Minn. group whose annual reports advised parents about video game violence shuts down

Video game watchdog shuts down, victim of economy

MINNEAPOLIS — A Minneapolis group that has issued an annual report each holiday season since 1996 to help parents decide on video games for their children is shutting its doors because of the poor economy.

National Institute on Media and the Family founder David Walsh says his group plans to close down on Dec. 23. It will not be issuing a report card this year.

Walsh says it has become harder to raise money and that a founding sponsor withdrew its support last summer. He says his institute is talking to three nonprofits about continuing its work.

It was Walsh’s group that announced in 2005 that the best-selling video game “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” contained graphic sexual images that could be unlocked using an Internet download. An industry-run rating board changed the game’s rating to adults-only, leading major retailers to pull the game from their shelves.

On the Net:

National Institute on Media and the Family: www.mediafamily.org

(This version CORRECTS that stores began pulling “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” after the ESRB changed the game’s rating, not after Walsh’s announcement. FIXES writethru sequence.)