Video Games Promote Racist Thoughts & Behavior, Study Of White Gamers Suggests

[NuclearDem]

80. It's enforced as best as it can be.

People buying M rated games are carded at places like GameStop, and age verification is required on PSN and Xbox Live to purchase games through them (I don't know about places like Steam or GOG).

Kids are always going to find some way to get their hands on games that are too mature for them--they'll pirate them, have an older sibling buy it for them, or parents won't bother with the ESRB system and buy whatever games their kids want. ESRB can only do so much; it's a ratings system that does what it can to educate players and parents on the content (which it does very well if you've read its content summaries on its website), but it can't force parents to make smart decisions.

Games have to change, and in a big way, they are starting to police themselves and respond to the feedback of the gaming community. A lot of gamers and professional reviewers are getting fed up with misogyny and racism in their games and are getting equally fed up with mindless violence that serves no purpose in the narrative. As bad is it might be, games like Doom and Duke Nukem would be far less welcome if they had been released now than back in the 90s.

Unless laws regulating purchase of M rated games to minors akin to tobacco and alcohol are put in place, the ratings system and judgement of merchants and distribution companies are going to have to work, and parents have to do their part in doing their research before buying games.