With Janet Reno spearheading well-publicized attacks against TV violence, the fight to curb violence in video games has been seemingly lost in the media shuffle.

But as "NYPD Blue" takes over as the government's target of choice, "Mortal Kombat" looms as the scapegoat for the nation's next crusade.

Scenes depicting a fighter ripping his opponent's spine out of his body, or of a body impaled on a bed of spikes -- as shown in "Mortal Kombat II" -- do not sit well with the powers-that-be in Washington.

Concerned politicians, along with parent groups and members of the video game industry, are looking to curb graphic violence in video games because of the potential negative effects it could have on children.

But the debate continues as to exactly how violence in the arcade and on home video systems affects today's youth.

"The effect of the games on children may well depend more on the child than on the games themselves," said Sharon Faulkner, State College Area High School Parent Teacher Organization co-president.

Violence's negative results on children may depend on any one of many factors, including age, sex and emotional maturity, Faulkner said.

Fourteen-year-old Travis Torselo of State College added that the family environment is the key to combating any negative effects.

"It really depends on how old you are and what you're taught at home," said Torselo, who is in ninth grade at State College Area High School. "I don't think you can ever get too much violence in video games because it's just not real."

Dissenters notwithstanding, the battle continues. U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin) and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conneticut) recently introduced a bill to Congress with Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota) that would give video and arcade game companies one year to devise a game-rating system.

The bill -- the Video Game Rating Act of 1994 -- states that if the video game industry cannot come up with a system that meets the standards of the Interactive Entertainment Rating Commission, the commission will create its own system to be approved by President Clinton.

Carol Levinson, a member of Manning, Selvage and Lee, Sega's public relations firm, said Sega has had ratings on its games since June. But some people on Capitol Hill don't think one independent system is good enough.

If a company, such as Nintendo, released a violent game, it would not be rated if that company did not have a rating system, said Sloan Walker, Sen. Lieberman's investigative counsel.

"We want to see an industrywide rating system done by an independent board," Walker said.

But Faulkner said more must be done than just creating a rating system.

"The rating system used in movies is ineffective, and I don't believe ratings on video games would be any different," she said, adding that parents and other adults have final responsibility for what children view.

Her concerns have not fallen on deaf ears in the video game industry. Howard Lincoln, Nintendo's senior vice president, agreed that much more needs to be done.

"Rating games will not make them less violent," Lincoln said in a Nintendo news release. "Only manufacturers acting responsibly can do that by controlling game content."

The effects of violence are far reaching, Faulkner said, adding that violence may lead to children resolving their own problems with others through violent means.

But Gene Steele, manager of Playland, 350 E. College Ave., said the cause of children's violence can be found elsewhere.

"Every parent will probably object to something," Steele said. "They're looking for an excuse for their kid being violent. If they used discipline and different rules in their own home and not let their kid do whatever he wants to do, maybe they wouldn't have this problem."

Even the causes of the recent violence explosion in the video game market is up for debate.

"The Atari generation has grown up . . . and they want more than just playing 'Pac Man,' " said Bill White, Sega's vice president of marketing, in a Sega news release.

Although he said 40 percent of Sega software users are older than 18, while fewer than 25 percent are under 12, White said violence in video games is a problem that must be addressed.

Complications arise because young children are the ones primarily attracted to such video games, said Paul Kettl, associate professor of psychology at the University's Hershey Medical Center.

"They're the most vulnerable," Kettl said. "Younger people are not as morally sophisticated, so they're not able to process the experience."

Children exposed to violence in video games are more likely to view the world as a "mean and scary place," rather than commit violent acts themselves, he said.

Although Jeff Minelli (sophomore-business) said he does not think he has experienced any negative effects because of violence in video games, he said he is not completely against proposed solutions to the "problem."

"I do agree with a rating system for little kids because violence isn't good for children," Minelli said.