Here's why you probably aren't just imagining that video games have become more 'mature' over the past 5 years

If you felt as if video games were getting more violent and more sexual over the past 5 years, it might not just be you.

New research from the data crunchers at Dadaviz shows a trend that would outrage violent-game opponent Tipper Gore. Since 2010, there has been a decline in new kid-friendly video games and an increase in ones rated Mature.

Dadaviz's Ian Sommers looked at the video game titles released over the past decade and charted their respective ESRB ratings. The ESRB, or Entertainment Software Rating Board, is an agency that assigns ratings to computer and video games indicating the age group it thinks is appropriate to view them.

The ratings go from "E" for everyone: "May contain minimal cartoon, fantasy, or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language"; to "M" for mature: "Content is generally suitable for persons ages 17 and up. May contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content, and/or strong language." Well, there is also "A" for adult, but those titles are akin to NC-17 films and usually aren't mainstream.

If the data is any indication, it seems that the taste of the gaming public has shifted toward gore and away from minimal cartoon violence. The number of games released that are dubbed suitable for everyone has gone down.

See the shift in the graph below (though it's important to note that some of this could reflect changes in reviewing standards as well):