Teenagers looking to buy M-rated games are having a more difficult time obtaining them, according to the results of a new study released today by the Federal Trade Commission.
The study found that while 20% of teenage shoppers (aged 13-16) were able to buy M-rated games, the number is down 42% from two years ago and a major improvement. Furthermore, nearly half of the shoppers were still able to obtain R-rated movies and PAL music CDs.
Breaking it down by retailer, GameStop had the best percentage turning down 94% of the shoppers, with Best Buy and Wal-Mart rejecting 80% of them. The retailers also had different results for the other forms of media:
For example, while Best Buy rejected 80% of underage buyers of video games, it turned away underage shoppers for PAL music only 47% of the time, R-rated movie DVDs only 38% of the time, and Unrated movie DVDs only 17% of the time. Similarly, Target refused to sell M-rated games to underage buyers 71% of the time, but refused sales of PAL music only 40% of the time, R-rated movie DVDs only 35% of the time, and Unrated movie DVDs in only 23% of the cases.
Undercover Shoppers Find it’s Increasingly Difficult for Children to Buy M-Rated Games - [Link]
Tags: adult, adults, best buy, improvement, m-rated games, ratings, teenagers, wal-mart
