Clinton, Lieberman Team With ESRB
Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut said Thursday they were joining forces with the Entertainment Software Rating Board in order to launch a nationwide television campaign to educate parents about video game ratings.
Although neither Senator will appear in the advertisements, they both voiced their support for the initiative.
"We all share in the responsibility of making sure our children play age-appropriate video games, and I'm pleased that the ESRB and retailers are working together to educate parents about the video game ratings and make sure they are enforced," Clinton said.
Clinton and Lieberman are two of Congress' most vocal proponents for stricter policies surrounding violent video games, and introduced legislation last December to limit minors' access to games based on their ESRB rating.
Clinton was also one of the first legislators to speak out over the highly-publiclized "Hot Coffee" incident in the Take-Two Interactive Game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Like last year, supporters of the fight against violent video games have used the backdrop of the busy holiday shopping season in order to get their message out to as many consumers as possible. The ads would begin playing shortly on 800 stations across the country.
In addition, the ESRB plans to support the television initiative with a radio campaign as well.
In the advertisements, Best Buy president Brian Dunn and GameStop president Steve Morgan would appear. The two retailers account for a large majority of the games sold in this country, and both have policies to not sell mature rated games to those under 17 without parental consent.
According to the ESRB, a game rated mature "may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language."
The ratings system was created in 1994, and Lieberman was one of the biggest advocates of the system. Since then, he has continued to speak out on the topic of video game violence, and Thursday was no exception.
"I continue to be concerned about the impact on minors of playing violent video games intended for older players," he said. "There are many age-appropriate games that are clever and entertaining. Parents should understand and use the ratings to help them decide which video games to buy for their families."