When gamers become parents

Tom Loftus Columnist • E-mail

Steven Rechtschaffner remembers the day his two sons, ages 17 and 13, discovered the copy of “Grand Theft Auto” he had stashed away in his Vancouver home. “It was weird at first,” Rechtschaffner recalled. “But it forced us to talk about the game. It was me asking, what did you think?”

Geneviève Lord faced a similar episode when her two sons, ages 15 and 11, returned home with a violent video game she didn’t approve of. “I told them, ‘look, this may be a game, but people act like that.’”

Sound familiar? These two episodes have a twist. Both parents are video game industry insiders. Rechtschaffner is a vice president and executive producer for game publisher giant Electronic Arts. Lord is a producer for game maker Ubisoft's Montreal office.

As the video game industry grows up — in employment age at least — more and more employees are facing the same dilemmas as their non-industry peers in managing what their children are exposed to when they play games.

These parents know a thing or two about video games, however, and their experiences may be helpful to any frazzled parent struggling with game-crazy kids.

Managing the media minefield
The summer of 2005 was not kind to video game fans. There were those hidden sex scenes in “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas,” frenzied hearings chaired by Sen. Hillary Clinton on video game ratings and more studies on the effects of violent video games.

In the face of this unstoppable Fifth Column, parents have been portrayed as either helpless or, as one study commissioned by a European game industry group found, ignorant to the point of irresponsibility.

Surely there must be some parents who care?  I looked for the ones who should know better:  the game creators.

“The problem with video games is the name,” explained Rechtschaffner.  “The word 'game' implies that it’s just for kids.”

According to the Entertainment Software Association, an industry lobbying firm and data clearinghouse, 55 percent of frequent console game players are over 18. Twenty percent are over 35.

For Rechtschaffner, a producer whose credits include the "SSX" snowboard series and "NBA Street," a more appropriate descriptor for video games when it comes to deciding what his sons can or cannot play is "media."

"I treat games like I treat DVDs," he said.

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