Casey Muratori wrote a great piece yesterday speaking out against Microsoft's Windows 8 for all kinds of reasons, but one point that struck me was his suggestion that, because there are age restrictions on the operating system's marketplace, this would affect adult video games.
The studio in charge of Duke Nukem Forever asked that press not film a trailer featuring strippers,"the word f—-ing" in giant letters and an alien getting punched in the balls repeatedly, because it risks a harsh rating.
Switzerland recently passed two acts meant to clamp down on violent video games, but has yet to enact them while the government determines the standards under which a game considered too violent. Apparently, only 12 titles would fit the description.
The UK Government has adopted the PEGI (Pan European Game Information) standard as the sole game content rating system. PEGI has revealed its new ratings icons:
The war between the British Board of Film Classification and the Pan-European Game Information system over UK game ratings comes to an end today, with PEGI to act as the UK's sole age rating system.
The consultation period for the UK's Byron Review into age ratings and the effects of videogames on children has now concluded and the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) have presented their report to the UK Government. The 30 page report details the advantages of the PEGI rating system…
Responding to Dr., Tanya Byron's findings that parents in the United Kingdom don't seem to be familiar with the PEGI rating symbols, the Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) are introducing a traffic light system, reasoning that parents know that green means go, yellow means caution, and…
The ongoing debate between the British Board of Film Classification and the Pan-European Game Information system over who should be left to rate video games has recently been locked in at a feverish pitch. The argument, one which one day we may see come to U.S. shores, is steeped, I think, in some very interesting…
The British Board of Film Classification comes under further fire today as the director general of the Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) Paul Jackson calls out the organization while addressing the Labour Party Conference in Manchester, England. Jackson, along with just about everyone…
After the Bryon Review suggested a new system requiring games that would normally receive a 12+ Pan European Game Information (PEGI) rating be subjected to review by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), publishers like EA started to worry about even longer UK game release delays. Both the BBFC and PEGI are…
Recently some UK game publishers - notably EA - expressed concern that proposed changes to the ratings system that would require the British Board of Film Classification to review all games 12+ and up would cause delays in getting titles into the hands of consumers. BBFC Director David Cooke finds their lack of faith…
Britain's Byron Review, in which the big-smiling Dr. Tanya Byron made a series of measured, generally reasonable findings and recommendations regarding children's use of video games and the internet, has now produced an "action plan" from the UK government.
The last thing gamers in the UK need is additional delays to the games that can already take months to make the jump from Japan and North America, but that's just what they'll get under the new system under consideration by the British government. Suggested in the Byron review, the new system would require games that…
