Video game industry gets report card

An annual “report card” that grades the video-game industry is out today. It says parents who want to protect their children from graphic violence haven’t been doing their homework.

For parents who thought games like Assassin’s Creed, Stranglehold and The Darkness were suitable titles for their kids to play — the National Institute on Media and the Family shoots that theory down.

Dr. David Walsh with the National Institute on Media and the Family said, “This year’s report card shows some backsliding, maybe even complacency.”

The group’s annual report card gives a strong recommendation for the violent games parents should not gift wrap for their kids this holiday.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman said, “There are now over 200,000 studies, which in turn can make them more prone to commit violent acts.”

Thirteen-year-old gamer Connor Maxwell said, “I’ll go on missions where you have to do drive-bys and stuff, but I’m not going go get a gun and attack someone.”

The group asserts that parents aren’t making the grade when they fail to look for the “M for Mature” rating, intended for players 17 and older.

Walsh said, “We parents have a great responsibility: manage the media that comes into our kids’ lives. We are giving parents this year a C.”

National retailers got a D because their sting operation found that more than half the time a child could go in and buy an M-rated game.

Rentals stores got an F.

Specialties stores got the highest rating and received a B.

The poll results indicate 72 percent of parents do not understand the video game rating system. As a result the organization is calling for a universal rating system based on the game’s entire content.