences. Despite having education in its name, it can still feature expressions and content that might not be suitable for minors. | |
| CERO Regulations-Compatible | Applied only to trial versions of games. Titles with this rating do not have all of the expressions and content featured in the full game. | |
| Rating Scheduled | The game has not been assigned its final rating. Used in trailers and advertisements for games that have not been assigned their final rating from CERO. |
Content icons
In April 2004, CERO defined the following "content icons". Content icons represent that the age classification decision has been made based on the expressions belonging to one of the content icons. They are grouped into nine categories. These icons are displayed on the back of all game boxes except on those rated "A" or "Educational/Database".| Content Icon | Description |
| Love | Contains expressions of romance or love. |
| Sexual Content | Contains expressions of sexual relations and/or sexual activity. |
| Violence | Contains violent activity. |
| Horror | Contains frightful or horror elements. |
| Drinking/Smoking | Contains depictions or references to the consumption of alcohol and/or cigarette or cigar smoking. |
| Gambling | Contains gambling activities, either by depiction or in interactive form. |
| Crime | Contains criminal activity, either by depiction or in interactive form. |
| Drugs | Contains depictions or references to the use of drugs and illegal narcotics. |
| Language | Contains profane, derogatory, or bigoted language. |
Rating process
According to Kazuya Watanabe, CERO's senior director, the group of assessors is composed of five regular people unaffiliated with the game industry. They are trained by rating past games. The rating process is determined by 30 different expressions, each with an upper limit. The expressions that exceed the upper limit are designated as "banned expressions". In addition, 6 expressions are not allowed and are also considered to be banned expressions. The expressions are categorized into 4 different types, "Sex-related expression type", "Violence expression type", "Antisocial act expression type", and "Language and ideology-related expression type". Each expression is rated using the A to Z scale that the rating marks use. After the group evaluates the game, the results are sent to CERO's main office where the final rating attempts to use the majority of the evaluators' ratings.Scandals and controversy
One month after the initial release of , shipments of it were halted due to it having been mis-rated. It was re-released a few days later with a B rating from CERO. Its A rating was revoked and it was given a B rating instead, due to some suggestive themes featured in the game. The game was originally rated for all ages due to Gust allegedly not providing them with the complete content of the game for them to review.CERO has been criticized for being more strict on content in games, an recent example being in the The Last of Us Part II. Despite receiving a CERO Z rating, which is the maximum rating a game could achieve, the game was still heavily censored with an example being the sex scene between Owen & Abby. In the Japanese version, the scene cuts out just a short time after both characters began kissing removing the nudity as seen in the rest of the versions. Another example of censorship is with the blood & gore as most of the dismemberment seen when shooting characters was outright removed in the Japanese version. As a result of the censorship, this game’s version was negatively received over in Japan with many criticizing the toned down violence and caused the review scores on sites such as Amazon.com to be noticeably lower than in other versions of the game.