In an attempt to counter unfair stereotypes about games, UK game industry trade organization TIGA reveals that three times as many movies have been refused British Board of Film Classification ratings than games in the past five years.
The statistics, which came to light as a result of a written answer to a question by a Parliament member in the House of Commons yesterday, indicate that only four games in the past five years have been refused BBFC classification. All four instance occurred in 2007, and Rockstar's Manhunt 2 for the Wii, PS2, PC, and PSP could very well account for all four. and those were all reviewed and granted classification the next year.
In contrast, thirteen films have been refused since 2005. TIGA CEO Dr Richard Wilson finds this data very telling.
"There have been hardly any instances of the BBFC refusing classification for video games. In fact, during the past five years, there have only been four games deemed unfit or unsuitable for classification, as opposed to 13 films – more than three times the amount of games. It is important that these facts are placed in the public domain as they clearly counter some of the unfair stereotypes about video games."
Of course, for a more accurate idea of the film versus movie ratings ratio we'd have to know how many movies versus games passed through the BBFC ratings procedures during the reported years, but the data we have is good enough for a forum argument.