Every time I go to the convenience store down the block, the same little sign catches my eye. "We card everyone who appears under 30." If video game retailers used similar cautions, I wonder what age they would use. 18? 30? 60? In some cases, the age can't go high enough.

Checking IDs when selling mature-rated games has become commonplace for most game retailers, as the unemployment checks of some careless clerks have proven. All but the smallest retailers have iron-clad policies on the matter, but GameStop has its wrapped in titanium. Absolutely every person, regardless of age, has to be checked for ID. It doesn't matter if you are a WWII vet with an oxygen tank slung on the back of your scooter. No ID, no sale.

I suppose we have to weed out the youngsters and their tricky disguises, but does grandma need to suffer for it? The other day, I witnessed a startling transaction, or lack thereof. A woman, maybe 55, was doing a little shopping. The cashier had Halo 3 bagged up and the woman was signing for the purchase when she made a grave mistake. She let it slip that the game was a present for her grandson. The cashier retracted the bag and dutifully stated that only a direct parent could buy a mature-rated game for a minor.

Outrageous, but completely true. In fact, you can expect to get carded for nearly anything with the faintest relation to Halo 3 at GameStop - strategy guides, controllers, and even the Halo-edition headset, which is painted a disturbingly violent shade of green. The precautions have stretched so far you can't even see the borders anymore. As one anyonymous employee said:

"They're taking this thing too far. They're telling us to be the parents, even when the parents are standing right f--king there. And if mommy and daddy don't like the game grandma bought for Christmas, they can just return it anyway. I don't get what they're trying to prove."

What ARE they trying to prove?

Ask upper-management at any retailer why they check ID and the response can always be summarized with, "Because we care." It is hard for me to believe that a retail-mega-giant like Wal-Mart is suddenly making a run for a humanitarian award. This is the company with a history of carrying sweatshop products and economically destroying entire communities. Brotherly love has nothing to do with the furor for ratings. It all boils down to the bottom line.

Authorities have long kept a suspicious eye on video games, and after the tragedy at Columbine in 1999, the spotlights have been turned to full brightness. Nevermind that no psychologist, sociologist, anthropologist, or any other gist has yet to prove the link between video games and violence. What matters to retailers is making sure that they don't sell the game that "inspires" the next school shooting.

If retailers truly cared about the well-being of our youth, similar restrictions would be placed on all products. A few months ago, a 14-year-old could have walked in to Best Buy and purchased the horrendously violent film, The Devil's Rejects, and Shortbus, featuring numerous scenes of real, explicit sex, and no one would have batted an eye. The reason he he can't do it now is because Shortbus has been discontinued. Best Buy's standards have not.

I stand by the ESRB ratings, but their implementation in retail settings, and their relation to other mediums, needs to be standardized. At this pace, the ratings are quickly going to become more of a burden than an aid.