Hats off to the stores who complied but very surprised to hear GAME dropped the ball. Their training on that is pretty thorough in my view, but clearly mistakes can happen and they got caught out. I am interested to hear how these retailers respond.

Should ban the chains that get caught from selling games....be good for everyone else :)

I figure one of the only ways to actually combat under-age sales would be something akin to the stance Supermarkets have had to take over alcohol - if the person looks under 25, you have to ID them.

Failing that (hassle though it would be) make it compulsory, that ID must be shown by everyone when purchasing an 18+ game.

Admittedly yes, if an OAP comes in asking for GTA4, then I'm guessing that could be waivered, but teenagers are looking older as the years pass by, and it's getting harder and harder to tell their real age.

No-one check whether HMV, Zavvi, Play or Amazon sold RAMBO to any under-18s?!?!!?

Oh, I forgot, gaming is the scape goat!

GAME are very strict about things like this but around this time of year they do tend to relax quite a bit. Its only when xmas starts up again that they clamp down heavily on age restrictions, mostly due to the mystery shoppers.

Oh, they'll just blame it on part time staff not following the rules and pay some lip service to a full investigation, and fully backing the law.

The training at Game is very good. I'm not sure what else they could do. Not impressed by MCV at considering this worth it's own bulletin. It's unfair for the tabloids to criticise the industry and sensationalise, but it's fine for you to?

Reports of fatalities - yes - reported by idiots.

I think it's interesting that they used a girl for this experiment and I wonder what the results would have been like if they had used a boy? Girls are not usually involved in the headlines which reports acts of teenage violence, therefore did shop assistants think it was more acceptable to sell to an underage girl? Granted it is illegal but somehow these titles are getting into the hands of the underage, and it is inconceivable to think that stores are selling them all to underage. Perhaps some research should be done into how many parents buy these games for their kids?

I think it's interesting that they used a girl for this experiment and I wonder what the results would have been like if they had used a boy? Girls are not usually involved in the headlines which reports acts of teenage violence, therefore did shop assistants think it was more acceptable to sell to an underage girl? Granted it is illegal but somehow these titles are getting into the hands of the underage, and it is inconceivable to think that stores are selling them all to underage. Perhaps some research should be done into how many parents buy these games for their kids?

Of course its worth its own article. Its a big story, mcv are not sensationalising it, they are just reporting it. Would you rather you read it in a newspaper with all the exaggerations and tweaks that come with it or would you prefer to read the facts.

@7: Yep, you're right. MCV should just keep quiet when the UK's leading games retail specialist is caught red-handed selling violent games to underage customers by the UK's leading consumer watchdog.

Whatever next - Freddie Starr ate my hamster? C'mon – this is big news, whichever way you look at it. It's just been on Radio 1 for Christ's sake! I'd much rather be prepared for the backlash in the press tomorrow than not.

If you're going to blame anyone, blame Which? Or, erm, Game and Woolworths.

Always good to see the chains ****-it up.

@ 8 and 9

Good point, although I doubt very much that the reason behind it is because girls arent usually reported in the headlines as being involved with violence etc.

I'd put a grand on it being male shop assistants knowing full well that she was under age but selling the game to her regardless in the hope of receiving some sort of sexual reward.

I'm being serious, please dont use my name as a cheap excuse to get back at me. ;)

I used to work for a major high street specialist and would refuse refunds to all those who didnt comply with policy regardless of their gender. I was stand at tills next to people who would throw policy out of the window at the opportunity to get a sneak peak at some birds chest.

I wouldnt be surprised if the same forces were at play here.

Low but true.

@Pantythief: lol sounds like the store i worked in. You're grand is in safe hands as i'm sure it wasn't luck that a girl was chosen to buy the game instead of using a boy.

I would just like to point out that Harlow is actually in Essex, not Middlesex - please do not tar my home county with having such a place as Harlow in it....

They probably mean Harrow.

@13: she was 15, so if they really were after "sexual favours" in exchange for buying the game, wouldn't that make them pedophiles?

....why don't you take a seat over there? :D

(PS: I know you just mean perving on, but it is still worth wondering why they chose a girl, it isn't a fair test)

i meant to saying "in exchange for allowing her to buy the game", sorry :(

Good spot - it is indeed Harrow. Apologies to all.

Especially Gem Distribution ;-)

This is pathetic. A stupid computer magazine using a 15 year old girl to earn more sales due to all the recent controversy surrounding mature titles being sold to underage teens/children.

First of all, how do we even know it actually happened? The magazine could have just made this crap up! It’s the media afterall!

Needless to say, I’ve never seen this magazine before, “Which?” magazine, but I’d encourage everyone to simply boycott this magazine and send a message to these pathetic “journalists” that we consumers won’t take this crap.

I have just turned 19 and I bought 18 rated games for a good 3 or 4 years! Infact I grew a moustache to buy certain titles and thinking about it now it was pretty wrong!

The till assistants never asked me my age becuase they assumed I was older! Also with women they tend not to ask the age because it offends some women! If it was a 13 year old kid for instance than it would be a different story

Im not being funny to all but we are all human and humans make mistakes. I mean come on, out of the hundreds and hundreds of age restricted games that are sold i reckon a very very small minority are sold illeagally.

Also the stores that were tested were in Harrow not Harlow. So to No.15 we can tarnish Middlesex because Harrow is there. Leave Essex out of this!

I sometimes see age-restricted games being sold to children in shops like these, but moreover there are more cases of the parent there with their child buying the game.

As with films, I think it's down to the parent to decide whether they think they should expose their child to such media. But I would hazard that, as with how it has appeared to me as an onlooker in these stores, many parents do not seem take an active role in policing what games they buy for their kids.

Back to the article, i'd hope that either the law is beefed up (perhaps the maximum fine is raised? or as with alcohol the "if you look under 25 show some ID" rule is used?) or all stores involved look at tightening their practices (if only at a store level).

I can speak for everyone I work with - we'd like our games sold to the intended audiences only!

Alex - Which? isn't a computer magazine at all - it's an impartial review magazine, reviewing everything from kettles to restaurants etc.

Regardless of how the test was performed, someone underage was sold games they shouldn't. That needs to be dealt with.
A more worrying aspect to the story for me was...
“Staff should realise that they have a moral and legal duty to stop these sales from taking place. There is a mixed but growing body of evidence that very violent games like this can sometimes influence under-age players with reports of anti social behaviour linked to them, in extreme cases even fatalities.”
people are stated these links as fact, these links are being made by MPs and journalists, not by researchers of law officials. No fatalities have ever been (factually) linked to a computer game, and there is no research linking games to anti social behaviour.
When did the geek playing games in their bedroom become the knife carrying gang member on the streets?

oh give over is that bad. its down to their genes and upbringing if theyre gonna be psychos, nothing to do with games, you go home, in the middle of the day and there are naughty words and swearing and partial nudity and then when it gets past the watershed my god what kids must sea. the majority of kids these days will just get their rents to buy the games anyway. if you think its the games causing harm to children then youre bloody stupid.

GAME are always selling 18 games to underage people so this does not suprise me at all.

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