US group slams video games
2004-11-24 08:16
Washington - Video games that have players shoot rival gang members, watch bare-breasted women and recreate the assassination of President Kennedy were criticised on Tuesday by a watchdog group that said, at the least, they should be kept away from children.
In issuing its annual report card on video games, the National Institute on Media and the Family urged the industry to educate parents better about ratings and asked retailers not to sell such games to younger teenagers.
"This segment of games keeps getting more realistic, and they keep pushing the envelope," David Walsh, the institute's president, said at a news conference. "The problem is that these games are the ones that are particularly popular with kids, particularly teenagers."
The video game trade association said its games carry appropriate ratings and recommended that parents police the activities of their children.
Worst game: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas,
Among those listed as the worst games of the year was Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, a game in which the hero vows to avenge his mother's murder and restore glory to his neighbourhood gang. Players rack up points by gunning down police, committing carjackings, burglarising homes and dealing in other underworld activities.
The game debuted in October and instantly became the year's bestseller, part of a series of Grand Theft Auto games that has sold more than $32m over the past few years. The institute's list also includes The Guy Game, which features video of women exposing their breasts.
Walsh said some of the games should be rated "AO" or "adults only," which would limit purchase to those 18 and over. Many stores will not carry games with that rating.
Kids have access
The institute blamed game retailers for lax enforcement, citing a survey it conducted this year. The survey found that half of underage boys and eight percent of girls who tried were allowed to buy M-rated games, the group said.
A trade group that represents game retailers said it is premature to criticise stores because they already are putting a new enforcement policy into place. The Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association has pledged to create tougher standards by December to forbid the sale of mature games to children.
"The reality is that most of the time when kids get these games, they get them from an adult or a parent, and that is a failure of parenting," Lowenstein said. He also cited a survey that showed that most parents agree with the rating system.
"The fact that the assassination of President Kennedy, which broke our hearts and altered our history, could become the subject of a video game from which people are making money is just outrageous, it is despicable, it's unbelievable," Lieberman said.
- AP