Stores keep minors from 'mature' video games
Attorney General asks retailers to perform ID checks when selling graphic games
By Dee-Ann Durbin
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
Office supply chain Staples and computer retailer CompUSA will no longer sell violent or sexually explicit video games to Michigan children under 17, Attorney General Jennifer Granholm’s office said Monday.
Staples and Dallas-based CompUSA responded to pressure from Granholm to stop selling children video games rated “Mature.” Video game ratings are determined by the independent Entertainment Software Rating Board.
Gary Cribb, who is the senior vice president of Staples’ Midwest division, said Staples employees in Michigan are now required to ask for identification if a customer who looks younger than 25 is trying to buy a “Mature” game.
Staples also will post signs in its stores explaining the video game rating system. The company, which is based in Framingham, Mass., operates 31 stores in Michigan.
“We appreciate Attorney General Granholm bringing this important issue to our attention,” Cribb said in a news release.
In November, Granholm sent children between the ages of 9 and 13 into 35 Michigan stores operated by 12 major retailers, including Toys R Us and Kmart. The children were able to buy “Mature”-rated video games in 31 of the stores tested.
The games they bought included “Kingpin,” in which characters swear repeatedly and chunks of bloody flesh fly through the air when the player shoots someone.
At the time, Granholm praised Target and Babbages, which didn’t sell to the children, and Sears and Montgomery Ward department stores, which do not sell “Mature” video games at all.
Toys R Us told Granholm it already had a policy that should have prevented the sales, while Kmart, Wal-Mart, Meijer and OfficeMax promised to make changes in their policies.
Gent said Granholm has never heard a response from Best Buy or Circuit City.
“I hope that Michigan consumers will exercise the power of their pocketbooks to support those retailers who’ve pledged to be part of the solution to youth violence,” Granholm said.
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