Parents: Do you know what video games your kids are playing?

The film "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" carried an R rating in the theaters, a Teen rating for its video game spin-off and a probable TV14 (V) when the edited version comes to broadcast television. The movie and the game both star Arnold Schwarzenegger, who recently signed a bill that bans the sale or rental of violent video games to minors in California.

The governor's decision was a step forward or a step backward, depending on whether you're aligned with the parents groups that supported the bill or the video-game makers who opposed it. But both sides seem to agree that the problems involving children's access to violent video games have not been solved yet — and won't be until society understands that games are not toys anymore, and consumers learn the nuances of ratings systems that are different for movies, music, television and games.

"What we hear from parents a lot is, 'I finally took a look at Grand Theft Auto, and boy, was I surprised,' " said Peter Katz of Common Sense Media, a San Francisco group that supported the legislation. "What that says to me, and it's scary, is that parents just don't know what's in the game."

As recently as 20 years ago, video game violence was a nonissue. A few games had racy or violent subjects — one based on "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" was developed for the Atari 2600 in the early 1980s — but most were marketed for kids. And if a game included a decapitation or shooting, the graphics were so poor that realistic depiction of gore was technically impossible.

Then, in 1992, the Midway arcade fighting game "Mortal Kombat" revolutionized the realistic depiction of violence, featuring blood-soaked "fatalities" that included a head and spinal column being ripped from a losing character's body. "Mortal Kombat" was a huge hit, and when other violent titles started appearing on home consoles, politicians and parents applied pressure on software developers. In 1994, the Entertainment Software Association established the Entertainment Software Ratings Board to apply and enforce ratings for games.

The system works much like the rating system devised for movies by the Motion Picture Association of America. Both ratings organizations are nongovernment entities set up so the movie and video game industries can police themselves — without fear of prosecution or criminal sanctions such as the ones spelled out in the just-signed California bill, which went into effect Sunday and carries a $1,000 fine for retailers that sell games to minors.