History Main / SameContentDifferentRating

* Music/MakeItSweet, an album featuring covers of songs from the E-rated kids game ''VideoGame/UmJammerLammy'' has an explicit content warning for one tracks, possibly due to a single use of the word "sexy".

* The game ''VideoGame/ClubhouseGames'' for the Platform/NintendoDS is rated E by the ESRB in the Americas, 12+ by PEGI in Europe, and PG by the OFLC in Australia. The higher ratings in the latter two regions are due to the nature of simulated gambling in some of the embedded games (the ESRB addressed this content as well, but didn't deem it a serious issue). The follow-up ''51 Worldwide Classics'' for Platform/NintendoSwitch has those same ratings, with the added notoriety that the GRAC rated it '''18+''' in South Korea (the country has strict laws pertaining gambling; in particular, casino gambling is banned).

** Even with it including the first three ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' games, ''Midway Arcade Treasures Deluxe Edition'' has a 3+ rating from PEGI. While it could be excused that the collection has games that would net a lower content rating (and in fact, this is why the ESRB gives the collection an E-M rating, with the ''Arcade Treasures 2'' content earning the M and the ''Treasures 3'' content the E), ''Midway Arcade Treasures 2'' earned a 16+ from PEGI for the ''Mortal Kombat'' games.
** The collections all include games that have either gotten E-rated releases or been in E-rated compilations, while ''Midway Arcade Treasures 1'', ''2'', and ''3'', are rated T, M, and E respectively.[[note]]And no, the drastically different ratings are not examples of this trope. ''1'' is rated T due to the inclusion of ''VideoGame/SmashTV'', ''2'' is rated M due to the aforementioned ''Mortal Kombat'' games and ''VideoGame/{{NARC}}'', ''3'' is rated E due to only having racing games.[[/note]]

* Infamous parental review site [[http://commonsensemedia.org Common Sense Media]] has ratings seemingly overruled by another reviewer or some other force on the site.

* ''Midway Arcade Treasures':

** The collections all include games that have either gotten E-rated releases or been in E-rated compilations, while ''Midway Arcade Treasures 1'', ''2'', and ''3'', are rated T, M, and E10+ respectively.[[note]]And no, the drastically different ratings are not examples of this trope. ''1'' is rated T due to the inclusion of ''VideoGame/SmashTV'', ''2'' is rated M due to the aforementioned ''Mortal Kombat'' games and ''VideoGame/{{NARC}}'', ''3'' is rated E10+ due to only having racing games.[[/note]]

* Both ''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'' received a CERO Z (18+) rating in Japan, as opposed to the ESRB Teen rating it has in North America, when it came time to re-release the game for the Nintendo Switch Online service. Since NSO sees players download apps for each console rather than individual games (meaning all games get a blanket age rating equal to the game with the highest one currently available on said app), the Japanese re-release was delayed for an entire year so it could release alongside ''VideoGame/JetForceGemini'' (which was also given a CERO Z rating) in a separate "18+" app to avoid having to bump up the age rating for the main N64 app.

You pop in the disc (or crack the cover) and find, surprise surprise, that the series hasn't really changed at all. What's changed is how its content is ''seen''. [[InformedObscenity Something that might have been perfectly innocuous and acceptable]] [[ValuesDissonance 20 or 10 or even five years ago is now regarded as]] automatic grounds for a rating bump, even if everything else in the series is all rainbows and unicorns. This also happens as [[UsefulNotes/MediaClassifications ratings systems]] grow more robust over time, introducing more tiers of ratings and allowing for more precise classification. More JustForFun/{{egregious}} cases can be chalked up to [[KnightTemplar overzealous]] {{Media Watchdog}}s and MoralGuardians cracking down on content that was once acceptable (or, at the very least, wasn't considered a cause for concern by more level-headed audiences).

As shown in the page image, this is often an occurrence when old video games are ported, re-released or remastered as a new product years after the original release. With the ESRB's introduction of the E10+ rating in 2005, many games that previously straddled the line were bumped up from E (as in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime 3D'') or down from T (as in the original ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' trilogy). In Europe, PEGI's increasing strictness towards promoting gambling to children has resulted in some surprising rating bumps: ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros1'' was bumped up from 3 to 12 for the UsefulNotes/WiiU Virtual Console release due to its gambling minigames, as were the 3DS Virtual Console versions of ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue''. [[https://www.askaboutgames.com/news/pegi-rating-for-gambling-is-now-always-18 As of 2020,]] PEGI rates any game that promotes gambling 18+ (though games released prior to that [[GrandfatherClause will keep their original ratings]]).

* The Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse highlights the differences between the USA's [[UsefulNotes/MotionPictureAssociation MPA]] and the UK's BBFC. PG-13 and 12A are largely the same [[note]]both higher than PG and not for young kids. 12A requites under 12s watch with a parent, while PG-13 is 13+ recommended but not age restricted[[/note]], and are followed by the R and 15 (which differ more so) [[note]]Both the lightest 'no kids' rating. R requires anyone under 17 to watch with an adult, while a 15 cannot be screened to anyone younger than 15[[/note]]. The strange part is that while ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' (the Ultimate Cut) got an '''R''' and '''12A''', ''Film/SuicideSquad2016'' got a '''PG-13''' and '''15'''. Based on their summary, the film's VillainProtagonist ensemble and their enjoyment at wreaking havoc is what pushed the latter's BBFC rating up, while Superman and Batman's violence (and attitude towards it) was more acceptable.

** The British Board of Film Classification gives most of the home video releases a 12 or 15 certificate, although they were all AA or X (equivalent to a modern 18) back in the day. Some of them were an 18 in TheEighties (during the whole "video nasty" panic) but have dropped since. Outside Dracula, Hammer's ''Film/XTheUnknown'' and ''[[Franchise/{{Quatermass}} The Quatermass Xperiment]]'' are PG, although the titles were originally intended to sell "These films have X-certificates!" The only Hammer horrors that seem to currently be 18 are some of the LesbianVampire ones, and that's probably not because of the horror content.

* When ''[[VideoGame/AzureStrikerGunvoltSeries Azure Striker Gunvolt]]'' was originally released on the [[UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS Nintendo eShop]], the game was given a T rating by the ESRB, with the sole descriptor being for "Violence", despite the fact that the game wasn't any more violent than its [[VideoGame/MegaManZero spiritual]] [[VideoGame/MegaManZX predecessors]]. A couple of months after its release, the game was bumped down to a more appropriate E10+ rating, for "Fantasy Violence, and Mild Language".

* ''VideoGame/{{Boogerman}}'' is rated MA-13 (SEGA's equivalent to ''T for Teen'') on the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis, but K-A (Kids-Adults, the precursor to the ''E for Everyone'' rating) on the UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem despite not being censored in any way.

* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' got a PEGI 12 rating in Europe when it was released on the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3. 6 years later ''Castlevania Requiem'' (compilation of ''Rondo of Blood'' and ''Symphony of the Night'') received the PEGI 16 rating due to the blood effects in ''Symphony of the Night'', which are no different from the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 version.

* The game ''VideoGame/ClubhouseGames'' for the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS is rated E by the ESRB in the Americas, 12+ by PEGI in Europe, and PG by the OFLC in Australia. The higher ratings in the latter two regions are due to the nature of simulated gambling in some of the embedded games (the ESRB addressed this content as well, but didn't deem it a serious issue). The follow-up ''51 Worldwide Classics'' for UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch has those same ratings, with the added notoriety that the GRAC rated it '''18+''' in South Korea (the country has strict laws pertaining gambling; in particular, casino gambling is banned).

* ''Crime Scene,'' also known as ''Criminology'', is notable as one of only eleven UsefulNotes/NintendoDS games to receive an M rating from the ESRB. PEGI, on the other hand, rated it 7+.

* ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'' received a K-A rating when it was first released. However, for its Australian release it was slapped with an M rating, the equivalent of the ESRB'S T or PEGI's 12+, for "crude humour and sexual references", even though the game contains an EldritchAbomination final boss babbling about how much "it hurts" as you're trying to kill it. It seems like the ESRB has caught up to this as well in the years that followed, as the rating was bumped to T for the long-awaited UsefulNotes/WiiU Virtual Console release. The blood visible on the Mondo Mole/Guardian Digger and Plague Rat of Doom's sprites appear to be the primary culprit. Oddly, the ESRB had earlier rated a prospective Wii VC release E.

** ''Accent Core +'' got an M rating despite all the previous games in the series getting a T. This one is particularly notable in that ''Accent Core +'' actually ''removed'' most of the blood in the game compared to previous entries, the only exception being [[BloodyMurder Testament]]. Weirdly, this only applies to the digital-only UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 and UsefulNotes/Xbox360 versions; the physical UsefulNotes/PlayStation2, UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable and UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} versions get the T rating.
** ''Accent Core + R'' would also get an M rating for its console release, though the PC version on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} didn't receive any rating. When the game was eventually ported to the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch Switch]], the game reverted to a T rating, for some reason.

* ''VideoGame/AHatInTime'' was rated E10+ for digital release UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and Xbox One for over a year. However, when the game was rated for a physical/digital release for the Nintendo Switch, it was rerated T for a scene with a [[spoiler:fake pool of blood]].

* The original ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 copies in the UK carry an "OK 11+" label. Later copies carry the game's PEGI rating, a downgrade to a PEGI 7.

* ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKainSoulReaver'' was originally given a T rating by the ESRB [[note]]for Animated Blood and Gore, and Animated Violence[[/note]] for its initial 1999 UsefulNotes/PlayStation and PC release, despite being just as violent, if not more so, than [[VideoGame/BloodOmenLegacyofKain its predecessor]], which carried an M rating. For the uninitiated, the game features several scenes, particularly within the first hour, where humans are slain in bloody, graphic detail, in stark contrast to the demons and vampires that the player kills, which are done in a more benign way by comparison. It's likely the ESRB was shown all of the violence related to in-game gameplay and was either not shown the cutscenes or simply just ignored them. Regardless, when the game was later ported to the UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast and re-released on [=PlayStation=] under their Greatest Hits label the following year, the game's rating was bumped up to a more appropriate M rating[[note]]now for Animated ''Blood'', and Animated Violence[[/note]].

** A special UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube collection containing the first two games along with ''Majora's Mask'' and ''Ocarina of Time'' was rated PEGI 7. When ''Majora's Mask'' and ''Ocarina of Time'' were rereleased for Wii/3DS, they were both bumped up to a PEGI 12.

* ''VideoGame/{{Limbo}}'' was originally given an 18 rating in Europe when it was released on the [=PS3=], 360 and PC. However, when it was released on the UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation Vita}}, Playstation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, it got a 16 rating, while the aforementioned versions remain 18-rated. Furthermore, the game was rated 12 by the BBFC in the UK (at the tail end of the BBFC's days of rating video games), which means that there are 12-rated, 16-rated ''and'' 18-rated copies of the game floating around on store shelves in the UK.

* In the UK, the [=PS1=] and PC versions of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' got an 18+ rating. When the [=GameCube=] remake ''The Twin Snakes'' came out, it got a 15+ rating, despite the violence being more intense in this version (for starters, we actually see Gray Fox killing the people in the hallway). Then when the [=PS1=] version came to UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation Network}}, it still kept its 18+ rating.

* On the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch Online service, every UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem and UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 game has a blanket ESRB Teen (13+) rating or their global equivalents, despite most games on the service having lower ratings. This is because players don't download individual games, but instead regularly-updated apps that contain the entire available library for a given console (e.g. "Nintendo 64 - Nintendo Switch Online"), meaning the inclusion of games like ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'', ''VideoGame/SinAndPunishment'', and ''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'' bump up the age rating overall.

** The original Game Boy releases of ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'' received PEGI ratings of 3+ in Europe. For their UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole rereleases on the Nintendo 3DS twenty years later, they were bumped up to a 12+ because of the Game Corner slot machines. In the intervening years, any depiction of gambling automatically discredits a game from any lower rating (hence why Game Corners were removed from the series from ''[[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Black/White]]'' onwards).

** The UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch version of ''VideoGame/{{Miitopia}}'' is rated E or its equivalent in most of the world, like the 3DS original--except in Russia, which hit it with an ''18+'' rating. This is entirely because [[GetBackInTheCloset the port allows Miis to form same-gender relationships]].

* The ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage'' and ''VideoGame/GoldenAxe'' games got MA-13 (Sega equivalent to the Teen rating) ratings for their initial UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis releases. Modern-day re-releases of them are E10+, though Sega's VRC ratings system never had an equivalent rating.

** The ''Looney Tunes Golden Collection'' DVD series from volume three to its last one (volume six) contained a "Recommended for mature cartoon collectors" rating, as a lot of the cartoons they started putting on the sets contained a lot of cartoons that featured outdated racial, ethnic, and sexual stereotypes. This would also apply to most DVD sets of other Creator/WarnerBros-owned cartoons from UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation, including ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'', Creator/TexAvery's [[WesternAnimation/TexAveryMGMCartoons MGM filmography]], and the ComicStrip/{{Popeye}} shorts.

* All Creator/PBSKids shows are TV-Y [[note]]barring ''WesternAnimation/{{WordGirl}}'', which carries a TV-Y7 rating[[/note]]. But on the video player, every single show is rated TV-Y7, [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2021_10_12_at_21146_pm.png like so]]. The upper limit for PBS Kids' target audience ''is'' eight years old, but TV-Y7 is usually for stuff on Nick, Disney, and CN.

** Around summer 2017, Comedy Central re-rated the episodes from seasons 1 to 20 from TV-MA to TV-14-DLSV (for moderate-to-strong suggestive dialogue, offensive language, sexual content, and violence), with the exception of particularly controversial episodes such as "[[Recap/SouthParkS9E12TrappedInTheCloset Trapped In The Closet]]" (due to gun violence from Music/RKelly, the innuendo about Creator/TomCruise being gay, and the general mocking of Scientology) and "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson" (due to racist content and discriminatory language). Unlike the syndicated editions, which are also rated TV-14, these episodes are not edited for content, merely rated TV-14 because the TV-MA rating is only allowed on programs that air after 10pm. The reasoning for this change is obvious: [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny what made most of those original seasons so shocking and offensive at first is now par for the course for adult animation]].

* The 25th anniversary re-release of ''VideoGame/NightTrap'' bumped the game’s rating down from an M (for "Realistic Violence") to a T (for "Violence, Blood, Suggestive Themes"). This game [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny was what kickstarted the formation of the ESRB]], being one of the first games to be rated M and sparking high controversy during its original release for supposedly "promoting" violence against women. In actuality, the "violence" in the game was deliberately made cartoonish and over-the-top, and the controversial bathroom scene (which actually [[WhatTheHellPlayer reprimands you if you don’t save the girl]]) is very tame by today’s standards.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' was slapped with a T rating, despite only being ''slightly'' more dark/violent than the GBA games. Granted, it does feature [[spoiler:a husband unwittingly killing his own wife while BrainwashedAndCrazy]], but that's as dark as it gets, and that's only a flashback. This was probably due to the more realistic graphics in battles. For further confusion, the sequel ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' is considerably darker in tone, yet it was rated E10+. This can't even be explained by ''Path of Radiance'' coming out in the same year that the E10+ rating was introduced, because ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongJungleBeat'' -- the first game to ever be rated E10+ -- was released in North America a month earlier.

* ''WesternAnimation/WatershipDown'' in Germany is rated 6+ (meaning that the content is appropriate for children ages six and up), and a PG in the United States and Australia. In many other countries, most infamously the United Kingdom, it is rated as all-ages, even though the disturbing content [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids says otherwise]].

* ''WesternAnimation/GlitchTechs'' originally had a TV-G rating when it debuted on Netflix in 2020. Later the same year, it was given the rating it probably should have had in the first place (since it’s an action-oriented series): TV-Y7-FV.

* Both ''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'' and ''VideoGame/JetForceGemini'' received CERO Z (18+) ratings in Japan, as opposed to the ESRB Teen ratings they both have in North America, when it came time to re-release the games for the Nintendo Switch Online service. Since NSO sees players download apps for each console rather than individual games (meaning all games get a blanket age rating equal to the game with the highest one currently available on said app), the Japanese release of ''[=GoldenEye=]'' was delayed for an entire year before it was ultimately decided to create an entirely separate "18+" app to avoid having to bump up the age rating for the main N64 app.

* Both ''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'' and ''VideoGame/JetForceGemini'' have CERO Z (18+) ratings in Japan, as opposed to the ESRB Teen ratings they both have in North America. This actually caused some issues when it came to re-releasing the games for the Nintendo Switch Online service; since players download apps for each console rather than individual games (meaning all games get a blanket age rating equal to the game with the highest one), the Japanese release of ''[=GoldenEye=]'' was delayed for an entire year before it was ultimately decided to create an entirely separate "18+" app to avoid having to bump up the age rating for the main N64 app.

** ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'' was given a R-rating in the U.S. like the other films, but in the UK it was rated 12A, the first in the franchise to get that rating.
* '' Film/{{This Christmas}}'' is a PG-13 film that airs with a TV-14 rating on BET, but a TV-G on TV One. Both cuts retain all the violence and sexuality, but edit out a few uses of the word "shit".

* ''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'' has a CERO Z (18+) rating in Japan, as opposed to the ESRB Teen rating it has in North America. This actually caused some issues when it came to re-releasing the game for the Nintendo Switch Online service; since players download apps for each console rather than individual games (meaning all games get a blanket age rating equal to the game with the highest one), the Japanese release was delayed for an entire year before it was ultimately decided to create an entirely separate "18+" app to avoid having to bump up the age rating for the main N64 app.

* ''Every'' single game on the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch Online apps are slapped with a blanket Teen (13+) rating for North America, including games which really don't deserve it like ''VideoGame/MarioGolf'', due to the inclusion of games like ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'', ''VideoGame/SinAndPunishment'', and ''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'' and the ESRB not rating games on the service individually.

* The ratings for the [[Film/HammerHorror Hammer Studios]] Dracula films are all over the place for no discernible reason. Incredibly, ''Film/DraculaHasRisenFromTheGrave'', which features Dracula being messily impaled causing blood to gush from his mouth and eyes, was rated ''G'', which has never been updated.[[note]]This is presumably because it was the very first film to receive an MPA (then MPAA) rating, and "G" did not yet mean "for little kids only".[[/note]] Its follow-up ''Film/TasteTheBloodofDracula'', which features a similar level of violence along with some nudity, was originally rated GP (a precursor to PG) but was upgraded to an R in 2004, while ''Film/DraculaAD1972'' has kept its PG despite opening with yet another very nasty impalement scene. The fact that these films are all sold together in a DVD set along with the unrated ''Film/HorrorOfDracula'' (which had itself previously been rated R for theatrical reissues in the '70s) makes it even more noticeable because there are four different MPA symbols on the packaging.

** In a similar vein, ''VideoGame/AlienHominid'' was rated "M" on its initial Newgrounds upload for “Excessive Violence,” but all of its console releases have been rated T for Teen by the ESRB or their equivalent in other countries (with the notable exception of the Game Boy Advance port, which carries an '''E10+''' rating).

* When ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' airs on {{Creator/Citytv}} and OLN, and formerly on [[Creator/GlobalTelevisionNetwork Global]], it is rated 14+ and carries the same ContentWarning that is used for ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''. But when it airs on the Canadian version of Creator/AdultSwim, it is rated PG and does not carry any sort of warning.

* When ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' aired on [[Creator/GlobalTelevisionNetwork Global]] and {{Creator/Citytv}}, it was rated 14+ and carried a rather long (and mostly unwarranted) ContentWarning (the same one that was used for ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''), but when it airs on the Canadian version of Creator/AdultSwim, it is rated PG and does not carry any sort of warning.

* ''VideoGame/Persona3 FES'' was rated M in Australia, but ''Persona 3 Portable'' was rated MA (equivalent of M, and a restricted category).

* On the App Store, ''VideoGame/AnimationThrowdownTheQuestForCards'' originally was rated 17+, but changed to 12+ in 2021, making this one of the few rare cases where a game on the App Store has its rating decreased [[note]] Usually this is done by changing to "Infrequent/Mild" from "Frequent/Intense" on the rating descriptors. In this case, it used to be 17+ for "Frequent/Intense Mature Suggestive Themes", but dropped down to Infrequent/Mild.[[/note]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Atelier}}'':

* ''WesternAnimation/WatershipDown'' in Germany is rated 6+ (meaning that the content is appropriate for children ages six and up). Elsewhere, it's all-ages, even though the disturbing content [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids says otherwise]].

** The original ''VideoGame/RuneFactory3'' was rated E but the Switch port ''Rune Factory 4 Special'' got a T rating.