Children lap up gore in R18 games

Almost two-thirds of 15- to 17-year-olds have played R18 video games - including some banned in New Zealand - and parents' ignorance of the gory content is being blamed.

Research by UMR, released on TV One's Sunday programme last night, showed 62 per cent of the teenagers had played at least one of 26 age-restricted games, where they have the ability in some cases to decapitate police, solicit and murder prostitutes and go on killing sprees of people in shopping malls.

Seven per cent of the 330 who took part in the survey had played Manhunt, a game banned 18 months ago by the Office of Film and Literature Classification. More than a third said parents bought them the games.

It is illegal to hire or sell the games to those under 18. The Department of Internal Affairs said industry compliance was "generally good".

"Where there appears to be a significant compliance issue is with parents or family members who are over the restricted age buying games and allowing children to play them," said spokesman Vincent Cholewa.

The department could not have an inspector in every home and parents had the same responsibilities with video games as they did with cigarettes and alcohol, he said.

There was a lack of awareness among parents who came from a generation where there were no video games and did not realise some of them were extremely violent.

"The censor imposes age restrictions on games for serious reasons. They are not decisions made lightly."

The UMR study was drawn from a survey of 15- to 17-year-olds over three days. Three-quarters said their parents knew they were playing R18 games and 35 per cent said their parents bought them the game. A further 12 per cent said older siblings bought the game for them.

The vast majority knew it was illegal for them to buy or rent the games. One in five said an age restriction made games appealing.

The Grand Theft Auto series dominated the list of games played.

The Classifications Office in New Zealand rated it R18 because of its "infliction of violence in a gory and gratuitous manner" and because it rewards criminal behaviour.

A spokesman for Rockstar Games, the team behind GTA, said it was intended for a mature audience.

He said it was the responsibility of parents to use the ratings system and "make informed entertainment choices for themselves and families".