Dangers of virtual world

Games such as 'World of Warcraft' can become all-consuming for young players and it is difficult for parents to know if content is suitable, writes Brian O'Connell.

SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD Shaun O'Donovan was the last kid in his park to pick up the computer game World of Warcraftafter his next-door neighbour, Mikey Carroll-Morris (12), introduced him to it. The first time he played the online fantasy game he devoted three hours to it.

"The problem is that the three hours became my natural timeline for playing the game after that," says Shaun, who would later spend up to five hours absorbed in it in one sitting.

Shaun and Mikey are two of just 12 million gamers worldwide signed up to World of Warcraft, the world's largest Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG).

In the game, players control characters that navigate the landscape fighting enemies, completing missions, and interacting with other players. The game carries a 12+ rating in Ireland. "We would play every day if we got a chance," says Shaun, "and after school sometimes we'll go into an internet cafe in town to play. I haven't played it much lately, though, and my mother has banned it from our house as my younger brother, Jack, who is 10, was starting to play it also."

We're sitting in the kitchen of Shaun's home near Blackrock in Cork, where the computer is purposefully positioned within adult view. Both Shaun and Mikey show me reports on YouTube of children expressing concern at the amount of time they spend playing online games. Mikey says he managed to reach level 64 of a possible 80 in World of Warcraft, before his game was hacked and he had to start all over again (he's currently at level 50). Meanwhile, Shaun has had to limit the exposure he has to certain types of games. "I'm more into playing Guitar Hero 4now," he says.

In an effort to get him out of the house more, Shaun's mother, Elaine, bought him a gym membership. She says it's difficult for parents to be aware at all times of the type of games children are accessing. She also says parents should be more aware of age-appropriate content, and be conscious of the amount of time children will spend playing new games.

"I know my cousin has a five-year-old son who is getting a Gameboy for Christmas," she says, "so the age kids are being exposed to computer games is getting younger. The family units are changing and with both parents often working and so on, it's perhaps seen as a way to occupy children."

Elaine says she noticed personality changes in Shaun when he spent long hours playing World of Warcraft, and she believes there should be more stringent controls and awareness around issues of gaming addiction and inappropriate content. "Shaun got attached to the people in the game as if they were real people. When we made moves to finally end the game he got upset about it," she says.

WITH THE gaming industry in Ireland worth upwards of €400 million per annum, this Christmas retailers expect sales of games and game consoles to grow. A spokesman for Gamestop, one of Ireland largest games retailers, said: "Nintendo continues to attract casual gamers into the gaming industry as both the Wii and the DS continue to be on the top of Christmas wish lists this year."

Some games have already sold out, and the difficulty for many parents is that, unlike films, it is logistically challenging for parents to view the complete content of computer games, without playing the games themselves from start to finish. Even then, some games contain hidden features and also allow for online interaction with other users, where the potential for inappropriate transfer of material exists.

The classification system in existence in Ireland for computer games is the Pan-European Game Information (Pegi) system, essentially a self-regulatory European system which relies on software companies themselves providing information on a new game.

Jürgen Bänsch, EU affairs manager at the Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE) defends the system: "Although Pegi is a self-regulatory system we cover more than 95 per cent of the market . . . We are heavily supported by the three platform holders: Microsoft Xbox, Sony Playstation and Nintendo Wii. Any company that wishes to publish on these platforms needs to get a Pegi rating."

The age ratings system contains five classifications (3+, 7+, 12+, 16+ and 18+) and takes account of levels of violence, sexual content or bad language in games. In reality, though, of 8,000 games certified by the PEGI system, only one, Manhunt Two, has ever been banned in Ireland, with the vast majority of games receiving a 3+ and 7+ classification.

A Gamestop spokesman says that although classification is voluntary in Ireland, their staff strictly adheres to current classification guidelines in place in both the UK and Europe, and will ask consumers for ID if necessary. "If the ID is not forthcoming the staff member refuses the sale."

Ger Connolly, deputy director of film classification at the Irish Film Classification Office (Ifco), says that video games are exempt from classification in Ireland, unless they are deemed prohibitive. The Pegi system, he argues, is a very robust system, and he says inappropriate content making its way to minors may have more to do with issues of parental control than access. "One issue is that the gatekeeper or parent in the past may have had a fear of engaging with the technology. The word 'game' in itself is also a problem as, for some people of a certain generation, they equate it with Pac-Man or computer tennis games in their youth. I think though the . . . generation of parents nowadays have had experience of gaming themselves and have grown up with the explosion in video games, so the demographic is changing."

BACK IN CORK, Shaun O'Donovan's younger brother Jack, who is 10, says, "My friend who is nine has a game called Assassin's Creed, where you have to sneak up behind a person, put your arm around their throat and stab them in the back." Jack's mother, Elaine, says she now closely monitors the type of games her children play. None of the three children present have ever been asked for identification when buying games, they say. Elaine argues that there should be more control at the point of sale, and that perhaps parents need to take more note of children's buying patterns. "If I had known the ins and outs of some of the games, they wouldn't have come into the house. Homework suffered because of games, and sometimes parents ourselves are to blame for not noticing time passing and how much the kids are playing them. We're constantly having arguments in this house about the kids not going out and getting enough fresh air."

For Shaun, though, there is no dilemma: "The reason we don't go outside, is because we have something better to do inside."

Play on - Top games in 2008

This Christmas, games retailers expect the Nintendo Wii and DS to continue to attract strong sales, while the price drop on Xbox 360 (now at €179.99) has also helped fueldemand for that console. The Playstation 3 is in demand for the more serious gamer, and comes with inbuilt Blu-ray player and added memory.

Some of the games which have featured in the top 10 in Ireland consistently over the past weeks include Need for Speed: Undercover, FIFA 09, Professor Layton and the Curious Villageon Nintendo DS, Mario Karton Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit. So-called "party" games such as Buzz, Singstarand Lipsalso continue to be popular choices.