nimf

ESRB Responds to NIMF, Makes Alphabet Soup

1:45PM Brian Crecente | The National Institute on Media and the Family officially released their Video Game Report Card today, the one we leaked yesterday. No surprises there, but today Patricia Vance, head of the Entertainment Software Rating Board, responded to their not so wonderful “grade” in the report. In a nutshell she says that the NIMF folks totally misunderstood the whole Manhunt 2 fiasco and that their “study” on parental awareness of video game ratings contradicts what the Federal Trade Commission found earlier this year. Bottom line, the ESRB rating system is an effective and reliable resource for parents. We will continue to provide ratings that, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation , are considered by parents to be the most useful among media rating systems for movies, music, TV and games. Full release after the jump. More »

Game Industry Gets a C from NIMF

11:46AM Brian Crecente | As we reported earlier tonight, a copy of the National Institute on Media and the Family’s annual Media Wise Video Game Report Card leaked to us a day early shows that the video game industry is being given a mediocre C by the institute this year round for both “pushing the edge of the envelope in creativity and storytelling” and finding “creative new ways to market adult games on kids”. The ESRB ratings meanwhile, will be awarded a C+ mostly because of the “Manhunt 2 rating debacle”. Included in the report card were a number of recommendations including the same universal ratings system that Hilary Clinton has been talking up for years now: More »

Media and the Family Gives Thumb Up to Game Promoted by Naked Women

11:46AM Brian Crecente | Each year the helplessly out of touch National Institute for Media and the Family puts together a very brief buying guide for parents, hoping to help them steer clear of games that the institute sees as some sort of threat to family values and toward more wholesome games. This year’s guide recommends games like Need For Speed: Pro Street last seen being promoted by naked Page 3 girls and 1990’s classic Super Mario Bros. 3. Go NIMF: Parent Alert! Games to Avoid for your Children and Teens Assassin’s Creed M Call to Duty 4 M Conan M The Darkness M Jericho M Kane & Lynch: Dead Men M Manhunt 2 M Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles M Stranglehold M Time Shift M MediaWise Recommended Games for Children and Teens FIFA Soccer 08 E Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock T Hannah Montana: Spotlight World Tour E Madden NFL 08 E Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games E Need for Speed Pro Street E+10 The Sims 2: Castaway T Super Mario Bros. 3 E Super Mario Galaxy E Viva Pinta E More »

Leaked: NIMF’s Video Game Report Card

11:01AM Brian Crecente | I have now, sitting on my laptop, a leaked copy of the National Institute on Media and the Family’s annual Media Wise Video Game Report Card, set to be officially released tomorrow. The annual report card is becoming increasingly out-dated and unnecessary, something that probably explains the desperate tone of this year’s report. In his executive summary for the report, David Walsh tries to drum up a little fear, a little attention by first admitting that things have actually gotten quite good when it comes to ratings awareness and enforcement, but then hints at an “ominous backslide on multiple fronts”. What’s interesting is that the summary cites very specific examples for the positive, such as Target removing Manhunt 2 from shelves after finding AO content was viewable with a hack, or that GameStop has started firing people for selling M-rated games to minors, but doesn’t really do the same for the negative. Instead Walsh writes that “Complacency, especially on the part of retailers and parents, appears to have caused a backslide in ratings awareness and enforcement.” Walsh continues: And, at the same time, while the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has continued to educate the public about its video game rating system, several shocking incidents have inadvertently revealed dangerous loopholes in the ratings process. Simply put, some of the hard-won progress seen in previous years has been lost, and now, too many children are spending too much time playing inappropriate video games that can harm their health and development. His only example, the fact that a few churches were using Halo as a way to attract young gamers back to the church. It is in from this morass of self-doubt and shaky evidence that NIMF launches their detailed “report card” on gaming this year. More »