"Ten years ago, a kid 10 years old could walk into any store in America and buy an ultra-violent, adult-rated game. That's no longer true," Walsh said of the 13-year-old NIMF's chief legacy. It was founded in the days of mainstream panic over titles like Duke Nukem and Doom, but industry types credit Walsh's leadership for having proportionate reactions to legitimate parental concerns, rather than exploiting them.

"Were it not for those collaborative efforts by all sides, it's questionable whether there would have been a non-legislative resolution," Hal Halpin, the president the Entertainment Consumers Association, told the AP. NIMF was very influential in the creation of the ESRB's rating system, which helped stave off government interest in regulating content.

Although Walsh expressed shock at watching 10-year-olds play games in which they dismembered their foes, he always maintained that he never endorsed censorship. And while NIMF was a critical actor in the "Hot Coffee" controversy that exposed sex scenes in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - leading to its brief AO classification and resulting loss of sales - NIMF's report cards weren't dedicated to blaming games for everything. Parents fared worse than game makers and retailers in the group's 2008 report card, the last it will produce.

Unfortunately, this final quote, by author Steven L. Kent, will likely prove true: "I think the game industry will look back and pine for the days when their top opposing voice had as much self-restraint as Dr. Walsh had."

Video Game Watchdog Shuts Down, Victim of Economy [Associated Press on Yahoo! News]

The closure is apparently tied to the end of funding from a primary NIMF source, Fairview Health Services, which had committed $750,000 annually to the Institute. WCCO-TV of Minneapolis reported that Fairview Health Services knew back in the summer that, in light of the current economy, "We can't continue," supporting NIMF.

NIMF was known for its annual Video Game Report Card, released around this time of year. The 2008 report gave an A grade to the ESRB, for its new game rating summaries; a B+ to retailers, for following rating and sales policies, and an "incomplete" to parents for not availing themselves of parental controls or closely following what their kids play.

While NIMF occasionally blasted the odd violent video game here or there, at least it wasn't part of the tinhorn orchestra that obligated the ESRB and retailers to do all the parenting by themselves. Game Politics notes that the Entertainment Software Association gave NIMF a $50,000 grant last year.

In a statement, NIMF said it hopes to continue its programs and research through other non-profit organizations.

NIMF to Close at Year End [Game Politics]

While the report issued an "A" to the ESRB for their new rating summaries and a "B+" to retailers for following rating policies, parents were issued an "Incomplete" grade due to them not familiarizing themselves with ratings, utilizing built-in parental controls, or basically giving a damn what their children do on the video game box as long as it lets them enjoy their gin and tonic in peace. Back when I was in high school, and "Incomplete" grade really meant that you had failed, but the teacher was afraid of you.

Interestingly enough, the official press release closes with a warning about video game addiction, citing that a growing number of experts consider compulsive gaming to be a real problem. I just don't know who to listen to anymore.

Report Credits Gaming Industry for Efforts, Tells Parents to Step-Up

National Media Organization’s 13th Annual Video Game Report Card Finds Gaming a Larger Part of Family Life, Parents Need New Tools

Minneapolis — Released today, the National Institute on Media and the Family’s 13th Annual MediaWise® Video Game Report Card highlighted the growing trend of gaming in family life, improvements made by retailers to keep inappropriate games out of children’s hands and efforts made by the gaming industry to tackle childhood obesity and academic achievement.

“For 13 years, the National Institute on Media and the Family has been asking the video game industry and retailers to take responsibility to keep mature-rated video games away from kids,” said Dr. David Walsh, president and founder of the National Institute on Media and the Family. “This year the industry has improved its ratings enforcement and given parents new tools when choosing the right video game for their child. That’s a significant step in the right direction.”

The report card showcased a recent Federal Trade Commission report that found only 20 percent of kids who tried to purchase M-rated (mature) games from retailers were successful. This shows improvement from 2003, when 55 percent were able to buy M-rated games. In addition to retailers’ efforts, the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) recently launched online rating summaries that give parents additional information, available on a mobile-phone-friendly Web site, explaining why the game received the rating.

The report issued this year’s grades to parents, retailers and the ESRB for ratings enforcement and education and graded the video game industry’s parental controls and marketing tactics. The grades include:

“Incomplete” for parental involvement as too many parents are not using information like game ratings, parental controls and screen time limits provided by retailers and console makers; “A” for the ESRB’s ratings and its new ratings summaries; and “B+” for retailer policies, as an 80 percent enforcement rate shows significant progress with some room for improvement.

“Now that we parents have the information and tools we need we have to step up and do our jobs. There are still too many kids playing M rated games and too many kids playing for too long. That’s why this year’s report card assigns a grade of ‘Incomplete’ to parents,” continued Walsh.

To help parents, this year’s report card features a Parent’s Guide to Video Games along with the annual list of recommended games for kids as well as games to avoid.

“Video games have become a staple in most American households as games like Wii Fit, Guitar Hero World Tour and Hasbro Family Game Night replace traditional board games and family movie nights,” continued Dr. Walsh. “But too much video game playing can lead to an unhealthy lifestyle and can be a contributing factor to childhood obesity and sliding school grades, and, in some cases, may cause video game addiction.”

Excessive, compulsive video game play bears all the hallmarks of an addiction. A growing number of addiction experts consider compulsive gaming as a real problem. In fact, there have been calls for the American Psychiatric Association to add video game addiction to the list of official mental disorders.

About the National Institute on Media and the Family
The National Institute on Media and the Family is an independent non-partisan, non-sectarian, nonprofit organization. The Institute’s mission is to maximize the benefits and minimize the harm of media on the health and development of children and families. For more information, visit www.mediawise.org.

The National Institute on Media and the Family officially released their Video Game Report Card today, the one we leaked yesterday. No surprises there, but today Patricia Vance, head of the Entertainment Software Rating Board, responded to their not so wonderful "grade" in the report.

In a nutshell she says that the NIMF folks totally misunderstood the whole Manhunt 2 fiasco and that their "study" on parental awareness of video game ratings contradicts what the Federal Trade Commission found earlier this year.

Bottom line, the ESRB rating system is an effective and reliable resource for parents. We will continue to provide ratings that, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation , are considered by parents to be the most useful among media rating systems for movies, music, TV and games.

Full release after the jump.

"The ESRB and NIMF share the common goal of providing parents and caregivers with reliable information so they can make informed decisions when it comes to the games they choose for their families. We appreciate their praise of the effectiveness of ESRB ratings as a tool for parents as well as our ongoing efforts to educate consumers about the ratings. However, in many significant ways, this year's NIMF Report Card contradicts recent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) findings related to parents' awareness, use and satisfaction with ESRB ratings, as well as retailer support of the ratings. In addition, NIMF exhibits a significant lack of understanding of and, as a result, grossly misrepresents the facts surrounding last month's hack into pirated versions of Manhunt 2, a game rated for ages 17 and older that carried prominent and explicit warnings to consumers about its violent content. At a time of year when parents are looking for helpful guidance about video games, this year's Report Card does little more than sow unwarranted doubt about effective tools like ESRB ratings.

The FTC's report to Congress earlier this year called the ESRB rating system "a useful and informative tool that parents increasingly use to help them make informed decisions about games for their children." Its nationwide survey of over 1,300 parents showed that nearly nine in ten parents with children that play video games are satisfied with the ESRB rating system, three in four use it regularly, 94% find the ratings easy to understand, and 59% never let their children play Mature-rated games. The most recent FTC mystery shopper research concluded that "substantial" progress continues to be made by retailers to enforce their store policies regarding the sale or rental of M-rated games to those under 17, matching that of theatres' restrictions of admittance to R-rated films and far exceeding that for the sale of R-rated DVDs.

Bottom line, the ESRB rating system is an effective and reliable resource for parents. We will continue to provide ratings that, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation , are considered by parents to be the most useful among media rating systems for movies, music, TV and games."

As we reported earlier tonight, a copy of the National Institute on Media and the Family's annual Media Wise Video Game Report Card leaked to us a day early shows that the video game industry is being given a mediocre C by the institute this year round for both "pushing the edge of the envelope in creativity and storytelling" and finding "creative new ways to market adult games on kids". The ESRB ratings meanwhile, will be awarded a C+ mostly because of the "Manhunt 2 rating debacle."

Included in the report card were a number of recommendations including the same universal ratings system that Hilary Clinton has been talking up for years now:

• A universal ratings system is needed now, more than ever, to increase ratings knowledge and reduce confusion. A majority of parents favor one rating system for all media.
• The ESRB should issue its rating based on the game's entire content, blurred or unblurred, locked or unlocked. Game makers should only disclose when such content exists in the code, but should provide footage of the blocked or blurred code along with the footage they provide of easily accessible code.
• Retailers must return to the level of compliance of which they have proven in the past they are capable.
• Retailers need to educate their employees, especially the younger ones, concerning the importance of enforcing the ratings.
• Parents need to become better educated about the ratings and then make use of them. Parents also need to learn about and use the parental controls offered by the new console systems.
• Libraries, schools, churches and other pubic institutions should follow the game's rating and only allow games appropriate for the age of the youth. By promoting M rated games, they are undercutting the ESRB's rating system and undermining parental credibility and authority.

Kind of a bag of empty recommendations if you ask me. They really need to be a little more specific than "increase compliance." Come on, if you don't think the current system works explain how to fix it.

Each year the helplessly out of touch National Institute for Media and the Family puts together a very brief buying guide for parents, hoping to help them steer clear of games that the institute sees as some sort of threat to family values and toward more wholesome games. This year's guide recommends games like Need For Speed: Pro Street last seen being promoted by naked Page 3 girls and 1990's classic Super Mario Bros. 3. Go NIMF:

Parent Alert! Games to Avoid for your Children and Teens
Assassin's Creed M
Call to Duty 4 M
Conan M
The Darkness M
Jericho M
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men M
Manhunt 2 M
Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles M
Stranglehold M
Time Shift M

MediaWise Recommended Games for Children and Teens
FIFA Soccer 08 E
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock T
Hannah Montana: Spotlight World Tour E
Madden NFL 08 E
Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games E
Need for Speed Pro Street E+10
The Sims 2: Castaway T
Super Mario Bros. 3 E
Super Mario Galaxy E
Viva Pinta E

The findings from the NIMF report preview were similar to the Federal Trade Commission's report from earlier this year, showing that some 42% percent of underage buyers were able to get their hands on a Mature-rated game. That report showed a decrease from 69% from 2003, part of a downward trend, but clearly illustrative of a program that needs a great deal of improvement.

Violent, pro-drug games reportedly sold to minors [San Diego Union-Tribune - via Gamespot]

We know that most of you are on the edge of your seats for volunteer information. You can sign up here. Honestly, this retail sting has always seemed like the most legitimate and worthwhile action of the entire Video Game Report Card, so we wish them the best of luck busing the bad guys.
NIMF Soliciting Secret VG Shoppers... [gamepolitics]

Senator Joe Lieberman and NILF founder David Walsh presented the 11th Annual MediaWise Video Game Report Card today. The report card grades how well retailers and parents work towards making sure their kids are playing the right games. Retailers and console developers got the big thumbs up this year. Guess who didn't.

"While improvements have been made by the video game industry and retailers, parental involvement received an "Incomplete" as surveys showed too few parents following the ESRB's [Entertainment Software Ratings Board] ratings and parental controls on gaming consoles."

This is proof that the failing lies with adults who either don't know or don't care what their children play, at least until they start shooting other children. Then it's time to sue a game developer. Crecente needn't be concerned over the NIMF's game watch list. It's not like parents are going to read it. Michael Fahey

Lieberman Targets Video Game Industry [NewsMax.com - Thanks Hank]

I was just watching CNN when a short report on the National Institute on Media and the Family's annual video game report card hit.

Each year NIMF releases a list of games that parent's should avoid buying for their kids. They also release a MediaWise list. As much as I hate their often deceptive press releases, I think the concept of putting out a list of games that aren't particularly child friendly is a good idea. Too bad someone hasn't come up with some sort of system that could look at games and in some way give them a score of some sort, perhaps a rating that in some way described the content found in that game. It could sort of be like the movie rating system, but perhaps have more descriptors and a greater break-down between ratings. Yeah, too bad no ones done that.

Hit the jump for the two lists and more of me being a smart-ass. Brian Crecente

Parent Alert! Games to avoid for your children and teens

Gangs of London M
The Sopranos M
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories M
Reservoir Dogs M
Mortal Kombat: Unchained M
Scarface: The World is Yours M
The Godfather: Mob Wars M
Saints Row M
Dead Rising M
Just Cause M

Looking over this list of parental alert games, I see several that no one should buy just because they suck. So it's good they included them. What I don't get is how these particular games have been separated by the pack. I mean, if you're going to single out Dead Rising, why not F.E.A.R.? What about Resistance: Fall of Man or Gears of War? Shit, what about Bully?

I give this list a D- for its seemingly arbitrary attack of a handful of games that don't really stand out in violence and often wouldn't be purchased anyway because they are crap. (I'm talking about you Just Cause.)

MediaWise recommended games for children and teens

LEGO Star Wars II - The Original Trilogy E 10+
Mario Hoops 3 on 3 E
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz E
Roboblitz E 10+
Madden Football '07 E
LocoRoco E
Dance Factory E
Brain Age E
Nancy Drew: Danger by Design E
Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: The March of the Minis E

I like how this lists started, Lego SW2 just kicks ass. I like it so much I actually invented a word to describe in the Rocky Mountain News. I called it Faddictive. But Madden? That's all about smacking people into the ground, you can even deliver more powerful hits with that hit stick. And Roboblitz? Come on you can blow the shit out of stuff in that game. Don't robots have rights too? Then they throw a monkey wrench in their list, which has mostly decent games, by including Nancy Drew. Nancy Drew? Why not just throw in Barbie's Horse Adventures.

I give this list a D. While it included some good titles, the strange assortment of titles shows a general lack of knowledge of gaming and obvious disdain for the rights of robots.

Game Politics reports that the ESRB struck back against NIMF with a grading scale of their own. If you recall, the ESRB was given pretty poor marks by NIMF and they've returned the favor. The ESRB awarded failing grades to NIMF in each of their four categories and an overall score of F. The categories were; Full Disclosure of Pertinent Facts, Research and Analysis, Documentation and Presentation of Evidence and Working Well With Others.

It's a safe bet that Holiday cards won't be exchanged between the organizations.

Paybacks are a Bit Sharp ... ESRB Flunks NIMF [Gamepolitics]
ESRB Flunks National Institute for Media and the Family for its Disservice to Parents and their Children [ESRB]
ESRB Gets an F on Report Card

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.

The Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association and ESRB is none too pleased with the National Institute of Media and the Family s report card grade the game rating system received. (Was that enough acronyms for you?)

The industry received a D+ overall, though one could question NIMFs bias on this and the IEMA does.

Check the jump for the full statement:

We were pleased to hear that there was plenty of positive news regarding retailer ratings education and enforcement: 71% are educating the public about the ESRB rating system; 94% have a policy not to sell/rent M-rated games to persons under age 17. It is important to emphasize that the NIMF "secret shoppers" were turned down 56% of the time when they attempted to purchase M-rated games. This turn-down rate is a significant improvement since 2000, when
only 19% were turned down. This overall trend demonstrates strong and growing retailer commitment to video game rating enforcement, although clearly we are not yet where we want to be as an industry.

We were disappointed to learn that the NIMF continues to unevenly weight the results of their sting operations (judging the effectiveness of retailer enforcement stemming the sale of Mature-rated games to minors). The fact that they weight their conclusions by individual stores rather than by actual real-world market value is significant, both to the statistics as well as to the
practical realities of sales. Not weighting the data evenly by market share may well account for the NIMF sting results quite literally swinging wildly back and forth over the past five years.

We have repeatedly requested that the National Institute on Media and the Family disclose their methodology so that we may better understand how they cull their results and been denied year after year.

-Hal Halpin, pres., IEMA

NIMF, never one to be unbias, has also refused to communicate with the ESRB. The ratings board also released a statement saying that the NIMF research is flawed and ignores "any and all conflicting evidence."

The record should reflect the fact that after last year s Report Card we contacted NIMF so that we may better understand their criticism and work together, but no response was forthcoming. Their silence is an unmistakable indication that this is not about working cooperatively in the interests of video game consumers, but rather is about NIMF imposing its own narrow values and morality on the rest of the country, regardless that it has little evidence to show that parents agree with their point of view.

Download the ESRB's full statement here

IEMA [Official Site]