12th Annual MediaWise® Video Game Report Card

An Ominous Backslide on Multiple Fronts

Every year the world of video games grows in influence and importance for the lives of American families. Amazing new games outdo the imagination and artistry of older games. Ingenious new marketing campaigns instill ever-higher levels of desire for the latest games and platforms in gamers young and old. Groundbreaking new technologies unlock new possibilities for interaction, entertainment, and impact.


Some of this growth is great news for people who love video games. And increasingly, that label applies to a lot of us. According to our new MediaWise-Harris Interactive® Poll, nine out of 10 kids (86%) ages 8 to 16 play video games in their homes. We also know the average age of gamers continues to increase, as the generation who grew up with the Atari and Nintendo continue to play video games well into their adulthood. Sequels to popular game franchises like Halo and Guitar Hero, and increasingly intricate massive multi-player games, made 2007 an exciting year for gamers.

Families also received some good news in 2007. In February, GameStop, one of the nation’s largest specialty retailers of video games, clamped down on the sale of M-rated (Mature) video games to minors by terminating sales clerks and store managers who sell these games to minors. The Target Corporation took a bold step in pulling Manhunt 2 from its shelves after it was revealed that AO (Adults-Only) content was viewable, on the Mrated game for Sony’s PSP and PS2, by changing the game’s code.

In October, Microsoft announced it was enhancing its Xbox 360’s parental controls with the addition of a screen time timer. With a quick download, parents will be able to set screen time limits for their child.

In spite of this progress, there is plenty of cause for concern.
While the medium and its audience continue to grow, efforts to protect children from the now undeniable potential harms of excessively violent video games have not kept pace with industry growth. Some of this shortfall is due to a chronic phenomenon: as the industry and its influence continue to grow, video games present new challenges for families.

However this year, our findings suggest that the unacceptable negative impact of excessively violent video games on young people is a problem depicted in an everexpanding body of research. Increasingly, the companies which create and market the games, the retailers who sell them and the parents who buy them have become too comfortable with the voluntary standards they set for themselves in previous years.

Complacency, especially on the part of retailers and parents, appears to have caused a backslide in ratings awareness and enforcement. And, at the same time, while the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has continued to educate the public about its video game rating system, several shocking incidents have inadvertently revealed dangerous loopholes in the ratings process. Simply put, some of the hard-won progress seen in previous years has been lost, and now, too many children are spending too much time playing inappropriate video games that can harm their health and development.

Earlier this year, a disturbing trend appeared in some public libraries and churches across the country. To recruit youth to use public libraries and participate in church activities, several libraries and churches resorted to using video game tournaments with popular Mrated (Mature) video games, like Halo 2. While video game tournaments are an innovative way to reach today’s children, allowing 13- and 14- year old teenagers to play games that are rated for players over the age of 17 is irresponsible. This strategy undercuts the rating system and sabotages parents who are trying to follow the ratings and restrict their children from playing M-rated games.

In light of this disappointing complacency on the part of the gaming industry, retailers and parents, the National Institute on Media and the Family presents this annual report to reinvigorate and reform efforts to ensure that our kids are gaining the benefits from games while minimizing the harm. All of us care about children, and thanks to years of study and practice, we know how to maximize the benefits. But right now, families and retailers have put too much faith in the current ratings system; the ESRB has put too much trust in the gaming industry; and some in the gaming industry have not done enough to monitor themselves.

We know how to keep adult games out of the hands of kids, but significant changes are needed in the ratings system. The end result means helping our kids have healthy, happy, MediaWise futures.