FTC Determines "M"-Rated Games Harder For Underage Teenagers to Purchase
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission released the results of its undercover shopping investigation to see if movie, music and game ratings are being enforced by retailers, and found that "M"-rated games are increasingly difficult for underage children to purchase.
In 2006, the FTC found that 42% of teenage shoppers were able to purchase "M"-rated games, but this latest survey found only 20% of underage teenagers were able to purchase such games. By contrast, around half of underage teenage shoppers were able to purchase "R"-rated movies and music CDs with parental advisory labels. 35% of kids were able to purchase tickets to a movie with an "R"-rating. Clearly, the game industry is showing strong improvement and doing a better job than other industries of enforcing ratings.
The FTC broke down the success rate of its underage shoppers by store chain (keep in mind that not all chains experienced the same number of shoppers):
- Game Stop/EB Games: 6%
- Wal-Mart: 18%
- Best Buy: 20%
- Toys R Us: 27%
- Target: 29%
- Kmart: 31%
- Circuit City: 38%
- Hollywood Video: 40%
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