Regulate violent, sexy video games, Canadians say in Decima Research survey

The vast majority of Canadians say video games should be regulated by the government to warn users about violence and sexual content they could contain, according to a new survey conducted by Decima Research Inc. for Canadian NEW MEDIA. In a national telephone survey of more than 2,000 Canadian adults over the age of 18, 59% of respondents indicated that they "strongly agree" and 24% "agree" with the statement: "The government should regulate video game content by requiring that games be rated measuring such things as violence and sexual content." These results are particularly interesting in light of the fact that the survey also shows that Canadian adults say they are monitoring the game playing of youngsters in their household. Only 25% of respondents - most of whom are likely parents - say they don’t monitor youngsters’ activities, while 73% say they keep an eye on what youth are playing. In fact, support for government regulation of video games was higher among those who monitor (88%) compared to those who do not (78%). This may suggest two lines of thought among adults: 1) either they know what is at youngsters' disposal and this has convinced them that there is a need for regulation, or 2) adults do not want to be the sole parties responsible for screening the games youth play. This may in fact be an acknowledgement that, although they can supervise youngsters some of the time, they cannot, or don’t want to, supervise them all the time. When specifically asked how much time they think those aged 17 and younger in their household spend playing video games in a given week, only 5% of respondents who have "gamers" at home say they don’t know how much time youngsters in their household spend in front of games and 16% say youth in their household don’t spend any time playing video games (which means those playing the video games in the household are over 17 years old). About 23% of respondents say those aged 17 and younger in their household spend one to two hours playing video games, 14% say three to four hours, and 42% say it’s at least five hours per week. Irrespective of whether or not there are "gamers" in the household, respondents who have people aged 17 and younger in the household are generally more supportive of government regulation by a margin of 86% versus 81% compared to respondents who do not have people 17 and younger in the household. Support for video game regulation is highest in the Atlantic provinces and British Columbia where a combined 85% of respondents agree with the statement, followed closely by 84% of Ontarians. This compares to 82% in Alberta, 79% support in Quebec, and 77% in Manitoba/Saskatchewan. Women are generally much more supportive of regulation compared to men. In fact, fully 68% of women "strongly agree" compared to 48% among men. As well, respondents between the ages of 18 and 24 are much less likely to agree with regulation. Whereas "strong" support averaged about 60% among respondents over 24 years of age, it only reached 45% among those between 18 and 24. The numbers could be a deciding factor as Canadian film regulators continue to grapple with the need for regulation. The Manitoba government announced April 22 that it will introduce legislation this spring forcing video games to carry a rating, with the sale and rental of restricted games prohibited. Earlier this winter, the Ontario Film Review Board rated Manhunt, a PlayStation 2 game, as restricted so that it couldn’t be sold, rented or distributed to anyone under 18 in the province. In 2001, British Columbia passed its Video Games Act that also restricts the sale of some games. Controversy arose over B.C.’s proposed regulations that would have made the age threshold 18. As a result of a change in government, however, the province eventually decided on Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) standard ratings, the industry standard, to classify games (CNM, Nov. 29/01). ESRB uses 17 as the threshold for mature-rated games. Survey results show that online or Internet games are played by 21% of Canadian households. Across other platforms, 19% of households say they play games on a Sony PlayStation, 10% indicate they play games on a Microsoft Xbox, 9% say they play on a Nintendo Game Boy, 10% indicate they play games on a Nintendo GameCube, and fully 30% of households say they play other types of games on a standard computer. Although 83% of Canadian households support government regulation, fully 46% of Canadian households claim nobody in their household actually plays video games. It is likely that there are a number of households that, despite not having any "gamers" in their homes, are nonetheless aware of video games available to youth. They are likely forming their opinions based on what they experience through friends and family and through mass media such as television commercials. Furthermore, there is probably a contingent of Canadians who would support this concept on principle, even though they have never seen a modern video game. While the provinces have begun taking action on regulating games, online games will likely still pose a problem. While film boards would be able to restrict the sale of physical games, it is unlikely that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission would step in to regulate online games. Delivered by Internet, the games would be considered a form of broadcasting exempted by the 1999 New Media Exemption Order policy. There are few indications that the policy will be reviewed anytime soon to begin regulating online content (CNM, April 16/04). The survey was conducted between April 10 and 21 through the Decima teleVox, a national omnibus telephone survey conducted monthly by Decima Research. Results of the survey are based on a sample of 2,027 adult Canadians and are accurate to within +/- 2.2%, 19 times out of 20. Rick Nadeau is a VP in the Ottawa office of Decima Research. For more information on the survey or to purchase a Summary Report of the research results, including the research data tables, please contact Decima Publishing President and Publisher Mario Mota at (613) 230-1984 or mmota@decima.com.

Regulate violent, sexy video games, Canadians say in Decima Research survey

Broadcast | April 30, 2004

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