According to Johan Huizinga (1949), as a Homo Ludens, man developed play (game) element in our culture during evolution. Roger Caillois (1961) categorized play into four groups: Agon (competition), Alea (probability), Mimicry(roleplaying), and Ilinx (altered perception). Current video/computer games are comprised of one or more of them combined. As these sociologists of game assert, game is one of the most basic and fundamental elements of our culture. However, some gamers become highly immersed in playing games, even to the degree of addiction. In 2013, National Assembly of Korea proposed a bill that would help alcoholics, drug addicts, gambling addicts and video game addicts. This caused huge social debates among experts and lay people. While some experts say that gaming addiction is not a truly existing phenomenon, some people say that we need law to regulate gaming in order to help prevent the addicts. These issues have become a problem of technological governance. This article analyzes 80 researches or so that may help us to learn about the problems and answers of the internet addiction, gaming addiction, and internet game (online game) addiction, or computer games for the youth in general. In order to maintain a well performed technological governance, first we need to know the characteristics of the issue. The author hopes that this article may be a ground study to start the scholastic discussion about the gaming governance in Korea.

본 논문은 게임 거버넌스의 핵심적 요소로서 게임등급시스템을 분석하고, 주요 행위자들 사이의 균형과 조정, 그리고 문제지점을 조망할 것이다. 일반적으로 등급시스템은 일련의 합의적 절차에 의해 수행되는 안전메커니즘으로 간주되지만, 한국에서 등급분류는 사실상 게임물의 생사여부를 결정하는 사법메커니즘 또는 규율메커니즘으로 작동하고 있다. 국내의 관련 이해당사자 집단들이 대체로 자율등급시스템의 형성에 동의하고 있음에도 불구하고 안전메커니즘으로의 이행이 어려웠던 기원에 대해 고찰한다면 한국의 사회문화적 상황에 맞는 게임 거버넌스 모델을 위한 담론형성에 기여할 수 있을 것이다.