While video game retailers have made "significant progress" in limiting the sale of M-rated games to children, movies and music retailers have only made modest progress, according to a report released today by the Federal Trade Commission.

In its latest report to congress, the fifth and most comprehensive study since 2000, the FTC said that while the entertainment industry generally comply with their own standards, the movie, music and gaming industries continue to market adult content to a teen market.

"Self-regulation, long a critical underpinning of U.S. advertising, is weakened if industry markets products in ways inconsistent with their ratings and parental advisories," said FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras. "This latest FTC report shows improvement, but also indicates that the entertainment industry has more work to do."

The most substantiated part of the report comes from an FTC mystery shipper program where unaccompanied children, 13 to 16 years old, tried to make purchases from retailers.

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.

While the mystery shopper study makes for an ugly chart and shoots copious holes in the whole "movie theaters do a substantially better job than video game stores" argument, there's also some interesting grist in the rest of the report.

The study found that while ads for M-rated video games on television shows that are popular with teens are dropping, the same can't be said for internet advertising.

I didn't know this, but the ESRB prohibits ads for M-rated games on web sites where the under-17 audience is 45 or greater and the FTC thinks that the board is not adequately enforcing that rule.

The board is, however, doing a good job of informing gamers and parents about the rating system with 87 percent of parents surveyed saying they are aware of the ESRB system, more than 70 percent use it and three-quarters of the parents surveyed understand the content descriptors and use them.

Many of the parents surveyed did say they wish the system could do more to inform them about the level of violence in games. What do they expect? A frag count?

The FTC did a little digging into the emerging trend of companies using sites like MySpace or YouTube to advertise their goods. They point out that typically when this is done, the page doesn't include any prominent rating information. I guess that would sort of kill the cool of a page wouldn't it?

The report also notes that mobile games often don't try to get ESRB ratings, which is a bad thing, in my opinion.

While the 140-page report wraps up by saying that the Commission continues to support industry self-regulation (sorry Clinton) due to "important First Amendment considerations", it does call for some changes.

For gaming, the FTC calls, again, for the content descriptors of a game to be listed on the front of a title. Sounds like that while possible, that could get really messy. And I don't see DVDs doing that.

This is as important a document as the video game industry can get. Not only does it show that the industry is making vast improvements in the field of education and restricting content to minors, it shows that the video game industry is on the cusp of doing a better job than the oft-cited movie industry.

Good job ESRB. Brian Crecente

The report [FTC]

Some of the most prominent figures in gaming politics are gathering today on Capitol Hill to announce the launch of a nationwide television game ratings awareness campaign. Senators Clinton and Lieberman will join ESA president Doug Lowenstein, and ESRB president Patricia Vance for a press conference today at 3PM Eastern. Also attending will be GameStop President Steve Morgan and Best Buy President Brian Dunn, both of whom will be appearing in ad campaign.

What this boils down to is politicians, retailers, and the gaming industry combining their efforts to make sure parents understand the rating system on the heels of a disappointing MediaWise Video Game Report Card. Despite Activision's recent survey results, parents either don't know about or don't care about the games their children play. While the campaign will certainly raise awareness, I'm not sure it can do anything about apathy. Michael Fahey

BREAKING: Senators Hillary Clinton & Lieberman to Participate with ESRB Ad Blitz [GamePolitics.com]

I just figured out why Sen. Hillary Clinton doesn't like video games: she's afraid it will lead to the Borgitization of the nation's children.
Speaking to the Kaiser Family Foundation, Clinton warned that advertisers are already using video games and the Internet to get at kids, and soon they might start implanting computer chips in their heads.

"At the rate that technology is advancing, people will be implanting chips in our children to advertise directly into their brains and tell them what kind of products to buy," Clinton said at the Kaiser Family Foundation.
...
The New York Democrat said the country was performing a "massive experiment" on kids who average more than six hours a day with media and advertising, soaking it up through TV, computers, games and iPods. She said the fastest growing advertising market is the 6- and under set, and that children's health is already being hurt by products like Camel's candy-flavored cigarettes and junk food sold with tips for video games - used to sell more junk food.

It looks like Senator Hillary Clinton is gearing up for her war on video games.

Sources tell me that Clinton has been asking around for volunteers for a new anti-violence in video games initiative. Specifically, Clinton is trolling for someone how feels passionate about extreme violence in video games.

One of Clinton's brainbursts is to try and add a special tax to video games, sorta like what a lot of states do for cigarettes. The profits from the tax would then go to a child advocacy program.

The "concerned parent" would need to attend a press conference to make a short statement and should be able to deal with annoying reporters asking questions like: Did Sen. Clinton send out a memo asking for someone like you to talk for her at a press conference?

Just a word of warning gamers, this isn't going away. Clinton has her heart set on making violence in video games a key component of her platform. Taxes on video games are going to be discussed. Brian Crecente

Federal Trade Commission NewsOffice of Public Affairs -Press Releasewww.ftc.gov
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20580 202-326-2180 opa@ftc.gov

FOR RELEASE: June 8, 2006

Makers of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Settle FTC Charges
FTC Alleged Companies' Game Content Claims Deceptive

The companies behind the popular Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas video game have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they failed to disclose important information about the game's content to consumers. According to the FTC, the companies, in advertising the Entertainment Software Rating Board ("ESRB") rating for the game, did not tell consumers that the game discs contained potentially viewable nude female characters and a potentially playable sex mini-game. Although San Andreas players could not access or view this sexual content during normal game play, sophisticated players posted a program on the Internet, dubbed "Hot Coffee," that revealed this content on the PC version of the game. PlayStation 2 and Xbox players eventually were able to access the Hot Coffee content by modifying or adding an accessory to their game consoles, installing special software, and inputting "cheat codes" developed by third parties. These developments led to a more restrictive rating by the ESRB.
"Parents have the right to rely on the accuracy of the entertainment rating system," said Lydia Parnes, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "We allege that Take-Two and Rockstar's actions undermined the industry's own rating system and deceived consumers. This is a matter of serious concern to the Commission, and if they violate this order, they can be heavily fined."

The ESRB originally rated the game's three versions, for PlayStation 2, PC, and Xbox, as "M" for Mature, with the accompanying content descriptors of Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, and Use of Drugs. According to the ESRB, video games rated "M" contain content that may be appropriate for those aged 17 and older. The rating information, including the rating symbol and content descriptors, appeared in print, television, and retailer ads for the game, and on game packaging for all three versions, including the claims "MATURE 17+" and "CONTENT RATED BY ESRB."
-more-

The ESRB re-rated San Andreas as AO ("Adults Only"). Games rated AO, according to the ESRB, have content that should only be played by persons 18 and older. As a result of the re-rating, many national retailers pulled the game from their shelves.

Under the terms of an agreement with the ESRB, the companies released a patch that, if downloaded and installed on the game, disables the "Hot Coffee" program; the patch is available for download at http://www.nomorehotcoffee.com. The companies also agreed to re-label or recall all existing inventory. According to the game's publisher, Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., the company incurred $24.5 million in costs associated with returns of San Andreas stemming from the re-rating. The companies subsequently published a second, M-rated edition of San Andreas without the nude images and mini-game content.

The companies that developed and marketed San Andreas, Take-Two and Rockstar Games, Inc., are both headquartered in New York City. The FTC's complaint charges that the companies violated the FTC Act by representing that San Andreas had been rated "Mature" and assigned certain content descriptors by the ESRB, but failing to disclose to consumers that the game discs contained unused, but potentially viewable, nude female images and disabled, but potentially playable, software code for a sexually explicit mini-game that the ESRB had not rated.

The proposed consent agreement with the FTC requires Take-Two and Rockstar Games to clearly and prominently disclose on product packaging and in any promotion or advertisement for electronic games, content relevant to the rating, unless that content had been disclosed sufficiently in prior submissions to the rating authority. In addition, the companies cannot misrepresent the rating or content descriptors for an electronic game. Finally, the companies must establish, implement, and maintain a comprehensive system reasonably designed to ensure that all content in an electronic game is considered and reviewed in preparing submissions to a rating authority. Once the order becomes final, the companies will be subject to civil penalties of up to $11,000 per violation if they violate the order. The companies will be subject to compliance reporting requirements to ensure that they meet the terms of the order.

The Commission vote to accept the proposed consent agreement was 5-0. The FTC will publish an announcement regarding the agreement in the Federal Register shortly. The agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days, beginning today and continuing through July 10, after which the Commission will decide whether to make it final. Comments should be addressed to the FTC, Office of the Secretary, Room H-135, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. The FTC is requesting that any comment filed in paper form be sent by courier or overnight service, if possible, because U.S. postal mail in the Washington area and at the Commission is subject to delay due to heightened security precautions.

Copies of the complaint, proposed consent agreement, and an analysis of the agreement to aid in public comment are available from the FTC's Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC's Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. The FTC works for the consumer tovprevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish (bilingual counselors are available to take complaints), or to get free information on any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/complaint.htm. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to thousands of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

-3-

Sure she explains the current system, but then she quickly points to a Harvard University study which she says shows that "even Teen-rated games have lots of violence—90 percent reward players for injuring or killing characters. The same research shows that most Mature-rated games (81 percent of them) include content that is not labeled."

So instead of relying on the ESRB ratings, she says you should check out the "independent ratings" of Common Sense Media by, you guessed it, the frothing and idiotic National Institute of Media and the Family.

In Clinton's defense, she does go on to say that all of the next-gen systems will have very robust family settings.

Senator Clinton Releases Media Guide For Parents

With a decision by the FTC looming, you can expect a return to the full-on hysterical coverage of the game by mainstream and industry press alike.

While I can't imagine Take-Two will suffer more than a slap on the wrist, the bigger picture implications of this decision could be quite frightening. If, for instance, the FTC decides that Take-Two was deceptive they can't help but also lay some major blame on the Electronic Software Ratings Board.

Sure, the reasoning will likely go, Take-Two bent/broke the rules, but why didn't the ratings board catch them? And that would play straight into the hands of Hillary Clinton, who last year called out the ESRB's rating system, saying it was broken.

Coincidentally, as we speak congress, languid in the stifling heat of a Washingtonian summer, is ambling its way through a congressional hearing on video games and ratings.

This, readers, is what you call the makings of a perfect storm. A storm that no amount of wining and dining can stop. Brian Crecente

Well, if the CDC can provide the link between video games and violent behaviors, then the courts that have been striking down state legislature left and right over the last year will have the link they've been looking for and the face of game legislation will change. Currently, when state X tries to enact some kind of law it eventually gets overturned by the courts - if the CDC shows a link that may no longer bet the case.

Clinton, Lieberman propose CDC investigate games [GameSpot]

The AP s Matt Slagle looks back at the year in games in a story that ran today on the wires. He writes that the high and lowlights of the year includes GTA s Hot Coffee, VG laws, the PSP, Xbox 360 and Gizmondo.

His favorite games were Nintendogs, Resident Evil 4, Shadow of the Colossus, Psychonauts, Indigo Prophecy.

The Matrix Online and NARC were the only two that made his bad list.

Finally he touched on just two game movies: Alone in the Dark and Doom.

While this does touch on some of the outliers of the year, I don t think it really gives a good sense of what the year was about.

Besides not mentioning either the PS3 or the Revolution, he forgot all about epic games like God of War and complete pieces of crap like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

What would make your list as the most important gaming moments and titles of the year?

I was chagrined to see that John B Thompson was allowed to pen an article for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram over the weekend. I was disappointed to see that one of the top Texas papers gave him the space, and even more so since I started out my career as a journalist at the Startlegram more than a decade ago.

What's really perplexing is that he was able to get into the opinion section since he's not from the area and doesn't have any local ties. Sure, he's written a crappy book, but that's only the requirement to work there. LOL, just kidding, I love the FWST.

I'll provide a link, but it's not really worth visiting. As usual, he is pedantic and idiotic. Look for this crap to run in other papers as well. I'm guessing he or his publicist (probably John B himself) have hit up all the major papers along with a copy of his book and some paper's just can't resist free copy.

I just hope the paper allows some thoughtful game writer to respond in the same space. Sorta a point-counter point with Johnny playing Jane.

What kind of game is Hillary Clinton playing? [Fort Worth Star-Telegram]

The latest schism was sparked by the Computer Game Report Card, released Wednesday by NIMF. In the press release, which calls for a junking of the Entertainment Software Rating Board s rating system, NIMF went ahead and said that the PTA was onboard with the idea of trashing the system.

The PTA says not only is that not true, but that the National PTA doesn t endorse NIMF s report and does not agree with the reports characterization of ESRB and its rating system."

National PTA works with groups like the ESRB to provide information about the rating system to assist parents and children so they can make an informed decision in purchase and game play. National PTA continues to ensure parents are informed and retailers enforce the rules.

So, in fact, the PTA seems to support the ESRB rating system.
First NIMF distances itself from John Thompson, then the PTA distances itself from NIMF. I love a fractured enemy.

In case we haven't linked to Gamepolitics enough today, things just took a turn for the worse. Senators Joseph Lieberman and Hillary Clinton have taken "bad ideas" to the highest level of the land and announced the birth of "The Family Entertainment Protection Act." This bill, to be introduced at the Federal level, will prohibit the sale of adult-themed games to minors. A full description of the bill, straight from Clinton's press team, is after the jump.

Clinton & Lieberman Annouce Game Legislation [Gamepolitics]

Summary of the Family Entertainment Protection Act

Video game content is getting more and more violent and sexually explicit, yet young people are able to purchase these games with relative ease. In its 2005, 10th Annual MediaWise Video and Computer Game Report Card, The National Institute on Media and the Family found that retailers were more lenient in their selling practices this year compared to last. Boys as young as nine were able to purchase Mature-rated games 42 percent of the time. At the same time, a majority of parents are feeling increasingly victimized by a culture of violence that makes it difficult to protect their children against influences they find to be inappropriate. This bill would help empower parents by putting them back in the driver's seat. It would ensure that children can't buy games the video game industry itself has determined to be inappropriate for them.

I. Prohibition on Selling Mature and Adults Only video games to minors

The centerpiece of this bill is a prohibition against any business for selling or renting a Mature, Adults-Only, or Ratings Pending game to a person who is younger than seventeen. This provision is not aimed at punishing retailers who act in good faith to enforce the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) system. That's why retailers would have an affirmative defense if they were shown an identification they believed to be valid or have a system in place to display and enforce the ESRB system. Similar prohibitions have become law in the last several months in California, Michigan, and Illinois.

II. Annual Analysis of the Ratings System

Since the bill relies on the video game industry to continue rating the appropriateness of games for minors, this bill requires an annual, independent analysis of game ratings. This analysis will help ensure that the ESRB ratings system accurately reflects the content in each game and that the ratings system does not change significantly over time.

III. Authority for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to Investigate Misleading Ratings

Part of the genesis of this bill was the revelation that the makers of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas had included, through embedded code that was discovered and made accessible to the public, sexually explicit content inconsistent with the game's Mature rating. This bill requires the FTC to conduct an investigation to determine whether what happened with GTA: San Andreas is a pervasive problem. It also includes a Sense of Congress that the Commission shall take appropriate action if it determines that there is a pervasive problem.

IV. Authority to Register Complaints

This bill requires the Bureau of Consumer Protection (BCP) of the FTC to ensure that consumers can file complaints if they find content to be misleading or deceptive and requires the BCP to report on the number of such complaints to Congress.

V. Annual Retailer Audit

This bill authorizes the FTC to conduct an annual, random audit of retailers - sometimes referred to as a secret shopper survey to determine how easy it is for young people to purchase Mature and Adults Only video games and report the findings to Congress.

I just broke a story for the Rocky Mountain News about an eyebrow-raising fundraiser being put on for Sen. Hillary Clinton. ESA president Doug Lowenstein and Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive of Music for Electronic Arts, are co-hosting the intimate $1,000-a-plate affair to raise money for the Friends of Hillary Clinton.

Ironically, the Sept. 14 breakfast at a D.C hotel comes two months to the day after Clinton took the video game industry to task for "stealing the innocence of our children" and called for a federal investigation into the discovery of hidden sex in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

It sounds like the industry is finally starting to lobby in a painfully awkward and ham-fisted kinda way.

Video-game execs playing up to Clinton [Rocky Mountain News]

What do you need to attach to your NES to attract your local Metro SWAT unit to your house?

I wrote earlier this week about the grandma who decided to sue Rockstar after discovering dry-humping mixed in with GTA s deliciously violent content in the game she bought for her 14-year-old grandson.

It turns out she s not the only person seeking a class action against Rockstar.

Take-Two Software notified the SEC today that they have received two virtually identical complains filed by the same law firm for purported class actions against the company and Rockstar.
Both were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and allege that the companies engaged in consumer deception, fraud and false advertising in it s marketing of GTA: San Andreas.

The suits seek unspecified damages.

The company writes that they believe the complains are without merit and that they intened to seek dismissals.

All this circus needs now is a few elephants and a car packed with clowns. On second thought, the attorney s have already gotten involved.

I know what I'm stuffing my suitcase with for my trip to Australia late this year: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

The country's office of Film and Literature Classification has stripped the game of its rating, meaning it can no longer be rented, sold or thought about Down Under.

Anyone who sells or rents the game has to remove it from shelves immediately. The game did have an MA15+ rating, the highest possible in Oz. I find it a bit strange that despite the fact that the average age of a gamer is 29, Australia's highest rating is for games appropriate for 16 year olds.

Australia Bans GTA: San Andreas [Gamasutra]

No, this isn t a joke.

Florence Cohen, 85, is seeking unspecified damages on behalf of herself and consumers nationwide.

According to the suit Cohen bought the game for her son knowing it was rated Mature, but apparently decided it was no longer appropriate for him when the ESRB bumped the minimum age from 17 to 18, because one fucking year makes all the difference in the world.

I think Rockstar should sue Cohen for being a bad parent. I think Congress should hold a hearing about Cohen and her flagrant disregard of a rating system that says the game isn t appropriate for her underage grandchild. I think. Sen. Hillary Clinton needs to introduce a bill and that the House needs to pass a resolution. I think CNN and ABC and CBS and NBC and yes, even the W fucking B needs to spend countless hours picking over Cohen s childrearing skills.

What I really think is that someone needs to knock on Cohen s front door and ask her at what point did our nation s ability to parent get replaced by a subcommittee and frivolous lawsuits?

Grandmother Sues Maker of Grand Theft Auto [MSNBC]

Thank god there's at least one smart gamer who knows how to write out there.

Steven Johnson, author of Everything Bad Is Good For You: How Today's Popular Culture is Making Us Smarter has an open letter to Senator Hillary Clinton in the LA Times today.

If this intro doesn't get you to read the whole thing, nothing will:

Dear Sen. Clinton

I'm writing to commend you for calling for a $90-million study on the effects of video games on children, and in particular the courageous stand you have taken in recent weeks against the notorious "Grand Theft Auto" series.

I'd like to draw your attention to another game whose nonstop violence and hostility has captured the attention of millions of kids a game that instills aggressive thoughts in the minds of its players, some of whom have gone on to commit real-world acts of violence and sexual assault after playing.

I'm talking, of course, about high school football.

Excellent eeeeeexcellent.

Hillary Vs. The Xbox: Game Over [LA Times]

You may remember Brownback as the right wing Republican who along with Rock Santorum and Hillary Clinton tried to launch a $90 million investigation into the effects of video games on children.

I wonder if Brownback could be using the latest controversy to drag that puppy back into the limelight

I ve been told that the Senator will be sending out a press release in the next day spelling out the details. I m not sure if his office was aware, when I got the message, that the FTC had launched an official investigation into the marketing of Grand Theft Auto, so this could be dated info.

I m expecting a press release tonight or in the morning, so stay tuned.

UPDATE
Here's the official press release:

WASHINGTON U.S. Senator Sam Brownback yesterday introduced a resolution calling on the Federal Trade Commission to conduct an investigation of Rockstar Games, maker of the popular video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The manufacturer may have deceived the Entertainment Software Ratings Board to avoid an Adults Only rating for the game.

It would be inexcusable for any maker of video games to intentionally deceive the ratings board, Brownback said. Inserting pornographic content into any video game used by teenagers or even younger children is unacceptable, and pretending it got there by mistake is even more egregious.

Grand Theft Auto has already been a lightning rod for controversy because it rewards players for committing crimes and acts of gratuitous violence. The game has sold more than 5 million copies in the United States.

Rockstar Games recently admitted that the latest installment of the game includes embedded pornographic content that, it says, was never meant to be seen by players. Initially, the company had denied responsibility, accusing hackers of inserting explicit sex scenes into the game.

After the discovery of the embedded pornographic content, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board immediately stripped the game of its previous Mature rating and required that it be labeled Adults Only. Mainstream stores removed the game from their shelves.

Brownback also recently commissioned a separate study by an independent rater of video games, PSVratings Data Corporation, which documents that the current rating system is seriously flawed. Many games currently rated Mature have content as graphic or more graphic than the Grand Theft Auto game.

Brownback continued, Parents should be able to depend on the ratings of the ESRB to help them learn which games are acceptable for their sons and daughters. This incident only shows the increased need for careful examination of the content of video games, and for a system that is clear for parents to understand.

Brownback continues to consult with the FTC about ways to encourage the Ratings Board to make video game ratings more representative of the games content.

Neither Sen. Hillary Clinton's request nor the House resolution that passed Monday night have the force of law to require the FTC to launch an investigation, but it certainly would have an impact on any decision. Afterall, Congress does make the laws.

FTC spokeswoman Claudia Bourne Farrell said an investigation would only be made public after its conclusion and only then if a law enforcement action were taken. She added that the FTC would be able to confirm any statements made by Take-Two to the SEC about an investigation.

We take the GTA situation very seriously, as we do the House of Representatives' request.

Although Bourne Farrell would not comment directly on the possibility of a Take-Two investigation, she said if the FTC, which has authority over unfair and deceptive acts and practices that could effect commerce, were to find wrongdoing in an investigation they have the ability to require a defendant to "give up their ill-gotten gains."

I have calls into both Rockstar and Take-Two.

Within an hour of the announcement I was already receiving reports of stores like GameStop and Wal-Mart pulling copies of the game.

Here's the full statement from the IEMA:

The ESRB (Entertainment Software Ratings Board) notified us late this afternoon Eastern Time that they have revoked the "Mature" rating previously issued Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas following an extensive investigation.

Our members intend to immediately cease all sales of the game until existing inventory can either be re-stickered with an AO (Adults Only) rating, or exchanged for new versions of the game that has the hidden content removed and the original M (Mature 17+) rating intact.

Though not a policy, IEMA members generally do not carry AO-rated games any differently than we do not carry X-rated videos or DVDs, thus it is likely that our members will be removing all copies of the current version and re-stocking with the updated version.

We understand that several non-IEMA retail companies intend to continue selling the current version, so we would refer all media inquiries to those respective corporations.