Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 10, 1993 TAG: 9312100185
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
An hour before a Senate hearing on a bill to impose federal restrictions, a coalition of 140 manufacturers and distributors made the industry's case.
"The market does not need and the public does not want another government entity to be created for this purpose," said Ilene Rosenthal, general counsel for the Software Publishers Association.
Two senators, whose legislation would impose restrictions if the video industry fails to police itself, remained unconvinced.
"Creating a rating system is, frankly, the very least the video-game industry can do," said Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn. "It would be far better for America's parents and kids if they simply kept the gory violence and sex out of their games."
Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., told a panel of industry witnesses: "I hope you walk away with one thought today: that if you don't do something about it, we will."
Lieberman and Kohl proposed their bill in response to games such as "Mortal Kombat," in which the winner can triumphantly pluck out the spinal column of a victim, and "Night Trap," in which the player tries to defend a group of scantily clad sorority girls against bloodsucking assailants. Both are distributed by Sega of America.
"The only thing I can say to the manufacturers of those video games is, `Shame on you,' " said witness Marilyn Droz, vice president of the National Coalition on Television Violence. "How would you like your teen-age daughter to go out on a date with someone who had just played three hours of that game?"
Lieberman ran a tape of a Sega ad for "Mortal Kombat." While the company says it rates the game "MA-13," for use only by players 13 and over, the ad shows a boy who could easily be younger than 13 gaining the respect of his peers by winning in "Mortal Kombat."
"The rating system is a fig leaf to cover a lot of transgressions," Lieberman said.
The hearing was a joint meeting of the Senate subcommittee on juvenile justice, headed by Kohl, and the government affairs subcommittee on regulation, headed by Lieberman.
by CNB