Overprotective and overreactive advocacy group Parents Television Council is at it again when it comes to children being exposed to the horrors of M-rated video games via osmosis, as this time the organization wants retailers such as Best Buy to stock M-rated video games on tall shelves out of eyeshot of children.  The Consumerist has the news.

Advocacy group Parents Television Council says it's a Joe Camel move to place video games intended for adults right alongside the Marios and Sonics of the world, and the group scolded Best Buy for the practice at a shareholder's meeting last week.

“Mr. Chairman, you understand this game is rated mature and we appreciate all that Best Buy is doing to impose and enforce an age-restricted buying policy. However, I urge you to place these types of games on higher shelves and out of sight and reach of your younger customers,” said PTC Minnesota Chapter Director Phyllis Plum at the meeting, according to a PTC press release.

If keeping the M-rated games mixed in with other games in the traditional alphabetical order of shelving is an inconvenience to you, Ms. Plum, then I will counter that placing the M-rated games on a separate set of shelves is an inconvenience to me.  As someone who plays games rated E all the way up to M, I don't appreciate the prospect of scouring several sets of organized shelving while I browse for the latest Super Mario and Grand Theft Autotitles.  Perhaps I'm oversimplifying things, but it seems to me that all of these supposed issues created by the PTC and groups like them could be solved by a combination of checking ID during the purchasing process when the customer appears underage and telling precious little pumpkin "No" when he or she picks up an M-game and screams "Buy me this!"

Conversely, if we have to have separate shelving, let's put all of the children's licensed shovelware junk on the absolute bottom shelf where the little ones can easily find it (and also get it out of my way).