M-Rated Game Sales to Kids Down, Shows FTC Report

Kotaku examines a report drawn up the the Federal Trade Commission on 'inappropriate content' sales to children. The study (pdf) examined sales of M-Rated games, R-rated movie tickets, and explicit music to underage persons in the most extensive look at the topic since 2000. While it appears the games industry still has a way to go, the study shows that it's much harder than it was four years ago for a young person to buy an M-Rated game. "Video games showed the greatest improvement, dropping from 69 percent being able to make the purchase in 2003 to 42 percent in 2006. That's just three percent more than the number of underage children able to get into R-rated movies."

Comments

Eh, it won't make a difference

[Coopjust]

Personally, I don't think the fact that the sales of M-rated games to minors dropping. Why? Well, many times it goes like this:

Child: Mom, I want Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Mom: Oh, what do you do in that game?
Child: You drive cars.
Mom: Oh, OK then.
Clerk: Ma'm, you realize this is an Mature Game, intended for ages 18 and up?
Mom: Yeah, sure, whatever.
*Kid plays game full of violence*

Forget the fact that it's on the back of the box (inappropriate content warnings), parents will blithely ignore them. All of the sales restrictions to minors don't prevent bad parents from buying them.

Re:Eh, it won't make a difference

[ZakuSage]

And it's really going to make a difference if a kid plays GTA? I know when I was growing up I watched a whole bunch of violet movies and it didn't "corrupt my moral fiber" or anything of the sort.

Re:Eh, it won't make a difference

[ResidntGeek]

But science has shown us that it's one thing to watch the Merch fuck someone's dad, and another thing entirely to fuck that dad yourself while the controller shudders with each unwelcome thrust.

Re:Eh, it won't make a difference

[rhombic]

Finally, I think most of us accept that a video game (or other virtual reality experience) is valid training for real-life events.

So you're gonna be allright with your oncological surgeon having learned via "Trauma Center: Under the knife", right?

Anyone who has watched kids get fired up by watching Power Rangers and run around kicking shit knows that media has an effect on children.

As you so cleverly pointed out, the plural of anecdote is not data. Kindly point us to a statistical study showing a causative relationship between watching violent TV or playing violent videogames results in real-life violence (actions resulting in serious bodily injury, not kids wrestling). TIA.

Even zero percent is not good enough

[biocute]

Since they have been thinking of children so much, I would recommend a -1% target, so there are absolutely no kids allowed to get their hands on a M-Rated game, additionally 1% of eligible gamers will also be turned away because they couldn't produce a ID, this includes senior citizens too.

BitTorrent

[rustalot42684]

Purchases are down, but that does not mean there are less kids out playing M-rated games. When I go to futureshop, and they refuse to sell me the game, I download it. Do I feel guilty for stealing* it? No, because they wouldn't sell it to me.

* Yes, I know it isn't actually stealing, it's infringing copyright, but that's not the topic today.

In unrelated news

[EmbeddedJanitor]

Sales of fake IDs up!