For the third consecutive year, Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy released her list of the top ten games that parents should avoid purchasing for their children this holiday season. Not surprisingly, every single game on this list is rated “M” for “Mature” which according to the Entertainment Software Rating Board (“ESRB”)means:
Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.
Telling parents not to buy their kids an “M” rated game is the equivalent of telling them not to take their child to an “R” rated movie; this should be common sense. Would you take your 9 year-old to see the movie Scarface? No. Then why would you ever think to buy him the game based on the film? While I 100% agree that most of these games should not be played by children, I that think the real solution is to create informed parents. Teaching parents about the ESRB and the various video game rankings is a far superior long-run initiative that has already proven successful in the movie industry. Sure, Ms. Worthy may receive a little less press and fewer hits to her website, but surely that’s not her motivation for compiling this list, right? I’m sure that making “Top 10″ lists is the normal business of all prosecutors in the great state of Michigan.
Here are the games that Ms. Worthy not-so-subtly implied are responsible for high crime rates among youth:
- Grand Theft Auto
- Manhunt
- Scarface
- 50 Cent Bulletproof
- 300 The Videogame
- The Godfather
- Killer-7
- Resident Evil 4
- God of War
- Hitman Blood Money
For more info see: GameRush Entertainment
Wired
The whole “parenting” thing seems to have been lost over the years. I mean really, why should a parent take any responsibility for what they buy for their kids?
Also, those are the worst games Worthy could come up with?
The problem with trying to create informed parents is that so far it isn’t working. I think some more could be done, but honestly, the ratings are 5 time the size of movie ratings and are on the front and back of the boxes in black and white. I think one thing that needs to be done is to break the stereotype of games. I think a large number of people out there still think that video games are all just toys for children, just like animated movies. I’ve seen stuff from Japan get pulled out of theaters because parents assumed that because it was animated, it was appropriate for children despite the rating of R or even NC17.