TORONTO — Fans of violent video games could soon have to show photo identification to buy or rent their favourite titles under new regulations to be introduced this fall by the Ontario government.

The province plans to establish a mandatory ratings system and require retailers to check ID before handing over an adult or mature game, Consumer and Business Services Minister Jim Watson said Friday.

"I'm not interested in going down the route of censorship, but I think that from an educational point of view, parents have no idea what their kids are watching," Watson told The Canadian Press.

Earlier this year, the Ontario government took the unusual step of slapping an R rating on the game Manhunt, in which players control a murderous death-row inmate who earns points for killing guards and other prisoners.

The game, already banned in New Zealand, rewards players with additional points for dispatching enemies in as elaborate and bloody a fashion as possible.

Normally, only feature films would carry an R rating in Ontario, but Watson - who calls Manhunt "vile and violent" - said it's time game retailers played by the same rules and faced penalties for letting kids access adult games.

"I just think what's happened with video technology (is) it's leaped ahead of government, it's much more sophisticated, it's much more realistic," said Watson.

Legislative changes contained in Bill 70, introduced in the Ontario legislature earlier this year and expected to pass third reading this fall, will allow the province to create a system of mandatory ratings and a framework of penalties for retailers who flout the rules, he said.

Ontario is not alone in its crackdown; Manitoba and Nova Scotia have also taken steps to make it harder for minors to access violent video games.

Manhunt was originally tagged as M, for mature, by the New York board that rates video games voluntarily submitted by publishers.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board sets the rating standards for much of the gaming industry and Watson said it is those same standards that would be made mandatory in the province.

But that system is not without its detractors: a Harvard University study recently found that many video games were classified as appropriate for teens even though they contained material such as sexual themes, alcohol and swearing.

People have long accepted the ratings as a sufficient benchmark for what young game players should or should not see, said Doug DeRabbie of the Retail Council of Canada.

DeRabbie said the council is hoping to roll out a national awareness program this fall to better educate parents about the rating system and its various designations for games.

Game retailers say they're happy with the system as it is.

"We do a tremendous job of upholding it, we're happy with how retailers uphold it and I think we can continue to do a tremendous job," said Sarah Good, a spokeswoman for Rogers Video.

Good said Rogers has had a policy of refusing to rent mature games to teens without proper ID since the late 1990s.

"I can understand the legislation, but I don't think it's necessary," she said. "The retailers do a very good job of policing themselves."