Update: GamePolitics has reminded us that the NIMF has indeed accepted donations from the games industry this year. This may go some way towards explaining their deviance from historically held values in this report. However, we gave the NIMF the benefit of the doubt, and have investigated the situation further. Read more here.
Original Story: As we dedicated gamers boldly step into the holiday season, our featherweight pocketbooks cowering in fear before the mountain of new games to play, the only question we need to ask ourselves is "Which first?"
But for parents, awash in a sea of doubt and heresay spawned by video game studies, the question is not necessarily when, but if they should buy games for their children at all; and after that, which games might be appropriate.
For the past thirteen years, some such parents have turned to the MediaWise Video Game Report Card, created by a non-profit organization with no major game industry contributions called the National Institute for Media and the Family. In prior years, this document was half video game rating guide, half industry critique. This year, things are slightly different; readers will obtain a wealth of information on the greater role of games in society to boot.
But is MediaWise representing us gamers fairly in front of the nation's parents? We take an in-depth look at the issues and trends addressed in NIMF's report -- and assign a few grades of our own.
Care to read along? You can download the entire report in PDF form here, or read online here.
Coverage of the Expansion of the Gaming Audience: A
You and I have known for years now that gaming was going mainstream -- and family-friendly at that -- but for those individuals who still believe video games are all variations on Counter-Strike and WoW played by shut-in teens, this document will set them straight. Citing studies that show the demographics have expanded and that gaming is a social activity -- "75 percent of video gamers play with other people," one pull quote reads -- the report further hints that game systems might even be the right choice for their own household as a part of their home entertainment center.
All three of the major consoles offer users access to the Internet for online play as well as general browsing, and both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 include a high definition DVD player.
Unbiased towards any one console, the description goes on to mention the Nintendo Wii's role in active gaming, and how all three consoles have parental controls akin to the V-Chip.
Coverage of M-Rated Games: A+
A wholly unbiased take on M-rated games, the report matter-of-factly mentions that M-rated titles are top sellers, happen to be played by the underaged, and are receiving equal or greater media attention these days than top movies -- and then explain that all this isn't just because such games contain sensational content, but also because developers focus their artistic attention there.
Players appreciate the complex story lines, intricately crafted worlds and compelling characters and also are eager for the shocking images and amoral themes.
Top marks.
Coverage of Games and the Economy: C+
Though NIMF paints a great picture of the video game industry's internal staying power in the current U.S. recession, highlighting trends such as the continued software sales strength (26% higher through Q3 2008) and the increased attention financial news sources, large online companies and even political candidates (Barack Obama) are paying the industry, there's no sense of how important games are to the U.S. economy, or the role they play in the larger global market.
The report touches briefly on the convergence of movies and games, citing the horrible Max Payne and competent Star Wars: The Force Unleashed as opposing examples, but fails to explain other convergent media like comics and online games, and doesn't mention the growing trend towards merchandising games akin to other big-budget media.
Coverage of Exergaming, Edutainment: B
The report covers a wide variety of ways games can be used to better oneself, primarily mentioning exergames like Yourself Fitness, Dance Dance Revolution and of course the Wii Fit (which they note may surpass GTA IV in sales) and Wii Sports. However, they also cover Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking, the existence of the 2008 Games for Health Conference, school-related games like Dimension M and Aspyr's futureU, and even the proposed Allstate Insurance discount for game-playing drivers.
So why only a B? Claims that "the Wii is transforming the console landscape." Though NIMF acknowledges that exercise peripherals have been around for a while, they neglect to explain what has historically happened to such peripherals, and what some claim is happening to the Wii as well -- they get stuffed behind the couch. Sales do not equal use, and though the NIMF claims that the Wii "requires active rather than sedentary participation," any gamer who's used the system for an extended period of time will tell you that's not the case.
There's all no mention of the global trend towards non-gaming that can be traced back to Japan's Nintendo DS -- even though the likes of Brain Age, Wii Music, Personal Trainer: Cooking and the KORG DS-10 have all made it to our shores.
Coverage of Industry Attempts at Self-Censorship/Parent Education: C-
The report does a fairly good job here of explaining the various options available to parents looking to safely purchase games for children, notably citing exactly which retailers the FTC's secret shopper survey found best enforced the ESRB rating system (GameStop, Wal-Mart and Best Buy turned away 80% of underaged games who tried to buy an M-rated game) and those who didn't (Hollywood Video and Circuit City only turned away 60%).
But it seems that the NIMF plays a little too much into the industry's hands this year. Where historically they have taken measures of whether parents actually understand acknowledge and understand the ESRB ratings, this year there are none; where historically the NIMF has taken the ESRB to task for having an seemingly arbirary Adults Only (AO) rating they do not use, this year they fail to do so.
Even as they admit that the likes of Hollywood Video and Circuit City have only 60% compliance ratings, the report's pull quote boldly touts an overall 80%; and rather than than note that one out of five underaged gamers still manages to obtain M-rated titlesdespite store policy, the NIMF seems to be perfectly happy with what all and sundry have achieved. On the NIMF's grading scale, 80% is apparently a B+.
Call to Action: B
Starting in 2006, the MediaWise began focusing on parental education in addition to industry criticism -- now, it seems the shift towards parental responsibility is all but complete. Whether or not that is appropriate, I leave open for debate... but the NIMF does ask that parents take that extra step and become involved in their children's gaming, and I see few (except perhaps the teens whose lives will thus be invaded) complaining about that.
Particularly useful is the NIMF's attempt to inform parents about recent trends they may not realize require their supervision, including the rise of cell phone games (which do not carry a rating), downloadable games (a la Beer Pong, but mostly those on PC download sites), online predators in MMOs, and the concept of online gaming addiction... but we'll get to that later.
However, we give the MediaWise report a B for providing parents with the idea that the company Emotiv is a pioneer with the ability to reshape the face of video games. "With the invention of the Emotiv EPOC headset, gamers will be able to control a video game using only their thoughts," the report reads, but discerning gamers will know that Emotiv is neither the first nor the only company who has developed a biofeedback headset for gaming.
To be fair, the MediaWise report does take an fairly even-handed approach to video game violence research, citing each individual study with the names of its authors, providing sample sizes and even warning parents that prior correlation-based studies on video game agression have not found causation (i.e. though kids who play games might have heightened aggression, it's hard to say whether kids play games because they are aggressive to begin with, or whether the games made them that way).
However, given that statistical causation can also be derived from a third factor (despite the researcher's seeming observation that one of either aggression or the violent games "came first"), and that it doesn't even take a seasoned journalist -- let alone a PH.D -- to determine that game studies can be twisted in any way researchers (or more likely, their PR teams) see fit, we wonder if it is entirely fair for the NIMF to conclude that several recent longitudinal studies "provide strong evidence that violent video game play does influence later aggressive behaviors," when determining whether to advise parents against violent games.
As Federal Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner famously noted, "To shield children right up to the age of 18 from exposure to violent descriptions and images would not only be quixotic, but deforming; it would leave them unequipped to cope with the world as we know it."
However, the tack that the NIMF researcher takes towards the other subject of recent scientific scrutiny -- game addiction -- is most welcome.
It is also important to note that although these studies often focus on one of these media—either Internet or video games—we expect that as the research evidence grows about the underlying issues, we will fnd that they are not different in any way other than medium of choice. In other words, all media probably can be used for addictive behavior.
Unbiased and friendly, the 2008 MediaWise Parent's Guide included with the report card is practically perfect. Filled with tips and guidelines that encourage supervision and parental involvement rather over game restriction, it includes a miniature glossary of important game terms, the full ESRB rating system, consise step-by-step instructions on how to enable parental controls in each console and Windows Vista, and important heads-up about how game modifications, sedentary activities, griefing and cyberbullying. There's certainly room for plenty more, and perhaps some links to online resources, but one could see a parent with little to no knowledge of the gaming world coming away with some decent ideas about how to deal.
When an organization that holds itself responsible for children's well-being creates a holiday gift guide, you might expect that it would filter for sex, violence and difficulty level. You might also expect that as prerequsite, before any of these other concerns are levied, it might also make sure the games are fun.
Year after year, this last has been rather lost on the NIMF. In 2007, they played their part in catapulting Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games to ten million copies sold.
This year, things aren't nearly so bad -- we hear Nancy Drewcan show gamers of all ages a good time, and LittleBigPlanet has met serious critical acclaim... but we see an unhealthy obsession with sports and music games, and the kid who wakes up with Hasbro Family Game Night or Rock Revolution under his tree is not going to be a happy camper.
What about Pure? What about Naruto? What about World of Goo? What about Ninjatown? There's plenty out there that can appeal to kids' adventurous spirits AND maintain basic standards of non-violence without limiting them to reflections of the real world -- the one that they'll be living in soon enough anyhow.
Conclusion: B
We love where the National Institute for Media and the Family is coming from -- well outside both the game industry and its critics' sphere of influence -- but we think that rather than try to understand and then mediate between arguments from both sides, they'd do well to have a look at the bigger worldwide picture... and pay a tad more attention to the games themselves.
Still, this is some solid work, and so, with some rather different suggestions for which games they might wish to gift me, I'll be passing along the MediaWise report to my own parents this Thanksgiving Day.
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December 1st, 2008 at 10:46 pm
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