Unfortunately for Xbox 720, PlayStation 4 and the rest of the gaming industry, ignorance, laziness and close-mindedness are just some of the traits that define some of the business's biggest detractors.
According to a report from VG24/7 yesterday, 58% of adult Americans believe there indeed is a correlation between teenage violence and violent video games.
The poll goes on to quantitate their findings by saying every three out of five adults have the aforementioned assumptions.
The survey Harris Interactive conducted only took the pulse of 2,278 American adults.
The report goes on to say 38% of participants said they had no knowledge of the ESRB age-rating system that is currently in place for games, while a separate 66% of households, with kids who played games, said they actually use the ratings system when purchasing games.
Only 14% of the folks who volunteered this information said they actually understood the ESRB ratings, whereas only 18% of them completely understand how they work.
The report goes on to say that another 47% of the people surveyed said they are not confident in the ESRB rating system's ability to stop children from playing adult-rated games. Right, it's a rating system, not daddy day care.
Conversely, about 33% of people consulted said they let their kids play adult-rated games. The majority of the people in the survey said they felt more confident in TV and film ratings.
Harris president Mike de Vere talked about how these findings truly undermine the apparent lack of awareness Americans have about the video game rating system.
"The findings underscore the lack of awareness Americans have about the video game rating system, as well as the confusion in the market.
“They also factor into a larger discussion playing out across our country and on a political stage around how violent games impact our youth, with President Obama recently announcing his desire to look into ways to fund research examining the impact of violent video games on children," de Vere said.
While the ESRB ratings system is as difficult to understand as the Latin language ("M for Mature 17+," "T for Teen," "E for Everyone" etc.), the ignorance and laziness of people not taking five seconds to understand how the system works is killing the industry's perception.
What's worse is the people who pass such horrible judgments on the industry, really don't know what they are talking about. Literally, they don't know what they are talking about.
Perhaps there wouldn't be as many kids gaining access to these adult games if the parents that allowed their kids to be exposed to such adult content actually learned something themselves.
Kids don't know better, but the parents do, and they are as much to blame for allowing their children to get their hands on these games as the industry is.
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