By RAY REYES | The Tampa Tribune
Published: March 11, 2011
TAMPA - The first level in the wildly popular video game "Call of Duty: Black Ops" requires players to storm a fortress, mow down guards with a barrage of machine-gun fire, then assassinate Fidel Castro as he holds a scantily clad woman hostage.
Michael Evdemon, 11, wants to play the mature-rated game. His mother, Laura Evdemon, won't let him.
He mentions "Call of Duty" every day. His friends are playing it and he feels left out, he tells his mother. Michael, a history buff, talks about the game's Cold War-era setting. He mentions an option to turn off the blood and gore.
And if he's not old enough to play the game at age 11, he argues, he will be next year when he's 12, right?
"Or at least 14 or 15," Michael said. "I think I'll be mature then."
Not a chance, his mom says.
"He's really, really trying to negotiate these mature-rated games," Laura Evdemon said. "It's a challenge, but I've absolutely put my foot down."
Welcome to video wars, where the real-life battle is kids vs. parents, not gamers vs. bad guys.
Parents are finding it increasingly difficult to select games with content appropriate for children and monitor their kids' playing habits.
Today's high-tech home gaming consoles pump out graphics that realistically depict blood and gore. Violent shooting games have skyrocketed in popularity, and it's become the norm for gamers to meet others online and play against them.
Melissa Ryan of Tampa said she was not expecting to monitor the video game habits of her son, Michael, so closely.
"How did we ever get involved in this level of negotiation?" Ryan said. "We're already overwhelmed with monitoring what kids do."
Evdemon said she's thankful for the ratings system. She scrutinizes every game her son wants to play, checking the rating and its accompanying description for blood, sexual content, drug use and profanity.
"We rent a lot of games first," she said. "If it's offensive, we won't keep it in our library."
* * * * *
Ratings are assigned by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, a self-regulating body of the $10 billion-a-year video game industry. The board approves ratings for about 1,800 games a year and ensures advertisers market games to the audience the titles were rated for, president Patricia Vance said.
Games rated T, or Teen, have content appropriate for age 13 and older and contain what the ratings board describes as minimal blood, suggestive themes and violence.
Titles rated M, or Mature, are recommended for age 17 and older and contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and strong language.
The ratings are voluntary for retailers; there are no citations or fines if retailers break the rules. But this year, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide if selling mature-rated games to minors should be penalized by law. In California, if a mature game is sold to a child, the penalty is a $1,000 fine.
About 87 percent of parents are aware of the ratings and 75 percent check the ratings before making a purchase, according to a study by the ratings board.
Michael Evdemon said classmates with parents who let them play "Call of Duty," or have watched older siblings who do, tell him how awesome the game is.
"They're like, 'Michael, get this game. It's fun,'" he said. "And I'm like, 'Dude, how many times do I have to tell you I can't get those games?'"
Here's how the Entertainment Software Ratings Board describes "Call of Duty: Black Ops," which has raked in $1 billion in sales since its release in November:
"Players use a wide variety of weapons such as pistols, rifles, machine guns, and explosives to injure/kill enemies. Combat can generate pools of blood and dismembered limbs. Players can use enemy bodies as human shields and execute them at close range. In one sequence, broken glass is placed into the mouth of a man while he is repeatedly punched, causing blood to spill from his mouth."
A spokeswoman for Activision-Blizzard, the publisher of the "Call of Duty" franchise, did not respond to requests for comment.
"Call of Duty" and other popular M-rated franchises such as "Halo" and "Assassin's Creed" aren't allowed in Evdemon's and Ryan's homes, but the mothers know their sons could play the games at a friend's house, away from their supervision.
Ryan said she calls the parents of her son's friends and tells them he's not allowed to watch or play games with adult-oriented content.
"I was very grateful they supported that," Ryan said. "But I'm a bit surprised how many kids his age are playing that game."
Ryan said her son had visited a friend's house and saw an older child playing "Call of Duty." Michael Ryan told his mother the intense violence made him uncomfortable.
"You just have to communicate with your child," Ryan said. "You have to tell them no and tell them why."
* * * * *
Violent video games can increase children's aggression, according to the American Psychological Association. But the results of various studies "keep on changing as the games change and the platforms change," said Henry Shapiro, a developmental behavioral pediatrician at All Children's Hospital.
"There's heightened aggression in the short term," Shapiro said. Violent games will have more impact on children who already have anger, aggressive feelings or are predisposed or attracted to violence, he said.
"I don't know whether playing a video game by itself can tip you over, especially when you're oversaturated with other media," Shapiro said. "But it does interfere with other activities kids could be doing."
The key for parents is moderation, the doctor said.
"Leisure time and entertainment has its place, but like everything, it has to be used wisely," he said. "Do you want your kid to be programmed just as a consumer? It's something you have to set time limits on. Some families have a hard time getting there. If a kid reacts so violently to you setting a time limit, there's probably a bigger issue there."
Hype and advertising contribute more to children wanting to play mature titles than the thrill of breaking rules and going against the rating system itself, said Rick Hall, who teaches video game programming and design at the University of Central Florida.
"For kids, the rating system is an impediment," said Hall, who worked in the gaming industry for 15 years before joining UCF's Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy. "It's more for the parents. And it's a pretty stringent ratings system."
Lost amid the marketing blitz of violent games such as "Call of Duty," "Halo: Reach" and "Battlefield: Bad Company 2" is that titles rated for all ages, such as "Super Mario Galaxy 2" and "Donkey Kong Country Returns," dominate sales charts as well, said Vance, the ratings board president.
Hall said a small number of games are rated mature or adult-only.
"Eighty-two percent of games are rated teen or below," he said. "Violent games appeal to a niche group."
Shane Temple-Butcher, the owner of R.U. Game on Fowler Avenue, said when a parent brings a mature-rated game to the register, he asks whether they know what they're buying.
He said he refuses to sell an M-rated game to a minor unless the parent or guardian buys the game and is aware of the rating and content.
"Some parents will say, 'Oh, he sees it on TV all the time anyway,'" the video game seller said. "It's all on the parents."
About 80 percent of retailers across the nation deny sales of mature-rated games to minors, according to a 10-year study by the Federal Trade Commission.
But the ultimate form of regulation should come from parents, Vance said.
Evdemon and Ryan said they schedule nights for the family to play board games and other activities. The mothers said they limit their sons' time to play video games and use the computer to about two hours a day, especially closer to the weekend.
Games, computers and other similar pastimes should be presented as privileges or rewards for children attaining success in real world endeavors, Shapiro, the pediatrician, said.
Evdemon said she makes sure her son understands that concept.
"We talk about that a lot, how it's a privilege," she said. "When he misbehaves, computers and video games are the first things to go."
And if her son tries to sneak violent games past her?
"He knows he's not allowed," she said. "I have to trust him."
Ratings are assigned by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, a self-regulating body of the $10-billion-a-year video game industry. Introduced in 1994, the ratings are designed to provide information about content in computer and video games to consumers, especially parents.
Rating symbols are found on front of a game's packaging. Descriptors, which include intense violence, drug use, language and sexual content, are found on the back of a game's box.
EC, Early Childhood: Content suitable for age 3 and older. Contains no material that parents would find inappropriate or offensive.
E, Everyone: Games suitable for age 6 and older. Games in this category may contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language.
E10+, Everyone 10+: Games suitable for age 10 and older. Titles in this category may contain more cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes.
T, Teen: Games suitable for age 13 and older. Titles may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling and/or infrequent use of strong language.
M, Mature: Suitable for age 17 and older. Titles may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.
AO, Adults Only: Games that should only be played by people age 18 and older. Titles may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.
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