The scores for "Retailers' Enforcement" are pretty ass-backwards, in my experience. I kinda look like I could be 16 or 17 (but am actually 19), and I can waltz into Best Buy or CompUSA and buy any game I want without the clerks even making eye contact with me, because they'd be holding up the line. On the other hand, if I go to EBGames or Funcoland, I get asked for ID whenever I buy an M game.

Also, I find it rather humorous that "Parental Involvement" has no score yet.. judging by the amount of legislation our elected officials think games need, I'd expect a D or F.

Whoops, should have checked the next story first! Sorry GP!

Oh brother. You can tell this is a cheap ass attempt by the NIMF to save their credibilty they threw away with the clear anti-game bias in their last report card. Why do you think the category "Ratings Accuracy" isn't mentioned? Most likely it's for two PR reasons:
1: The whole "Hot Coffee" outcry has pretty much come to a complete end, so they won't look as credible using it as an example as they did last year.
2: So that parents groups like the PTA-which slammed them on the last report card-may consider taking them seriously by not doing what they have clearly been doing for a long time: Slamming game ratings for not following their arbitary moral standards and because of their blatant double-standard concerning violence and sex in games.

Another possibility is that they truly have realized that a huge segment of the U.S. population (at least 60 million, I believe?) plays games. This may have convinced them that if they want recognition in the mainstream, they need to attract support-or at least tolerance-from many gamers. As such, they may be trying the stop throwning out misinformation about games and the people who play them. If you piss of such a large percentage of the public, your credibilty tends to suffer.

Admittingly, a lot of what I said is speculation. Still, I wouldn't accept them with open arms just because they SAY they have reevaluated their position on games. What we should do is pay attention to what they say and do in the future.

Honestly, who didn't see this coming?

Halo 3 rox my sox!!1!

[...] Every year the National Institute of Media and Family (NIMF) produces the “Annual Video Game Report Card”. This report is often cited each year by political candidates in the issue of violence in video games and how we are protecting our children. The 27-page document was released today at an event attended by Senators Joseph Lieberman and Amy Klobuchar. To cut to the chase, the overall rating given was a “C”. It seems odd that they would get a “C”, given that last year’s report seemed to be pretty positive (though no overall grade was given last year). Granted, this has been a year of controversy. Whereas last year’s ESRB swift reaction to the Hot Cofee mod in GTA was applauded by the industry, the Manhunt 2 controversy clearly set a different tone for this year’s reaction. David Walsh, who penned the report, firmly states …While the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has continued to educate the public about its video game rating system, several shocking incidents have inadvertently revealed dangerous loopholes in the ratings process. Simply put, some of the hard-won progress seen in previous years has been lost, and now, too many children are spending too much time playing inappropriate video games that can harm their health and development. [...]