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Parents in the game
June 5, 2009
The videogame industry's E3 Expo happens this year to coincide with Entertainment Ratings & Labeling Awareness Month, which is marking its fifth anniversary.
Sponsored by the Coalition of Entertainment Retail Trade Associations (including EMA, NARM and NATO), the purpose of ERLA month is to increase awareness and use of the music labeling and motion picture and video game rating systems by parents.
As you may recall, retailers have tangled -- and continue to tangle -- with local, state and federal regulators over entertainment content marketed to children and their enforcement (or lack thereof) of the voluntary ratings systems of each industry.
The Entertainment Software Assn., producer of E3, every year puts out a barrage of industry statistics also designed to show the responsibility of the game industry. This year, they tell us that the average videogamer is 35 years old, and that 45% of games published are rated E for Everyone.
In its 2009 "Essential Facts" report, ESA also vouches for the responsibility of parents, with statistics including the following:
* 92% of the time, parents are present at the time games are purchased or rented.
* 83% of the time children recieve their parents' permission before puchasing or renting a game.
* Parents report always or sometimes monitoring the games their children play 94% of the time.
* 77% of the parents believe that the parental controls available in all new video game consoles are useful.
* 79% of parents place time limits on game playing.
Videogame publishers (and movie studios, for that matter) and retailers are doing what they should be to assure that kids have access to appropriate entertainment. But at the end of the day, the responsibility for what kids watch and play has to fall to parents.
ESA's research shows that parents are stepping up to this duty. We all know that people say what they think they should say in surveys, at least as much as what's really true, however.
Let's call it positive news, if not perfect.
Posted by Marcy Magiera on June 5, 2009 | Comments (0)
