Group pans video games for violence, sexual matter

WASHINGTON -- A chainsaw-wielding killer and blood-splattered shooting rampages are featured in some of the 10 video games that a media watchdog group says should be avoided by children and teens.

"These games are brutal, primitive," Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, said yesterday.

With the holiday shopping season underway, the National Institute on Media and the Family released its 11th annual video game report card. The group urged parents to take a stronger role in safeguarding their children from games that glamorize sex and violence.

"Pay attention to the games your kids, our kids, are playing," said Lieberman, who joined institute officials at a news conference. "It's really time to . . . urge parents to pay attention."

In past years, the institute has challenged the video game industry and retailers to do more.

Douglas Lowenstein, president of the Entertainment Software Association, said this year's report card was more "balanced and measured" than previous years, but his trade group wants to empower parents, not blame them.

"Like rock 'n' roll, video games will never die," Lowenstein said in a written statement.