This may seem a bit late since the decision regarding rated M video games has already come and gone, the subject at hand is still very relevant and is long from being done.
I also bring this up as a gamer myself who was not very happy at the light that video games were being thrown under. People wanted to make it seem that all video games were ultra violent and that all of them are negatively influencing children more than violent movies, TV shows, or any other media outlet available. Though when I looked up the percentage of games created in 2010 that had a rating of M, I was surprised to find it was only 5% where rated E (which is family friendly) made up 55% of the games that were made. (Source:http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/15/esrb-breakdowns-say-5-percent-of-games-were-rated-m-in-2010) Also, when looking at the top 10 best selling video games of 2010, there was a 5-4 split between games that were either rated E or T (both are friendly for children) and rated M. (Source:http://www.cnbc.com/id/37616179/The_Best_Selling_Video_Games_of_2010?slide=11)
Part of the argument brought against video games was that the games in question should not be seen by minors and should be treated like porn and be put off in another section of the store. This really rubbed me the wrong way. I am certainly old enough to buy rated M games, so if this was to ever happen it would not apply to me, but the fact that this singled out video games is what I saw as wrong. Porn movies are certainly put in a different section of any store that may sell them, but magazines like Playboy are out in the open for all to see. I am aware of the fact that these magazines are blacked out except for the title. Now this works just fine with small children, well some depending on what they have or have not been exposed to, but when it comes to any child or teenager that is 10 or older, it is very easy to fill in the blanks mentally. This is also true when you see previews for upcoming movies with how they cut off a sentence right before the actor says the cuss word, or when a woman begins to strip down and the screen either goes black or goes to another scene right before anything that would need to be censored in that preview can be seen.
The biggest thing I like to stress is that this lands on the parents to make sure they are aware of what their kids are playing. As someone who has worked in Gamestop, it never ceases to surprise me when I see a parent that just buys a game that is gory or just flat out not for someone at that age. A great example occurs whenever a child brings me a copy of any Grand Theft Auto game and I say how I cannot sell it to them since they are under 17 and therefore against the law for me to sell the game to them. The child goes and gets their parent and I, by law and rule of Gamestop, explain what makes the game rated M. Very rarely does this cause a parent say that they no longer want the game, what usually happens is they just appear to be "listening" and as soon as I finish talking they say "it's fine" or "they can play it, it's not that bad." I'm sorry, but no 12 year old should play Grand Theft Auto or Mortal Kombat, especially since the ESRB lists everything in the game that gives the game the rating it has. But as long as parents give consent, there is nothing that can be done to keep extremely violent games from minors. Even if this law somehow made it, there would still be parents giving consent for these types of games.
So in the end, all I want to make clear is that the parents need to do their job and keep games away from their kids that are not meant for their age. And for those of us that are old enough to get these games, please don't do like what people do for alcohol and tobacco and get these games just to give them to minors.
And remember, Don't Panic, and never forget your towel.
