ILLINOIS ATTORNEY GENERAL CALLS ON RETAIL STORES TO HEED VIDEO GAME RATINGS WHEN SELLING TO MINORS

Do you know what your children are watching?

Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan has some concerns about video and computer games which depict violence and sexual themes, and urges major retailers to enforce an existing rating system and stop selling those games to minors.

Ryan made the request after learning that many of the "Mature" and "Adult Rated" games are being sold to minors in Illinois.

A statewide sting conducted recently by the Investigations Division of the Illinois Attorney General's office revealed that in 32 of 32 instances, children were able to buy the games, no questions asked.

Stings were conducted at a number of businesses Babbages, Best Buy, Circuit City, Sears, Shopko, K-Mart & Super K-Mart, K's Merchandise, Target and Wal-Mart at sites in Champaign, DuPage County, Quincy, Rockford, St. Clair County, Springfield and Carbondale.

Officially, there is no law which prohibits such sales, but Ryan is calling on retail stores which sell video games to follow the example set by the motion picture industry.

A ratings system is already in place, said Scott Mulford of the attorney general's office.

The attorney general's office is also looking into how to prevent minors from accessing violent games at video arcades and over the Internet.

Violence on television and in motion pictures is at least partially screened from minors throughout the industry with a rating systems that is usually enforced, said Mulford.

"The self restraint is not that evident when it comes to the sale of these ultraviolent video games," say Mulford and Ryan.

In letters sent out last week, Ryan called on retailers to follow movie theater's example and enforce an existing rating system that says "M" rated games are not recommended for children under 17.

"We all have an obligation to muffle the drumbeat of violence in our state and our nation," Ryan said. "It defies common sense that we would want these shockingly violent and interactive murder simulators' to flow freely into the hands and ultimately the minds of our young people."

Attorney General Ryan noted that recent testimony before the U.S. Senate indicated that more young people play video games as the products increase in sophistication and realism. M-rated games contain graphic depictions of killings and mayhem. To illustrate, Ryan, at the news conference, showed a 90-second sample of bloody and brutal scenes from two of the games bought by youngsters during the recent sting, conducted in seven sites throughout the state.

Ryan says he will work to devise a statewide information campaign to inform parents about violent video games and the rating system. According to an Illinois survey, most parents don't know a rating system exists for video games.

Ryan says his department plans to continue speaking out on the issue and might conduct future stings if compliance is not forthcoming. He also has instructed his staff to explore alternative enforcement strategies if the problem persists.

"My preference, however, is to work together as partners in reducing the avalanche of violent imagery that is bombarding the minds and spirits of our young people," Ryan said.

So far, no problems have been reported in Missouri.

"We have checked complaints turned into the Missouri Attorney General's office," said spokesman Scott Holste. "Selling Mature-rated video games are not among them."

A ratings code for video and computer games has been in place a half-dozen years.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ERSB), established in 1994 by the Interactive Digital Software Association.

The voluntary rating system, which was developed to give parents and consumer information about the content of video and computers games.

As of this year, the ESRB has rated more than 5,000 titles submitted by more than 300 publishers, making it the leading entertainment software rating system in the nation.

The system has been praised by the Consumer Federation of America, and by leading retailers such as Wal-Mart and Toys R' Us.

In fact, Toys R' Us had incorporated the ratings into their computers, including ones at the Cape Girardeau Store.

If the computer games shows it is for 17-over, the buyer is asked for an ID.

"We're pretty tough on this," said a local store spokesman.

The ESRB has five age-based ratings:

* The Early Childhood. These games contain material suitable for children ages three and older.

* Everyone, suitable for persons six and older. They may contain some comic mischief, or crude language.

* Teen, titles have content suitable for person 13-over. Some titles may contain violence, mild/strong language and/or some suggestive scenes.

* Mature. Titles are suitable for persons over 17 and over. These may include more intense violence or language than products in the Teen category. In addition, these titles may also include mature sexual themes.

* Adults Only. The titles are suitable only for adults. They may include graphic depictions of sex and/or violence. Adults Only product are not intended to be sold or rented person under the age of 18.

Ninety-three percent of the games rated by ESRB have a Teen or less rating. Only 7 percent have the M rating, and less than 1 percent have an AO rating.