Retailers Turn Away 80% of Kids Trying to Buy M Rated Games

[Gildan Bladeborn]

It's hard to know to know whether these figures will really make all that much difference, as it's a little too easy to talk around them. They certainly show that minors usually can't buy M rated games themselves, but they don't do anything to stop the idea that parents don't understand ESRB ratings and will buy M rated games for their kids.

This is just... I mean... grah! How stupid are people?!

If we regulate the sale of video games through law instead of voluntarily through industry ratings (which these figures show to be more effective than other industries efforts at preventing children from purchasing mature content) parents will still be able to cluelessly buy them for their damn children!!

Responding to these figures with a "Well yes, but we're too stupid to bother reading the extremely obvious labels that say 'this game has blood and tits in it', so we still need regulation!" rebuttal is quite possibly the stupidest thing I've heard all month. These proposed laws are attempting to fix problems that do not exist (kids really can't buy M-rated games most of the time) by making it illegal for the stores to sell them to children, with fines and the like as the repercussions if they do.

Absolutely nothing prevents adults from buying those games and giving them to children now or if this legislation is allowed to stand - passing these ass-backwards laws therefore unnecessarily impinges on free speech and sets dangerous precedents, all the while leaving the real problem entirely unaddressed: Parents are idiots.

If you're worried about your children playing inappropriate video games, then you should do your damn job and don't let them play those games - if you can't be arsed to set rules, pay bloody attention to what your kids do, read things, or talk to the parents of their friends to determine what their views on such content is, then you have no damn business getting outraged when little junior is exposed to blood and tits like it isn't your own damn fault. It is your own damn fault, because you're the parent and you are dropping the ball - these asinine laws aren't going to do your job for you.

 

[HotFezz8]

I do think that the ESRB needs to implement a Color Coding System similar to the PEGI ratings in Europe. Say what you will about it but Parents are occasionally dense and distracted people and a simple "Green is for Kids, Yellow is For Teens, Orange is for Grown-Ups and Red is Porn (for lack of a better term)" might go a long way in identifying to parents whether or not their kid should be playing this game. PEGI uses it, Canadian Movie ratings use it, and as far as I'm concerned videogames should use it.

Educating Parents in the particulars of game ratings could help kill any future attempts to demonize game devs and sellers for overlooking their "duty" to consumers.

this is genius. it would require a 20 second public infomation advert on maybe a dozen adverts for about a month and would totally stop this whole argument.

 

[JWAN]

Parents buying the games for their kids is no excuse. If the parents don't understand the ESRB ratings, they are too stupid to be having kids. End of story. The ESRB ratings are so simple, the kids themselves can understand them.

EXACTLY! I mean really color coding the ESRB? Are adults so stupid that they cannot read small print or goto the ESRB website for clarification of the ratings system that use BIG BOLD LETTERS? I'm done with this, as far as I am concerned parents need to stop blaming others for their childs behavior, start looking in the mirror, and then look at their kids as well. Blame the parents and the kids for being irresponsible, the only freedom you have to give up.

Amen
The box already says M MATURE 17+
I dont know how more fucking clear it could possibly be! if they made it color coded they the parents would ***** about some colorblind couple in Tennessee whose rat bastard child beat up another kid so then they would lobby to make the boxes multi-colored and put big stripes and polka dots and shit on it, but then some border jumper would say "No puedo leerlo." so we would put the warning in 40 different colors, stripes and polka-dots and in 18 languages including 2 dead ones.

IT WILL NEVER END SO JUST HAVE THE PARENTS DO THEIR JOB AND STOP PUNISHING THE INDUSTRY

 

[Hashime]

Though I look (and am) over 17 I am still ID checked when I try to buy an m rated game. Need better proof the current system works fine?

 

[Unesh52]

They certainly show that minors usually can't buy M rated games themselves, but they don't do anything to stop the idea that parents don't understand ESRB ratings and will buy M rated games for their kids.

That's the thing though; how could the ESRB possibly be simpler and easier to understand? It says, right on the box, who the recommended audiences are.

This might be a little bit on the cynical side, but I honestly believe that a lot of these parents didn't give a damn when they bought the game and now that they see what's actually involved, they're blaming everyone else for their own imcompetence.

This. Not only is there an easily recognizable symbol on the label, but the label is easy to find, what it means is easy to understand even without the qualifiers (Mature: 17+, Teen: 13+), AND there are specific descriptions of content for each game. How could that be any easier to understand?

 

[JWAN]

I do think that the ESRB needs to implement a Color Coding System similar to the PEGI ratings in Europe. Say what you will about it but Parents are occasionally dense and distracted people and a simple "Green is for Kids, Yellow is For Teens, Orange is for Grown-Ups and Red is Porn (for lack of a better term)" might go a long way in identifying to parents whether or not their kid should be playing this game. PEGI uses it, Canadian Movie ratings use it, and as far as I'm concerned videogames should use it.

Educating Parents in the particulars of game ratings could help kill any future attempts to demonize game devs and sellers for overlooking their "duty" to consumers.

this is genius. it would require a 20 second public infomation advert on maybe a dozen adverts for about a month and would totally stop this whole argument.

No because some rat bastard child from Tennessee would beat some other child to death and just happen to have colorblind parents and then it would be a discrimination lawsuit stacked on top of the other previous arguments. Its not going to end no matter what you do.
NEVER EVER
EVER
ever
(really, it just wont)
Its like the the Palestinians and the Israelis as long as one or the other exists they will shoot each other and beg the world for sympathy. Its a law of nature by this point and it will remain constant until the asteroid sent by Elvis and Hitler using alien technology, and steered by the 4 guys who escaped from Alcatraz blows the shit out of this planet.

 

[Hatchet90]

Oh look at that, now parents have no one to blame but themselves. Don't worry folks, I'm sure they will latch on to some other non story, like Dungeons and Dragons in the 70's and Pokemon in the 90's.

And if you're wondering, both my parents were incredibly strict when it came to what games I played when I was younger. My father was an avid PC gamer and was very knowledgeable on what games I should and should not be able to play. Hell I wasn't even allowed to play first person shooters or other violent games (T for Teen) until I was 15. In this day and age I feel proud that my parents watched out for what I played, even if I didn't understand it at the time.

 

[mjc0961]

@Topic

This is why I have absolutely no problem with the California law banning the sale of violent vidjamagames to minors: For all intents and purposes, the law is already in place.

As I recall, the California law would also require the M rated games to have some kind of giant label on the front (because the current M on the front apparently isn't obvious enough). And it's not about just M rated games, apparently it's anything with "too much violence" and who defines that? They could ban the sale of Ratchet and Clank for example; even though it's E10 you do run around with giant guns and blast the hell out of bad guys, cartoon violence could be bad for kids!

I hope all the E_A people fighting in that legal battle make California choke on this study.

 

[TheDist]

Normally I don't say this, but you are wrong.

If I sell a violent game to a minor, I lose my job. This is true for pretty much every retail outlet. From Wal-Mart, to Best Buy, to Gamestop, and any retailer that sells games.

I've already answered a similar comment; maybe where you live is different, but here no-one gives a damn about the laws. Not the kids, not the parents, and certainly not the companies. The only reason I never got San Andreas was because my ma was a lot stricter than the manager of the store was.

Ah, I see. I believe this study was conducted in the US though, not worldwide. So that may have caused some confusion. Here in the US it seems if you look even a little bit under 18, you get asked for an ID.

Ive spent a good ammount of time in the USA, everytime I bought a mature game there I have been asked for ID and I am good way over 18 years. (it is very funny though to see somone react to a british driving licence, the look of panic on their face makes my day!)

To be honest I think the real issue (at least in the USA/UK) is parents buying mature games for their kids with no real knowlage of what they are buying them.

 

[Crossborder]

Too bad that doesn't mean shit. Tons of parents give in to the neverending whining and buy their child games like MW2. If they still think this actually means something, they should play that, or any other games that popular with the kids online. That'll change their mind quickly enough.

 

[DTWolfwood]

Ppl will still ***** "Well you're still missing 20%" or BS like that.

Those fighting against the games are already closed minded about their determination. Just look at Jack Thompson.

 

[Memoriae]

I'm all for games, and I'll be one of those bitching about retailers still missing the 20%.

Ok, so you're never going to get everyone, unless you ID everyone for everything, and then you end up in a situation of an OAP getting ID'd for a pack of cigarettes (or something equally ludicrous).
I've worked in retail, in all of software sales, general retail, alcohol-related, and in a cinema. I have no issues with IDing anyone who looks even a few years older than the legal limit. The Cooperative chain of stores over in the UK have this thing for alcohol sales, called "Think 25". The legal age is 18. If their staff think you're under 25, then they'll ID you for it, even if you are 25 (like I have been on a couple of occasions)

Now, with BBFC ratings in a cinema, you have the law on your side. If you've requested ID from a person, or a group, then there no legal grounds for letting them in without seeing said ID. If your manager runs over and gets whinged at for someone asking ID, then they should be backing you up. Same thing with BBFC rated software. ID or no sale.

It's not a hard thing to ask people who are a small way over the legal age for their ID, as younger people can make themselves appear older (not shaving, etc).

 

[magnuslion]

TBH, 80% is WAY to little. 20% can get games they shouldnt be able to? Thats shocking.

It is, however, no argument for the banning of violent games. The violent games arent the problem, its the salesmen. When a shop sells an underage dude beer, its the shop that gets the law on its nuts. Should be the same thing here.

It is not anyone, including the shop employees/owners, job to police peoples brats. either be a parent or do not have kids damnit! the rest of us do not want to have to pick up the slack!!

 

[dawdarsd]

the number of underage shoppers turned away when they attempted to buy M rated games until it hit 80% in 2007, where it has remained ever since.

I wonder what game could have changed this and kept it this way?

OT: All they need is a BIG RED LABEL saying "18+" like they do in England. Then it's all fine!

Calumon: I wonder if they wanted a microphone with that game? :S

it doesn't deal with the so called "problem" , but it's the best way to try to solve it since it leaves a lot of people un-pissed off

 

[Naeo]

Replace "video games" with "movies" and "M-rating" with "R-rating" and the story is just as applicable.

Therefore, the sale of movies to minors should be regulated by law.

 

[Nubrain]

I have long belived that the blame with kids being exposed to violent media nearly always falls with the parents and I have two prime examples of this.

One day while standing in line at a local video game store the woman in front of us just happened to mention to the clerk that she was getting these games for her son's 10th birthday. The clerk then asked her if she realized that two of the 3 games she was getting were rated M and she had no idea what he was talking about. She had only been looking for the titles that her son had on his list and hadn't bothered to even look at the back of the box or anything. He took the time to point out the raitings to her and explain what they ment, it took less then a minute and the M rated games went back on the shelf. She had assumed that all games were for kids though in the end seemed grateful to the clerk and anoyed at her son for trying to pull a fast one on her. She was a good but uneducated parent.

The other example is what I'd consider a bad parent who is away of the rating and doesn't care though it doesn't concern Video games but another rated medium, movies. A friend of mine used to work in a movie theater and while working the ticket booth one evening had two parents wanting tickets for an R rated horror movie for them and thier two kids. (I don't recall the age of the kids but both of them were still in the single didgets) She had already seen this movie herself and had found it disturbing and she was in her 20s at the time so she calmly told the couple that they were not aloud to let children into R rated movies even with thier parents with them. The couple became irate saying that these were thier children and if they wanted to bring them into that movie they should be alowed to. They went so far as to ask to speak with her manager. the manager said the same thing and they left in a huff. She later found out that this couple had then bought 4 adult ticketts for the same movie from one of the automatic kisokis and had been stoped by the guy that checkes the ticketts for the same reason. Which goes to show you that even educated some parents just don't care what thier children are exposed to.

It's these children that thouse for goverment regulation will point to as reasons why certian media croupts youth. The game industury regulates itself well enough without any aditional laws shoved down thier throat. Instead if regulations need to be put in place they should regulate the heart of this and every other "*insert-media-here* causes violence" problem....parents. Somepeople lack the intelgence, nurturing nature or motivation to be good parents yet they can spread thier genes around as they wish. And that is why there will always be some group ready to say that the latest popular medium will harm children as if that is the only reason why it was created. It happened with music, it happened with comics now it's happening with video games and the internet. Mark my words the next new medium will have it as well. The medium isn't the problem parents...or rather bad parents are.

 

[night_chrono]

When I worked holiday at Gamestop last year, they really drove home the point of "check ID's". If you sell a M rated game without checking ID, you will get fired. I was also told that you will get fined for selling a M rated game to children but I don't know how true that is, or if it's just an Ohio thing.