KEEPING AN EYE ON KIDS' PLAY

There are certain video games Bill Keesee wouldn't want his young daughter to play. He checks what the video game is rated and asks what its content is, and if it's what he calls evil, he won't buy it.

That's the parent in Keesee talking, but it also is how he runs his business. Keesee manages Newman Amusement Inc., which installs video games at area theaters and sports bars.

Keesee screens the video games he places for his clients.

Outside the home, Keesee says his most popular game is a golf game.

Sports games, including some karate games, are still popular, but Keesee said he won't place any satanic or evil games in this area.

For parents who want to know more about video game content, there's help. All of Keesee's video games are rated to tell users what types of content are on the game.

Besides services rating the video games at arcades and other venues, there are rating services for the home console and computer video game market, and most local stores take those ratings seriously.

Most stores selling video games offer parents the Entertainment Software Rating Board's pamphlet that describes its rating system.

The ESRB has six ratings: Early Childhood, Teen, Everyone, Mature, Adults Only and Rating Pending.

Babbage's Software assistant manager Cory Grojean said his store's biggest sellers are those with the Teen ratings, with the games with the Everyone ratings selling second best. He's not seen an Adults Only-rated video game, and Rating Pending video games are usually under review.

Blockbuster Videos carries only up to M-rated video games, as do most of the local stores.

Liz Greene, Blockbuster public relations director, said Blockbuster has a youth restricted viewing policy in which the store will not rent an R-rated movie or an M-rated video game to underage children unless their parents give permission.

Video games with a mature rating seem to cause the most concern among local store managers.

Target electronics manager Tim Martin said people younger than 17 will need a parent or adult with them to get an M-rated video game.

That's the norm at Babbage's, Toys R Us, Wal-Mart, Blockbuster and Hastings Your Entertainment Superstore.

Grojean said that after last spring's school shootings in Colorado, his store made a renewed effort not to sell M-rated games to people younger than 17.

Some local stores have refused, or said they would refuse, to sell the M-rated games to people younger than 17, without a parent's permission.

When someone tries to buy an M-rated game at Toys R Us, the cashier asks for an ID to determine the buyer's age, said Joni Seyer, store manager. Some buyers have been turned away because they were too young.

Other vendors said they're not sure if they have a legal right to deny the games to anyone.

Wal-Mart electronics manager Jim Bohnert said he will try his best to keep M-rated games out of the hands of young buyers, but added that ratings are guidelines for parents and are not law.

"For me personally," he said, "if a young person tries to buy a mature-rated video game, I will first ask if his parents are around. I'll certainly try not to sell it to him."

Ditto Target's Martin.

Sometimes grandparents come into Target and see the South Park video game and think the cartoon characters are cute, Martin said. After showing them the rating and the content description, it's up to them to decide if the game is appropriate.

"We're not trying to impose family values, but we want people to be aware of what's on some of those games," he said.

Even so, Bohnert fears legally he may have no recourse but to sell the young person the game.

While stores want to keep inappropriate material out of the hands of teen-agers, most stores would sell to the young person if a parent or adult gave permission.

Hastings manager Mollie Quinn said the store can't prevent a 13-year-old from renting a mature-rated video game if that teen is listed on his parents' store account.

At Blockbuster, members have to be 18, Greene said.

The ratings, she said, are to tell the parents of the game's content and to let the parents' decide if it is appropriate for their child.

There are two home, console and Internet video game rating systems: The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) and the Recreational Software Advisory Council (RSAC).

Both are independent rating services.

Martin, Grojean, Bohnert and Seyer counsel parents about the ratings, and some stores hand out the ESRB pamphlet.

History of Rating Systems

With the advent of the video game, "Mortal Kombat," back in 1993 and other video games with explicit violent content, parent groups complained. Their complaints made it all the way to the U.S. Senate, where hearings were held on the content of video games in 1994.

Democratic Sens. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Herb Kohl of Wisconsin led the effort for legislative action to regulate the content in video games.

From the hearings came the proposed Video Game Ratings Act of 1994, and the video game industry was given until the end of the year to come up with its own ratings system or the government would regulate it.

Both the ESRB and RSAC were developed as alternatives to government regulation.

In the end, the establishment of rating systems for video games came about because of parents upset with the violence and other content in video games.

Most local store managers are ready to help parents select the appropriate video games for their children.

But even with the ratings, the ultimate responsibility for a child buying a video game is the parent's.

The Rating Systems

ESRB icons inform consumers of the rating categories of video games and PC software. The symbols are located in the lower right or lower left corner on the front of the box.

Early childhood

Content suitable for persons age 3 and older

Everyone

Contents sutibable for persons age 6 and older.

Teens

Contents suitable for persons age 13 and older.

Mature

Contents suitable for persons age 17 and older

Adults only

Contents suitable for adults

Rating pending

Product has been submitted to the ESRB and is awaiting final rating.

INTERACTIVE RATINGS

ERSBI provides information on the appropriateness of a web site. The "i" denotes Web sites that contain chat rooms, bulletin boards multi-player games or space that can provide open forums. These ever-changing environments may or may not be acceptable for certain ages.

If an entire Web site is rates, the icon will appear on the home page of the Web site. If only a section is rated, the icon will appear on the first page of the section. If only an online game is rated, the rating will appear where the game is accessed.

WAYS TO CONTACT RATING SERVICES

ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board

Phone: (800) 771-ESRB (3772)

E-mail: info@esrb.org

Address: 845 3rd Ave., New York, NY 10022

RSAC (Recreational Software Advisory Council)

Phone: (617) 450-4300

Web site: www.rsac.org

AAMA (American Amusement Machine Association)

Web site: www.coin-op.org

Address: 450 E. Higgins Road, Suite 201, Elk Grove, Ill. 60007

VIDEO RATING SYSTEMS

Rating Systems

There are two home, console and Internet video game rating systems: the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) and the Recreational Software Advisory Council (RSAC).

Both are independent rating services.

ESRB

The ESRB, established in September 1994, rates computer and video games for content and appropriateness for a variety of age groups.

There are five rating categories: EC for early childhood for 3-year-olds and older; E for everyone for children 6 and older; T for teen for age 13 and older; M for mature for children 17 and older; and AO for adult only for people 18 and older. These labels are placed on the front of video games.

Besides the labels are "content descriptors," labels on the back of video game package that describes some of the content of the game. Some descriptors are "Mild Animated Violence," "Animated Blood," "Suggestive Themes" and "Strong Language."

Video game companies submit parts of their games to the ESRB, which has three trained "raters" review the content and decide the rating.

ESRBI

The ESRBI is an Internet ratings system for video games. There are two categories: Entertainment sites without interactive exchanges and Internet sites with interactive exchanges. The non-interactive games carry the ESRB symbols for content used for video games. The interactive games carry the "I" symbol at the end of the icon to denote the site is interactive and may contain chat rooms, bulletin boards and open forums. These sites may also allow users to change the content of the game or site. These symbols are found on the home page, Web site or interactive arena.

RSAC

The Recreational Software Advisory Council has five levels for four descriptions of video game content. Those ratings would then be put on the front of the video game much like a warning label on a food product.

The five levels include the least explicit violence, nudity, sex and language being Level 0 and to the most explicit in those categories being Level 4. Level 4 descriptors include rape, gratuitous violence, frontal nudity, sexual acts and vulgar language.

The RSAC is a voluntary rating system, in which the industry fills out questionnaires about its video games and submits the questionnaires to RSAC to be rated.

RSCAi

The RSACi is the RSAC Internet version of the rating system. It has been integrated into several Internet browsers.

AAMA

The American Amusement Machine Association has put out a color-coded rating system for arcade machines. The system consists of nine categories about the suitability of the machine's content for the player.

Red represents the more explicit and stronger versions of the content. Yellow represents the milder versions. The categories are Suitable for All Ages, Automated Violence Mild, Automated Violence Strong, Life-like Violence Mild, Life-like Violence Strong, Sexual Content Mild, Sexual Content Strong, Language Mild and Language Strong.

These ratings are on the more than 30 machines at Tilt, an arcade at the West Park Mall, arcade manager Julie Hamlet said. On the wall to the side of the arcade's counter is a copy of the AAMA's rating system and description of what each category means.