CESA: Most Japanese Retailers Enforcing 'Z' Rating

The Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA), the Japanese equivalent of the ESRB, has released the results of a survey regarding the effectiveness of its recently revised rating system for video games that was put into place on May 31. The report, as translated by popular consumer website GameSpot, surveyed 681 retailers, and found that 95.1 percent do verify age for Z-rated game purchases, which include games are not suitable for players under the age of 18 and are Japanese government-regulated. In addition, the report indicated that 85.3 percent of those retailers surveyed noted that they also separate Z-rated games from other games by placing them in a separate part of the store. The report also indicated that 91.2 percent of the survey participants said that they "understood" or "more or less understood" the rating system. Although historically there has been little controversy in Japan regarding in-game violence and other disputed content, concerns have been raised in the current generation, mostly spurred by controversy centering around Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto series. The first two PlayStation 2 games in the series were released by Capcom in Japan and became minor hits, selling especially well for Western-developed material, although the sale of Grand Theft Auto III was banned from being sold to anyone under the age of eighteen in two separate Japanese prefectures.