The 2008 NIMF Video Game Report Card is out and it looks like the only group who failed are parents!

If you're not too into reading long documents and multiple web pages (and who is...it's Thanksgiving week, after all), the summary is a good place to look.

The often maligned ESRB gets double "A"s; one for adding game summaries to their ratings and the other for parental education. Retailers get a "B+" with an 80% enforcement rate and console manufacturers get an "A" for things like parental controls and time limits.

Parents, on the other hand, have been issued an "Incomplete". That means that they either had a tragic event occur in their life where they had to go away to rehab or counseling for a while and will make up the class later...or...it means that the key to keeping violent games out of the hands of kids is parents...just like we've always said.

The report states, "Parents now have more information and tools than ever before. However, the constant changes present new challenges. Parents need to pay more attention to the amount of time and the types of games their kids play."

The NIMF's praise of the industry is quite a turnaround. Back in the 2004 Report Card they concluded, "We know that the industry wants to expand its customer base and that it is in their economic interest to hook babies on games."

Hooking babies on video games...that was so 2004.