Statement from Best Buy Co., Inc., in response to the 12th annual National Institute on Media and the Family (NIMF) MediaWise Video Game Report Card:

MINNEAPOLIS, December 4, 2007 — At Best Buy, we have a responsibility to give our customers the opportunity to choose what is appropriate for themselves and their families, and to make our sales staff available to help our customers make informed decisions. As part of this commitment, we welcome the National Institute on Media and the Family (NIMF) report card as a good pulse read on the broader issues surrounding the video game industry.

Like the NIMF, we are disappointed with the findings presented in year’s report card. The findings serve as a strong reminder for us to reinforce our commitment to the ESRB ratings, to our internal carding program for store associates, and to ongoing consumer education about parental roles and responsibilities when it comes to video games.

We stand behind the ESRB ratings program and over the past year have demonstrated our commitment in several ways for our employees and customers:

1. We help to educate our customers through in-store signage, information on www.bestbuy.com, and partnerships with advocacy groups about how the ESRB can help guide their buying decisions. For example, we teamed up twice this year with Microsoft for campaigns that encourage families to make appropriate media and digital entertainment choices. An event highlighting one of those partnerships is taking place today at a Chicago Boys and Girls’ Club.
2. We produced two ESRB public service announcements aimed at parents who shop our stores for games, which were broadcast on national networks and in our stores.
3. We also have controls in place, including associate training and an in-house mystery shopper “carding program” for video games.

We will continue to provide resources that help our customers make appropriate video game choices and support efforts to provide age appropriate material for our customers. We will also consider the latest NIMF report card findings as we look to strengthen our ESRB commitment, expand our consumer education efforts, and improve our employee training programs.

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