2006 Video Game Report Card Released

The National Institude on Media and the Family has released its 11th Annual MediaWise Video Game Report Card, grading the video games industry on various areas of performance related to informing parents of content in games and ensuring sale of games is kept to the audiences indicated by games' ESRB content ratings. The industry scored significantly better than it did last year, earning a B in Ratings Education (up from C+) and a B in Retailer Policies (unchanged). Large scale retailers got an A for their enforcement of ESRB ratings, up from a general rating of D- last year, but gaming speciality stores went down to an F; those ratings were derived from sting operations conducted by NIMF, in which no large retailers permitted purchase of M-rated games by minors but approximately half of gaming retailers did. Console manufacturers were also given a general rating of A, for across the board support of parental controls in the three new current-gen systems. The NIMF also released its customary lists of the ten games of 2006 it finds most objectionable for kids and teens, as well as its ten recommended games. The "Parent Alert!" list consists of games such as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, Scarface: The World is Yours, Reservoir Dogs, Dead Rising, and Saints Row. The recommended list includes games such as LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, LocoRoco, Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, and Madden NFL 07. Other topics covered in this year's report include video game addiction, with NIMF noting that South Korea now operates more than 40 game addiction programs to treat the growing problem; childhood obesity, which the organization relates to increased media use; and a mention of the first National Summit on Video Games, Youth and Public Policy, which was attended by NIMF members, ESRB and game industry representatives, and public health officials