ESA AND LIEBERMAN GIVE THUMBS UP TO IEMA CARDING PLAN

The initiative is a national carding program unveiled by the Interactive Entertainment Merchants Assn. (IEMA) this week that it said all of its retail members would be implementing “by holiday season 2004.” As part of the initiative, IEMA said its members would “implement an identification check process at the point of sale for games rated Mature by the ESRB” (Entertainment Software Rating Board). A frequent complaint of the game industry has been that many retailers either had no strict policy to prevent the sale of graphically violent games to children, and that -- even among those that did have a clear policy -- few cashiers at checkout counters actually were enforcing the rules.

IEMA members who agreed to implement the carding program in time for next holiday season included Best Buy, Blockbuster, Circuit City, CompUSA, Electronics Boutique, Gamesource, Hastings Entertainment, Hollywood Entertainment, KB Toys, Kmart, Meijer, Movie Gallery, Musicland, Shopko Stores, Target, Toys “R” Us, Transworld Entertainment and Wal-Mart. IEMA said that, “taken together, these retailers sell approximately 85% of all computer and videogames sold in the United States.” The group also said “membership in the IEMA will be contingent on agreeing to implement the carding program.”

IEMA Pres. Hal Halpin said: “A national carding system will help ensure that games that are not appropriate for children stay out of their hands. Over the years, we have worked closely with Senators Joe Lieberman and Herb Kohl [D-Wis.] and the National Institute on Media and the Family to address the issues of enforcement and education, and with the ESRB to put educational signage in our member stores and training for staff regarding the ratings system. We are united with them behind the goal of helping families make informed decisions about the entertainment they purchase for their children and the entertainment their children choose for themselves.”

Halpin said “the retailers involved in” the carding program announcement “have either already begun carding, or will put carding procedures in place by this time next year. They will also continue cooperative efforts with the ESRB to better educate store employees about the importance of enforcement as well as on efforts to inform consumers about the rating system.” He said “these consumer educational efforts, which include various in- store displays and materials explaining the ESRB rating system, will vary from retailer to retailer based on store layouts and other factors.”

ESA Pres. Douglas Lowenstein said the IEMA announcement was a “significant” one that was “good news” for everybody. He said “ESA has been a strong advocate of retail enforcement for more than 5 years and we believe that today’s commitment by retailers to strengthen enforcement is a very positive step.”

Lieberman called the initiative “a great holiday gift to America’s families,” saying: “Parents are working hard to raise their kids right, but they need help. That’s why I have been pushing the retailers for the last several years to enforce the rating system. And that’s why I want to commend the IEMA and its members for adopting this policy to prevent children from buying what the National Institute on Media and the Family [NIMF] calls ‘killographic’ games without their parents’ permission.”

In its 8th MediaWise Video Game Report Card, released Mon., NIMF said games such as Take-Two Interactive’s Manhunt should be labeled as “killographic” because of their “graphic depiction of brutal violence,” in much the same way that “pornographic” is used to describe material featuring the “graphic depiction of sex.”

Despite the step taken by IEMA, however, Lieberman complained that NIMF’s latest research indicated that many parents still were not regulating what games their children were playing. NIMF’s finding prompted Lieberman to say: “Now it’s time for parents, who have the ultimate responsibility here, to do their part. This year’s report card shows once again that too many parents are still not paying attention to the game makers’ model rating system. I want to remind them during this holiday shopping season that this tool is only helpful if they use it, and urge them to consult the ratings when they are choosing gifts for your children.” Lowenstein and Halpin agreed that parents would have to become more involved to make sure that the carding program and ESRB’s rating system were as effective as they could be.

Halpin also stressed that M-rated games “accounted for only 13% of total computer and video game sales in 2002, and that the Federal Trade Commission reported in 2000 that parents are involved in the purchase or rental of games 83% of the time.” He referred to an ESA finding that 92% of all games were bought by adults over 18.

Although Lowenstein called NIMF’s latest research “one of the more balanced report cards that they've ever issued,” he admitted that the NIMF and ESA continued to disagree on certain issues -- most notably NIMF’s continued position that there appeared to be a direct cause-and-effect relationship between videogame violence and violent acts committed by young people who played the games. NIMF also argued that there was an “impact of increased screen time [playing games] on childhood obesity.” NIMF said: “Current statistics show physical activity among children has decreased 13% since 1990, while screen time has increased 33% during the same period.”

NIMF Pres. David Walsh said: “The results of our student survey are alarming. The survey finds boys are not only playing M-rated videogames, but are playing them for greater amounts of time without their parents’ knowledge. Children’s access to these ‘killographic’ games, parents’ lack of knowledge of ratings and kids’ game-playing habits are all major contributors to the increase in casual violence and the culture of disrespect among our children.” The group said “areas” of special concern in the 8th Annual MediaWise Video Game Report Card included: The Entertainment Software Rating Board’s non-use of the adults-only (AO) rating; the lack of policies among many retailers to restrict children from Mature-rated games; and the need to improve parent education of the ratings.” But NIMF said in its report that “we recognize and applaud the openness and the integrity of [the ESRB’s] work” in the last year to revise its ratings system. NIMF also said “the videogame ratings have set the current standard for media ratings.” Late last week, the ESRB said an independent study conducted by Peter Hart Research Assoc. found that “parents overwhelmingly approve of the ratings assigned to computer and videogames.” It said parents agreed with ESRB ratings or thought they were too strict 84% of the time.

NIMF gave the ESRB rating system a “B” on its report card -- the same rating that it gave retailers with policies that prevented kids from buying M-rated games. But it gave ratings education only a “C” and gave an “F” to retailers without policies and screen time related to overweight. It said the 10 games it most urged parents to avoid this year were Manhunt, Road Kill from Midway Games, Outlaw Volleyball from Vivendi Universal Games (VUG), Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball from Tecmo, Def Jam Vendetta from Electronic Arts (EA), True Crime: Streets of L.A. from Activision, Backyard Wrestling: Don’t Try This At Home from Eidos, Max Payne 2 from Take-Two, WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne expansion from VUG and -- no surprise -- Postal 2 from Running With Scissors. The only surprise was the inclusion of T-rated Def Jam Vendetta -- the only non M-rated title in the top 10. On the other hand, the top 10 games recommended by NIMF were SimCity 4 from EA, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker from Nintendo, SSX 3 from EA, NBA Street Vol. 2 from EA, Top Spin from Microsoft, Rise of Nations from Microsoft, Madden NFL 2004 from EA, Flight Simulator 2004 from Microsoft, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga from Nintendo, Rayman 3 from Ubisoft.