Gaming watchdog gets tough

Now this is a smart move on the videogame industry's part: According to the BBC, the Entertainment Software Rating Board (the industry's watchdog) has told game publishers that from now on they must disclose any hidden content in games, such as the sexually explicit code unlocked by the "Hot Coffee" mod that created such a fracas last summer. Smart self-regulation, I'd say, if the industry doesn't want anti-game laws to proliferate - it not a little late in coming, because state and federal lawmakers have long been trying to implement regulation at the other end, the retail end, of the videogame food chain. In an email to publishers and developers (leaked to gaming Web site Gamasutra), the ESRB warned them that "any hidden material should reflect the games rating," the BBC reports. "Publishers failing to disclose content face 'punitive action'," the email said.