The popular Pan-European Game Industry has been declared the sole legal ratings authority for video games in the United Kingdom after a long run battle against the British Board of Film Classificiation.
This is held as Good News by games enthusiasts. PEGI is well respected across the industry, known for understanding the nuances of interactive entertainment. If you've looked on the back of a games box in the past five years or so, you'll recognise their grey and white age rating graphics (though now I look at their site, they appear to have added some colour) and pictographic ones indicating elements such as discrimination, drug use, horror and violence.
This comes as something of a shock after the Byron Report last year strongly recommended to the government that the BBFC take a greater role in games ratings. Previously they were only regularly involved with games that PEGI had already rated as suitably only for people aged 18 and up, at which point the BBFC was merely confirming what was already self-evident.
Now there is consensus on who is responisble for rating games in the UK, bringing it in line with much of Europe, the average consumer can be confident of being clear and confident on what they will find in the games they buy.
[Via Gamasutra]
No comments:
Post a Comment