Groups Assail 'Most Violent' Video Games, Industry Rating System

By Richard Rainey

Nov. 24, 2004 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON —

A coalition of parent, church and women’s groups released a list Tuesday of what they considered the 10 most violent video games, warning parents about the inadequacies of the industry to regulate sales to children and teens.

As the holiday shopping season begins, the groups, which include the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility and Mothers Against Violence in America, singled out such recent releases as “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” and “Halo 2” for packaging excessive violence, racial profiling and brutality toward women in ways that could appeal to children.

“These are the type of values a serial killer could embrace, but should make the blood of parents and grandparents run cold,” said Sister Patricia Wolf, executive director of the Interfaith Center.

The list was announced the same day that the National Institute on Media and the Family, a nonprofit media watchdog group, released its ninth annual video game report card. Both the advocacy groups and the institute assailed the industry rating system and decried most parents’ unawareness of it.

“It’s giving a mixed message to parents,” Douglas Gentile, the institute’s research director, said of the ratings system. “It’s saying, ‘Look at the great rating system we have, but you don’t have to pay attention’ ” because there is no proof the games cause violent behavior.

Since 1994, the Entertainment Software Rating Board, a self-regulating arm of the video game industry, has put ratings on video game covers. With six categories from EC (early childhood) to AO (adults over 18), the ratings are determined by consensus.

The board uses classified ads and Internet job postings to recruit reviewers, most from the New York area. It pools their opinions and assigns the game a rating. In 2003, the board said, 57% of the games reviewed received a rating of E (for everyone), and none were rated AO.

“What’s confusing about the rating system?” asked Patricia Vance, president of the board. “Parents need to pay attention to the rating system; they need to use that as a guide.”

Under this system, “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” earned a rating of M -- meaning mature, “suitable for persons 17 and older.” Games with that rating are not to be sold to children, but that is widely ignored.

That game, released last month, drew strong criticism from the watchdog groups. Players adopt the persona of a small-time hoodlum and travel through a vivid world of gang violence, committing drive-by shootings and vehicular assault in an imaginary Los Angeles.

The “Grand Theft Auto” series has sold more than 32 million units since 2001, making it one of the hottest-selling franchises in video game history. “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City,” released in 2002, holds the record, selling more than 1.4 million copies in the first three days and netting about $70 million.

“Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” is expected to top that. Its creator, Rockstar Games, said the industry regulations were more than sufficient.

“The gaming rating system is a highly effective tool to inform and empower parents,” Rockstar spokesman Bill Linn said in an e-mail statement. “Grand Theft Auto,” he said, “is only intended for adults who can appreciate its mature themes.”

But the head of one of the advocacy groups dismissed the ratings system. “Corporate responsibility must mean more than meeting minimal rating standards, which presently serve the industry far more than they serve the consumer,” Martha Burk, chair of the National Council of Women’s Organizations, said in a statement.

When asked, none of the organizations’ representatives said they had played the games on their list, although a few said they had reviewed several of them.

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10 under the gun

The coalition’s list of violent games (in alphabetical order):

* “Doom 3” (Activision)

* “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” (Rockstar Games)

* “Gunslinger Girls, Vol. 2” (Media Works)

* “Half-Life 2” (Sierra)

* “Halo 2” (Microsoft Game Studios)

* “Hitman: Blood Money” (Eidos)

* “Manhunt” (Rockstar Games)

* “Mortal Kombat: Deception” (Midway)

* “Postal 2” (Whiptail Interactive)