From the Editors of Common Sense Media

June 21, 2007

Two new games coming from Rockstar video -- Grand Theft Auto IV (rating pending) and Manhunt 2 (rated AO, "Adults Only," for "prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity") -- are SO not for teenagers, in any way. They pair gore and sex graphically, violently, and gruesomely. Nintendo and Sony have refused to have the games available for their systems due to corporate policies against AO ratings. And Manhunt 2's the gratuitous violence has also led to it being banned in both Britain and Ireland -- the first such action in 10 years.

We urge parents to both heed the ESRB ratings and drill more deeply into the content of these games by reading our reviews when the games are released later this summer. These are not casual ratings. And the ESRB is to be commended for its AO rating (one of only 23 given so far, out of 13,460 titles). Now it just needs to stick to its guns as the appeal process ensues -- and an appeal is inevitable, given that an AO rating virtually guarantees that chain stores like Wal-Mart won't carry the game.

In a letter to ESRB President Pat Vance, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood urged her to stand by the AO rating, citing a reviewer for IGN.com who called Manhunt 2 the goriest, most violent game he's ever seen. Players can saw their enemies' skulls in half with a saw, mutilate them with an axe, castrate them with a pair of pliers, or kill them by bashing their head "into an electrical box, where raw power surges through it and eventually blows his head apart.".

In the meantime, GTA IV has a new trailer coming out June 28. Your kids will be able to see it on game sites and call it up with a simple Google search. Although the game isn't officially rated yet, we're sure it won't stray from earlier M-rated installments. (And, remember, a study found that 42% of purchasers were able to buy M-rated games without an adult present.) Anything that pairs graphic sex and violence shouldn't be played by kids who don't yet have the perspective and experience to understand what they're doing, as well as the social and developmental implications of those actions. It only gets worse when physical movement is involved in hitting, kicking, throwing, or shooting -- as is the case with many new interactive consoles.

Parents: Like the age-bracket creep in movies -- i.e. kids now see content in PG-13 movies that's the equivalent of stuff that would have earned an R rating 15 years ago -- games are also on the move. And this time, it's literal. New console play turns the thumb jockey into a brutal killer which commits the player more deeply emotionally and morally. This isn't a gamer; it's your child. Don't let him or her play these titles.

Go to Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood for more information about what you can do.