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August 16, 2005
Battle over video games rages on
The Federal Trade Commission is seeking to regulate the sale of
video games to minors.
By Victor Godinez
The Dallas Morning News
The controversy over hidden sex scenes in "Grand Theft Auto: San
Andreas" may have subsided for the moment, but that doesn't mean it's
over.The next round will probably take place in
Washington as the Federal Trade Commission is investigating publisher
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. for possible deceptive advertising,
and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., is pushing for a law that would create
financial penalties for retailers that sell games to underage children.
"She still is moving forward with legislation," said
Sarah Gegenheimer, a spokeswoman for
Clinton. "What she's saying is we need to help parents by making sure
the ratings have teeth."
The game industry has successfully fended off all
previous regulation attempts by states, arguing that the laws are an
unconstitutional infringement on free speech.
And the industry is trying to persuade politicians that
new laws aren't needed.
Retailers would be fined
But some observers say that even if laws were passed
that fine retailers for selling violent and sexually explicit games to
kids, the effect on the industry would be negligible.
"I would rather not have it," said Dan DeMatteo, chief
operating officer at Grapevine, Texas-based GameStop Corp., the largest
games-only retailer in the United States.
"But if somebody sells beer to someone under 21, they
can get fined," he said. "This is not a lot different."
GameStop does not sell Mature-rated games -- those
intended for gamers 17 and older -- to anyone younger than 17, DeMatteo
said.
Arvind Bhatia, an analyst with Dallas-based Southwest
Securities, said most retailers have similar policies, which should
minimize the effect on sales if legal penalties are instituted.
"The rules are in place," he said. "The systems are in
place. So federal oversight I don't think will change any of that."
In Illinois, Gov. Rod Blagojevich recently signed into
state law a bill that will fine retailers for selling games with
"violent and sexually explicit" content to gamers younger than 18.
The law goes into effect in January.
The Entertainment Software Association, the main trade
group for the games industry, is suing to overturn the Illinois law and
hopes to convince federal legislators that national oversight is
unnecessary.
Association president Doug Lowenstein said the group
that assigns age ratings to games, and to which game makers voluntarily
submit their products for rating, did its job with "San Andreas."
When the hidden, unlockable content was found within the
game's original code, the group changed the age rating on "San Andreas"
from Mature to Adults Only.
While the age difference between those two ratings is
small -- 17 and older for Mature games, vs. 18 and older for Adults Only
titles -- most major retailers refuse to stock Adults Only games.
GameStop, Best Buy Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. were
among the retailers that yanked "San Andreas" off their shelves once the
new rating was assigned in July.
"I feel a little bit frustrated that some people sort of
regard this as a failure of self-regulation, and I regard this as a real
triumph of self-regulation," Lowenstein said.
Replacing the Entertainment Software Rating Board with a
federal review board would be both unconstitutional and inefficient, he
said.
"I in fact do hope and believe that as in instances
where these kinds of proposals are enacted . . . eventually people
realize that this is a politically attractive line of attack in the
short term, but in the end, it doesn't get you very far," he said.
DeMatteo said that one reason new laws may not do much
good is that kids often buy Mature-rated games with the consent of their
parents.
Explicit games a minority
But a 2003 report from the Federal Trade Commission
found that most young gamers could purchase "Mature"-rated games without
any help from a parent.
According to the report, underage gamers were able to
buy Mature-rated games 69 percent of the time they tried. The
Entertainment Software Association emphasizes that Mature-rated games --
despite all the headlines they receive -- remain a small part of the
industry's total sales.
In 2004, video and computer game software sales totaled
$7.3 billion, with 16 percent of the games sold rated Mature.
And the game audience is getting older.
According to the association, only 35 percent of video
and computer game players are younger than 18.
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