U.S. Congress Seeks New Videogame Legislation

A new bill before the U.S. Congress seeks to mandate age checks for customers who wish to purchase M (Mature) or AO (Adult Only) rated videogames.

Variety has reported on the bill, introduced by Republican Lee Terry and Democrat Jim Matheson and known as the "Video Games Ratings Enforcement Act." Along with requiring ID checks for the purchase of games, retailers would also be required to post an explanation of the rating systems in their stores. Any retailer violating either aspect of the bill would be hit with a $5000 fine.

"The images and themes in some videogames are shocking and troublesome. In some games high scores are often earned by players who commit 'virtual' murder, assault and rape," said Terry. "Many young children are walking into stores and are able to buy or rent these games without their parents even knowing about it. Many retailers have tried to develop voluntary policies to make sure mature games do not end up in the hands of young kids, but we need to do more to protect our children."

Similar laws in several states have been struck down for violating the First Amendment, but Terry says this proposal will avoid such challenges because it does not involve the content of the games themselves. "It simply requires the retailer to post what the industry has defined as "mature" and "adults only" so that parents can know, and requires checking of identification," he said.

The bill has the support of the Parents Television Council, according to Dan Isett, public policy director for the group. "The entertainment industry would have us believe that these brutally violent videogames have little effect on the player, and that a ratings system exists that supposedly prevents the same of mature-rated games to minors. Yet the Federal Trade Commission has found that more than 40 percent of all kids were able to walk into a store and leave with an M-rated game, despite assurance from the videogame industry and retailers that safeguards were in place to protect children from games that are clearly inappropriate for them."

The most recent FTC study actually found that only 20 percent of children were able to purchase M-rated videogames, compared to the 35 percent who were able to enter an R-rated movie and 47 percent who could purchase an R-rated DVD. The movie and music industries are not being targeted by Congress for special child-protecting legislation.

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Xwii360:
I have no quarrel with this new bill but quite a bit of the information is off. What game to u get high scores for raping people? No really i wanna know.. ^_-

Gigolo on the Atari 2600.

the right idea for all the wrong reasons. Now if they introduced a bill that meant all media with a rating had to have that rating enforced & explained by the retailers, for the simple reason that that is what theyre supposed to do anyway, then I wouldnt have any problem really.

Yeah, I see that as being the same way that restaurants have to have the information available on the contents of their foods. Most stores I've been to already have the ratings posted, but I can see that being good (and constitutional) to enforce.

I don't know why in the world he thinks that making ESRB decision into law will be any less unconstitutional. It's restricting the sale of non-pornographic media, which means the courts are going to disagree.

What is wrong with the world? Why do people find it so hard to decipher the ratings on games?
It seems pretty straight forward to me.

The only thing that might be a little confusing are the symbols the PEGI uses in Europe, a icon with a spider on it denotes horror, a fist indicates violence.
But at the end of the day theses all have an actual age rating too beside these symbols.

No matter how many bills are imposed the powers-that-be are always going to blame video games whenever a child goes off his nut and offs a couple of his class-mates; it's just the easiest scapegoat.

What really strikes me is that modern literature doesn't have an age rating on it. I've just finished reading a book wherein 9 people are killied in increasingly horrific ways to fulfill Biblical prophecy; not an age rating to be found cover-to-cover. I checked.

Yet if you were to make a game out of it involving serial killers and horrific murder (i.e. Manhunt) the conservative factions of parliament would be all over it in a flash whining about how its "corrupting our youth" and "warping the children."

Not to mention the fact that there is an age rating on the thing already which states that minors shouldn't play 18 games but no-one ever seems to notice that in all of the hype of pointing fingers and shirking the blame.

Finally man. People get something kinda right.

Teach people what and what not to buy for their kids, and then nobody will have an excuse to cry about it.

@ Gingerbreadroach

The reason you don't see labels on violent books is because kids these days are too stupid to read books, hence their video game addiction. This coupled with the fact that children today also can't tell the difference between real violence and fake violence, thats right, we're that dumb to them.

On the one hand, despite it's imperfections, making it so that age has to be checked isn't really a bad thing. It's just that they're doing it for the wrong reasons, and they're not hitting all media. And when Is aay all, I mean all. Including books. On the ohter hand, this would probably end up being one of those constantly broken laws, like the law against Jaywalking (If you live in the city, yopu have to Jaywalk).

Malygris:
A new bill before the U.S. Congress seeks to mandate age checks for customers who wish to purchase M (Mature) or AO (Adult Only) rated videogames.

Wait, you mean that it ISN'T required by US Federal Law that when someone tries to purchase a game rated for 17+ or 18+, they have to show identification to prove their age? Damn, perhaps this is why Games are always blamed by US politicians for everything that goes wrong. I know I have issues with our Australian OFLC, but at least they have legal enforcement for MA15+ and higher. Now, if only they actually included an R18+ rating for games...

Also, how is it unconstitutional to limit (but certainly not ban) the sale of a game (or other) with "high-impact" content?

Gingerbreadroach:
What really strikes me is that modern literature doesn't have an age rating on it. I've just finished reading a book wherein 9 people are killied in increasingly horrific ways to fulfill Biblical prophecy; not an age rating to be found cover-to-cover. I checked.

Wait, what? You guys don't have any provision for the rating of literature, at all, in your country's legal system? At all?! It's not like we Australians have many books that are restricted, but some are kept in shrink-wrap plastic behind the counter.

Mstrswrd:
On the other hand, this would probably end up being one of those constantly broken laws, like the law against Jaywalking (If you live in the city, yopu have to Jaywalk).

You can't go legislating with the assumption that people won't follow the law. If you do that, you might as well stop legislating all together and declare martial law, because that's the only sort of enforcement there is that people will respect if you assume that people won't follow any other rules.

meatloaf231:
Finally man. People get something kinda right.

Teach people what and what not to buy for their kids, and then nobody will have an excuse to cry about it.

I agree with that much, but the fact that these kinds of proposals even come about when the music and movie industries reach so many more within younger audiences is getting more and more ridiculous. Even checking IDs for video games is a little absurd. I would also really like to know what video game in recent memory (or long term memory) gives bonus points for rape and how many little kids played this alleged game.

The whole argument over video games messing with people's heads is "you're actually doing it." Are we? I'm pretty sure all games do a pretty good job of establishing you are controlling a fictional character in a fictional situation. Sure, people will often times put themselves in the character's shoes to feel immersed by a game, but people do that when they watch movies or listen to music. Games/movies/songs are as real as a person wants them to be; no more, no less.