With the permission of his parents, Peter conducted a video-game shopping survey around Sydney's CBD on behalf of The Sun-Herald. He visited six retailers, picked out games with an MA 15+ classification, then strolled up to the counter. Five out of six shops handed him graphic games involving murder, mass shootings, stabbings, drug dealing, sexual violence and child abductions. The results of our investigation outraged family lobby groups, who say not enough is being done to crack down on the practice. ''Our biggest concern with the proposed R18+ rating is children are going to get their hands on these products regardless and there's nothing parents can do about it, no matter how responsible they are,'' says Barbara Biggins, chief executive of the Australian Council on Children and the Media. ''The shops are being derelict in their duties. If the respective state governments don't come down hard on this, what message does it send? What's the point if the enforcement end of the spectrum isn't working.''

Interactive Games and Entertainment Association chief executive Ron Curry agrees that obligations must be fulfilled at the point of sale - ''and, more widely, that everybody is educated about the rating system in place''. Mr Curry said if an R18+ rating - for adults only - was introduced, there would be ''less confusion.'' The absence of the rating has seen 74 video games banned in Australia since 1995. ''If you'd told me you'd been into six specialist games shops and they'd sold the games, I'd be very surprised,'' Mr Curry says. ''When it comes to mass merchants, there can be a high turnover of staff [and] employee moves between departments, and there is potentially a lack of continuity in terms of education and knowledge of what the classifications actually mean. That said, there is no excuse.'' Peter says he has mates his age who play the same restricted games he bought.

''Games like these are becoming more and more lifelike,'' he says. ''If you play this sort of stuff regularly, the violence, the killing, the drugs and everything, I guess it just becomes normal.'' Research suggests exposure to violent games makes people more aggressive, less caring children - regardless of their age, sex or culture. A review of 130 studies on the subject - covering more than 130,000 young gamers worldwide - found exposure to violent video games was a causal risk factor for increased aggressive thoughts and behaviour and decreased empathy. Lead researcher Craig Anderson, from the Centre for the Study of Violence at Iowa State University, says such effects are neither huge nor trivial. ''If you have a child with no other risk factors for aggression and violence, and if you allow them to suddenly start playing video games five hours to 10 hours a week, they're not going to become a school shooter,'' he says. ''[But] it's a risk factor that's easy for an individual parent to deal with - at least, easier than changing most other known risk factors for aggression and violence, such as poverty or one's genetic structure.''

NSW Attorney-General John Hatzistergos has warned retailers that selling restricted games to minors is a criminal offence. Those caught selling MA15+ computer games to someone under the age of 15 face fines up to $5500 for sole traders and $11,000 if trading as a company. Selling RC (Refused Classification) games to minors carries a maximum of two years' jail or $16,500 fine for sole traders, or a $33,000 fine for a corporation. Loading "The government takes breaches of classification compliance laws seriously and has given police full authority to enforce laws dealing with this offence,'' a spokeswoman for the Attorney-General says.

''Members of the public who witness retailers selling restricted games to minors are encouraged to report this criminal activity to police. A national review of computer game classification laws is currently in progress and work is also under way to develop proposals to improve compliance by retailers."