It seems like every few years the media flocks to a story about how young adults were influenced by the violence in video games and turned that into a real world shooting or other act of violence. It seems like mainstream media picks up on the sensationalism around the topic and how video games are bad for us morally, mentally and physically.As dedicated gamers, of course, it seems almost like our duty to defend gaming as a hobby. I often remind people that I grew up playing video games and I'm loathe to kill a fly. With early games, you would find less violence than a typical episode of Bugs Bunny. I do admit, however, that things have changed over the years.
History has taught us that games like Motal Kombat and Night Trap were responsible for changes to the game industry that initiated a move to the creation, locally, of the Entertainment Software Ratings Board or ESRB. In other countries the same concept has formed under different names (in Europe, for example there is PEGI). Although self-regulated, the system has worked very well for the new wave of games that have come out that feature violence in a more realistic fashion.
While the ESRB groups games by their content (including Everyone, Mature, Adult Only, Teen, etc.) gamers have been grouping games together by their genre for years. Genres include platformers, first-person shooters, 2D shoot-em-ups (also called shumps), Role Playing Games (RPG), sports and so on. In the earlier days of gaming consoles, the platform games (which included the likes of Mario and Sonic) were the most popular. The violence in them tends to be more like Saturday morning cartoons and have never gained media attention for being hasn't really gained a lot of attention in the media in that regard.
On the PC, 1993's Doom brought more realistic violence to the home and pushed the graphic limits of the hardware. Those that could afford the latest graphic and sound cards soaked up everything they could with games like Doom and Quake, and eventually raised the popularity of the newly emerging genre dubbed "first person shooter."
Today, the FPS is the most popular and lucrative genre for game publishers with franchises like Call of Duty and Battlefield are consistently at the top of the sales charts which encourages these publishers to pump them out at an alarming rate.
While the debate about violence in video games, and the influence it has on our children, can and will continue, we currently have a system in place to limit exposure of violent or otherwise inappropriate video games from children.
In North America, the ESRB (esrb.org) sets the ratings and has enforcement policies in place in terms of member organizations using proper markings in all advertisements and packaging. Although retailers are not (at the present time) legally obligated to make sure that Mature-rated games aren't sold to minors, all of the major ones do so. In Canada, retailers like Wal-Mart, EB Games and smaller franchises like Microplay all ensure that Mature-rated content does not end in up in underage hands.
While Microsoft and Sony are currently discussing the future of used games with publishers, and their final implementations are still waiting to be seen for the next generation of consoles, there is no debate that the used game situation is one that will continue to be an issue between publishers, retailers, and consumers. However, in the midst of the discussions of profit and distribution, there's a giant gap that the ESRB seems to have overlooked.
The used game market is certainly lucrative, with end-users having the option of selling their unwanted games back to retailers who put them back on shelves, sometimes at heavy discounts. Video game retailers like EB Games and Microplay sell used games (in fact, it often represents the heart of their business) and enforce the same policies on used games as they do new games when it comes to ESRB ratings. However, places that sell only used games as part of their business do not seem to be playing by the same rules.
While being "carded" for identification at Wal-Mart isn't quite as good for the ego of a middle-aged man or woman as it might be at the local watering hole, the fact is that the retailer's point-of-sale system warns cashiers when sales of a matured rated game occur. At local pawn shops and second-hand recyclers like "Value Village" (known as "Savers" in the United States), there is no such infrastructure.
At these retailers, games are either donated or traded-in from consumers and then offered for sale to consumers. At the point-of-sale, most employees are not told or trained to check the games for the ratings system or ask for the appropriate identification and no automated mechanism is in place.
To test the theory, after consenting with his parents, I sent someone, "Gavin," out to try and obtain some of the more violent and inappropriate games out there. I handed him some cash and sent him into a local second-hand store while his father waited in the car. When he came out, he had obtained a copy of God of War. The rating of Mature carries the following tags: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language. Gavin was 14 at the time.
After his "success" at the second-hand shop, I sent him to national retailer "Value Village". Armed with a small amount of cash (only ten dollars), Gavin once again emerged with a game he shouldn't have: State of Emergency from Rockstar, the makers of Grand Theft Auto. It carries the tags "Blood and Gore; Violence" and it is full of both. Worse than that, the game actually has a sticker on it which you can clearly see in the photo that says "Warning: Check ID". I assure you, Gavin was not asked for his identification and walked out freely of the store with his purchase.
When the retailers were contacted in regards to what happened, the response was a muted. The owner of the second-hand store was a little surprised, but did offer to try and co-operate. Value Village had this response: "Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention. I will forward to the appropriate field management". I have yet to receive a follow-up response. That was almost six months ago.
As an industry that has to fight the media when it comes to stories surrounding real-life violence and the connection to in-game violence, the rating system is a wonderful thing but doesn't quite go far enough. We need to bring this "loop-hole" to the attention of second-hand stores in order to keep these games out of the hands of children. Parents also need to be a link in the chain of responsibility and understand that there are reasons why the ratings system exists. To that end, more education is what we all need when it comes to violence in video games. That way, you will be able to debate "violence in video games" with great intelligence. It will be the best play yet.
- Syd Bolton
Syd Bolton is Canada's top videogame collector who surrounds himself in thousands of classic video games at the Personal Computer Museum (http://www.pcmuseum.ca) in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.
