US retailers slammed by media watchdog

Specialist retailers in the US have been slammed by a media watchdog for selling mature-rated games to children.

The National Institute on Media and the Family's annual videogame Report Card awarded specialist retailers an 'F' grade, stating: "In our survey, half of all attempts by minors to purchase M-rated games were successful at specialist stores."

In contrast, big retail chains such as Best Buy, Target and Wal-Mart all received an 'A' for restricting sales of adult-themed games to minors.

The report also noted that the actual policies had improved, due in part, to pressure from the general public. "Clearly, public pressure in recent years has put retailers on notice," read the report.

In response, the Entertainment Merchants Association has praised the report and its highlighting of the care taken by the retail community to enforce ratings systems on games.

"Retailers have been targeted with punitive legislation regarding videogame sales, which is based on a lack of understanding of the actual levels of ratings enforcement in stores," said Bo Andersen, president of the EMA.

"Hopefully, today's Report Card will help convince legislators that efforts to target videogame retailers are misplaced."

Since 2000, the NIMF report has noted that the percentage of minors turned down from stores while attempting to buy adult-themed games has risen from 19 per cent to 68 per cent.

Other results from the report included Parental Involvement being graded as 'incomplete', partly due to "confusion created by the game makers," with the NIMF suggesting, "The industry should eliminate the double messages to parents and educate them about why it is important to monitor gameplay and observe the ratings."