Tobacco imagery in video games: ratings and gamer recall

Objective To assess whether tobacco content found in video games was appropriately labelled for tobacco-related content by the Entertainment and Software Ratings Board (ESRB). Methods Sixty-five gamer participants (self-identified age range 13–50) were interviewed in-person (n=25) or online (n=40) and asked (A) to list favourite games and (B) to name games that they could recall containing tobacco content. The ESRB database was searched for all games mentioned to ascertain whether they had been assigned tobacco-related content descriptors. Games were independently assessed for tobacco content by examining user-created game wiki sites and watching YouTube videos of gameplay. Games with tobacco-related ESRB content descriptors and/or with tobacco imagery verified by researchers were considered to contain tobacco content. Games identified by participants as including tobacco but lacking verifiable tobacco content were treated as not containing tobacco content. Results Participants recalled playing 140 unique games, of which 118 were listed in the ESRB database. Participants explicitly recalled tobacco content in 31% (37/118) of the games, of which 94% (35/37) included independently verified tobacco content. Only 8% (9/118) of the games had received ESRB tobacco-related content descriptors, but researchers verified that 42% (50/118) contained such content; 42% (49/118) of games were rated ‘M’ for mature (content deemed appropriate for ages 17+). Of these, 76% (37/49) contained verified tobacco content; however, only 4% (2/49) received ESRB tobacco-related content descriptors. Conclusions Gamers are exposed to tobacco imagery in many video games. The ESRB is not a reliable source for determining whether video games contain tobacco imagery.

[1]  Kevin Haninger,et al.  Content and ratings of teen-rated video games. , 2004, JAMA.

[2]  K. M. Thompson,et al.  Content and ratings of mature-rated video games. , 2006, Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine.

[3]  Albert C. Gunther,et al.  Cigarettes and cinema: does parental restriction of R-rated movie viewing reduce adolescent smoking susceptibility? , 2007, The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine.

[4]  J. Stockman Exposure to Movie Smoking: Its Relation to Smoking Initiation Among US Adolescents , 2007 .

[5]  A. Adachi-Mejia,et al.  Longitudinal Study of Viewing Smoking in Movies and Initiation of Smoking by Children , 2008, Pediatrics.

[6]  D. Gentile Pathological Video-Game Use Among Youth Ages 8 to 18 , 2009, Psychological science.

[7]  Marije Nije Bijvank,et al.  Age and Violent-Content Labels Make Video Games Forbidden Fruits for Youth , 2009, Pediatrics.

[8]  V. Rideout,et al.  Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds , 2010 .

[9]  Judith J Prochaska,et al.  Effect of smoking scenes in films on immediate smoking: a randomized controlled study. , 2010, American journal of preventive medicine.

[10]  Sherry Turkle,et al.  Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other , 2011 .

[11]  T. Barrientos-Gutiérrez,et al.  Tobacco content in video games: 1994–2011. , 2012, The Lancet. Oncology.

[12]  James F. Thrasher,et al.  Se busca mercado adolescente: internet y videojuegos, las nuevas estrategias de la industria tabacalera , 2012 .

[13]  T. Barrientos-Gutiérrez,et al.  Video games and the next tobacco frontier: smoking in the Starcraft universe , 2012, Tobacco Control.

[14]  L. Titus,et al.  Association of established smoking among adolescents with timing of exposure to smoking depicted in movies. , 2012, Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

[15]  [Aiming for the adolescent market: internet and video games, the new strategies of the tobacco industry]. , 2012, Salud publica de Mexico.

[16]  B. Lushniak,et al.  The Health consequences of smoking—50 years of progress : a report of the Surgeon General , 2014 .