Over here legislation prohibits this. Game content is rated according to the PEGI system and is legally enforced, prohibiting the selling or distribution of unsuitable content according to the age of the minor. I have no doubt some shops may circumvent this, but they do it at their own risk since legislation provides for both state and individuals (parents most certainly) prosecution.
A few years back I remember having a debate about this very subject. I've always been a supporter of ratings systems exactly because they only stopped direct access to unsuitable content. Freedom of Speech is preserved, as is parents and other in-charge adults responsibility. I find many questionable content highly educational, but only if I can control when and how my daughters have access to it. The rating system and the legislation that accompanies it help me achieve this exactly.
However, I remember very well when I was younger. Certainly games weren't as technologically superior as they are today, so bent on breaking cultural barriers, or so politically or sexually oriented. But I still had access to content that was certainly not suitable to my age. At 15 I was playing
Paradise Café on ZXSpectrum bought on the local gaming store. Samantha Fox Strip Poker, Cover Up and others also made it into my collection without my parents ever suspecting a thing. These games were clearly labelled "Adult Only" on the cassette covers. But shops would sell them to an infant if they could.
Nothing of this (as well as access to porn magazines, movies and whatnot) made me into a imbalanced person. And this brings me to the problem, as I see it:
A certain American establishment sees in sex only, the corruption of morale and good customs. The last Mortal Kombat may sell to kids if it only shows people being dismembered in graphical detail, GTA may sell if crime is a central piece of the player actions, or action games may sell if violence against civilians in an airport is part of the game introduction. But show on any of these games some naked breasts, a vagina, a penis, or any kind of sexual intercourse, and immediately the game is actively protected from children.
While I certainly won't think twice about monitoring access to sexual content, I am far more worried about access to violence. Particularly the type of violence that emulates real-life violence. And especially the type of violence that is a part of the urban landscape. Not because I don't think these can be good educational instruments, but because unchecked they can do more harm than good.
I'm not trying to make a distinction here. I just find it an error to treat violence and sexual content so differently from each other. Not because they are related (although under some circumstances they can). But because the relaxation on violence is, as I see it, a great point of concern for any society.
