Activision is one of the world's largest video game publishers, and the company has been on a roll lately with the success of Guitar Hero III, Call of Duty 4, and its recent merger with Blizzard. But Activision wasn't promoting any of its forthcoming titles or previewing any new games at CES this week. Instead, the mega-publisher was promoting video game ratings.

Housed at the tiniest of booths at the Sands Convention Center, Activision is promoting the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) and its current video game ratings system. The quiet booth featured a demo of Guitar Hero III and some educational brochures about the ESRB system and a detailed listing of the individual ratings and the types of content feature in each. The booth was blink-and-you'll-miss-it small and is hardly the kind of setup you'd expect from a major game publisher.

Activision officials at the show said that unlike E3, CES isn't the venue that the company uses for game previews. Instead, Activision was focused on promoting the ESRB's rating system to help educate the masses about violent games and mature themes, which has become a hot button political topic in recent years. So gamers expecting to catch a glimpse of StarCraft II on the show floor or other major titles on tap for 2008 were sorely disappointed. Looks like many attendees will have to wait until future events like the Game Developer Conference next month to see what Activision has lined up for this year.

There wasn't much to the Activision booth at CES this year, other than a Guitar Hero III demo and some brochures on the ESRB game ratings system.

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