“I think that Lara Croft does challenge traditional roles of female game characters, she doesn’t need rescue for example, in her games. But she also … has a large bust size and a very small waist, and she weighs practically nothing, and yet [she] can flip and jump and run in ways that anyone with that body proportion wouldn’t be able to maneuver. And this body type doesn’t even exist in the real world.”
NINA HUNTEMANN, DIRECTOR OF GAME OVER: GENDER, RACE, AND VIOLENCE IN VIDEO GAMES, 2000
For decades, concern about violence in video games has led to calls for regulation. Back in 1976, an arcade game called Death Race prompted the first public outcry over the violence of electronic gaming. The primitive graphics of the game depicted a blocky car running down stick-figure Gremlins that, if struck, turned into grave markers. Described as “sick and morbid” by the National Safety Council, Death Race inspired a 60 Minutes report on the potential psychological damage of playing video games. Over the next thirty-five years, violent video games would prompt citizen groups and politicians to call for government regulation of electronic games’ content.
In 1993, after the violence of Mortal Kombat and Night Trap attracted the attention of religious and educational organizations, U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman conducted a hearing that proposed federal regulation of the gaming industry. Following a pattern established in the movie and music industries, the gaming industry implemented a self-regulation system enforced by an industry panel. The industry founded the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) in 1994 to institute a labeling system designed to inform parents of sexual and violent content that might not be suitable for younger players. Publishers aren’t required to submit their games to the ESRB for a rating, but many retailers will only sell rated games, so gamemakers usually consent to the process. To get a rating, the game companies submit scripts that include any dialogue and music lyrics, and also fill out a questionnaire to describe the story and identify possibly offensive content.26 Currently the ESRB sorts games into six categories: EC (Early Childhood), E (Everyone), E 10+, T (Teens), M 17+, and AO (Adults Only 18+).
In the most recent effort to regulate video games, California passed a law in 2005 to fine stores $1,000 for selling video games rated M or AO to minors. In 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the law in a 7–2 decision, setting a difficult precedent for the establishment of other laws regulating electronic games.