January 7, 2005

The video game industry was given a mixed report card by a watchdog group, receiving a barely passing grade for retailers who failed to enforce age limitations on the purchase and rental of adult-oriented games.

The National Institute on Media and the Family issued its Ninth Annual MediaWise Video Report Card in the nation's capital in late November. U.S. Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Herb Kohl (D-WI), and Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) also participated.

Dr. David Walsh, president and founder of the Institute, said the video game industry currently sends confusing messages to parents. "For instance, the video game industry says parents should use the ratings, but denies violent video games affect children," Walsh points out. "The result is parents are led to believe the ratings don't really matter."

The report card gave a solid grade to the Entertainment Software Rating Board's (ESRB) ratings accuracy. The ESRB places a content rating on all video games, and maintains a website where parents can find information on virtually all available games.

However, the industry received a "D" for retailer enforcement of policies that restrict youth access to M-rated [mature] games without parental permission. The Institute's "secret shopper" survey found that boys as young as seven were able to purchase M-rated games 50 percent of the time. Retailers seemed more willing to restrict underage girls, however, who were only able to purchase the restricted games 8 percent of the time.

Some new games raised concerns for the Institute because of violent or sexualized content. "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," for example, requires the player -- a gang leader -- to kill police, commit drive-by shootings, carjackings, and burglaries, and other disturbing activities. Other games, like "The Guy Game," which features video of real women exposing their breasts, and "JFK Reloaded," in which the player tries to "re-assassinate" President Kennedy, were also tagged as problematic.

Rep. McCollum said, "Parents need to watch the video games their kids are playing before buying .... Many of the most popular games contain graphic and extreme violence and sexual content -- in which players are 'virtual victimizers' and 'first person killers.'"

The Institute is launching a new public service announcement that encourages parents to take a more active role in overseeing the video games being played by their children.

This article appeared in the January 2005 issue of AFA Journal, a monthly publication of the American Family Association.

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