As easy to recognise as PEGI ratings are, and as useful as a standardised European system is, PEGI is pretty shitty.

The developer sends in an evaluation form of their own game, and from that PEGI generates a number and symbols. Can no one see the flaw in that?

I'm anti-censorship, but a governing board should be independent, and draw their conclusions from actually playing the game, which BBFC currently do.

hahnchen

@Rammy:

"What are those ratings good for anyway?"

Allowing the government to pretend it's doing something to protect children and get a few votes off the "won't somebody think of the children" crowd.

Zelos

@Rammy: Surely you see that most parents are that stupid... Obviously, without any hint of sarcasm, you are a fabulous parent and are really attentative to what your children are doing. But a good 90% of the buying parents will just buy it regardless. Take DVD's a parent wouldn't buy the latest 18 rated film, but they would buy GTA4 (if it didn't have the BBFC sticker on it). The PEGI ratings wouldn't even be glanced at but it will eat at their conscious with a BBFC sticker on it...

dazzlerboi

The PEGI system needs some sort of refinement - thats what this is about. The review was covered in PC Gamer a month or two back I believe, and all it really wanted was for the PEGI to clear up those little "drugs" and "language" symbols.

It's also partly british culture. The BBFC is widely known and respected in the UK - you ever watch a movie at a cinema and you will know who they are and who david cooke is.

I don't see this going away anytime soon. Not with the government, the BBFC's balls and the PEGI's backing.

Hirmetrium

The irony of EA complaining about delays to the customer. How long did the UK wait for Rock Band?
It doesn't change the fact that the Byron Review found the PEGI system to add confusion for parents, rather than streamline the process. Their little glyphs were consistently misinterpreted as functionality within the game, rather than content warning (e.g. the "racially sensitive material" was thought to represent "multiplayer capable"). The BBFC symbols are long-established in the UK, and there's no confusion about what they mean.

stoneagedan

What are those ratings good for anyway? Do they help the parents decide which game to buy? I doubt that those ratings have a big impact on that, as a parent I'd first look at the game cover and read the game's description on the back of the case. Most games can be judged by the title alone, and if the description says anything like "try to stay alive in a world of blood-thirsty, flesh-eating zombie-aliens" I know it's probably nothing for my 6-year-old. Or do PEGI and BBFC really think partens are that stupid?...

Rammy

The problems come when video/DVD retailer sell video games. Or Mothers buy video games, these people aren't aware what a PEGI rating means and usually dont even look. Yet when they see the big BBFC 18 on the front they have second thoughts. I am all for PEGI, but you need to educated people first...

dazzlerboi

Yes but can you realy take an organization named PEGI serioulsy.
I think it sounds like some sort of minigame colletion for the Ds.

hk458

I don't see a problem with publishers age rating their own games. They are familliar with how the ratings work and all the content in the game. If their ratings are grossly inaccurate, it'll only take one GTA hot coffee law suit to set it straight.

Tyrannical

@Rammy: i once had a mum with her child in my store and they read many game describtions on the back and they finally managed to get to pay and i asked if she saw the game was USK 18 (= adult only)

Himiko

PEGI is not a legal requirement BBFC is if EA are so bothered about delays then they should just go to BBFC, problem solved!

NINJApirateFACE

europe should stick to one rating system. it's just confusing to have different ratings on one game. i now the problem with PEGI and USK.

Himiko

It's almost as of those quotes are talking about a different subject, what exactly do they mean by the "fast changing nature of the games industry"? We're talking about age ratings on boxes here.

"PEGI is the only system that has the power to prevent games publishers distributing unsuitable content to children", are they serious?
How exactly is PEGI better adapted to dealing with it than the BBFC, and how is it so much more "powerful"?

They are only methods of putting ratings on boxes, one of which the UK has been using for decades and is widely understood, the other consists of a bunch of symbols depicting content which confuse parents.

Geckosan

Well, duh. They want to sell more games. More lax ratings equal more games sold.

ParaParaKing

Games Industry companies back industry-association run ratings system.

I wonder why?

Mentalist-air

@Anaralia: You were interested in porn when you were eleven?

Mara

See, that's the thing, BBFC are way more liberal than PEGI.
For example, PEGI sees sex on the Mass Effect form, and gets an 18 rating from them.

The BBFC actually sees the sex scene, realises it is pretty tame and they rate it a 12.

Is there even one case of a game receiving a BBFC rating which is higher than the PEGI one?

david78

Anything that takes ratings out of the hands of the extremely conservative BBFC and puts in the hands of a more liberal European system is fine by me.

Personally I think having ratings at all is pathetic. I've been watching horror movies and porn since I was about 11 and I'm perfectly normal.

Anaralia

@Anaralia:

Actually the BBFC has been leading research to bring games ratings down to more lenient levels. Only two games being banned isnt strict.

Surely a system which actually plays the game is better than one that doesnt, more action should be taken to having game reviews during production as to reduce delay and certification time.

Accordion

@stoneagedan: Yeah, I'm contradicting david78 by saying PEGI are more lenient, but I was being hypothetical. I don't care what PEGI say, and never look at their ratings, as ultimately they don't have the final say over UK releases. Plus, I'm 26, and my mother doesn't check my games anymore.

stoneagedan

@Anaralia:
The BBFC isn't very conservative in the grand scheme of things. They recommend very little in terms of cuts (if any), and have a very short list of banned games. Sure, PEGI might be more lenient, but do I have to point out how pointless a liberal watchdog and censor is?

stoneagedan

The only reason they're actually arguing for PEGI is it's far cheaper ;)

BBFC classifications are expensive, especially for only 1 nation, not pan-Europe.

Frankly though, as someone very involved in this side of things - the BBFC always seemed to be fair and decent, whereas PEGI was always a matter of how much you disclosed on the forms.

AndyboyH

"Only PEGI fully assesses all games content."

Through the completion of a form, not through the actual playing of the game itself though.

markusdragon

I like how they phrase it, "prevent game publishers distributing unsuitable content to children," when the proper way to say it would be, "attempting to prevent idiot parents from buying games unsuitable for their kids so they don't throw a hissy fit and blame the game companies later."

DangerFlakes

I wait for the day a Gamer comes to power....

RichardChaos

@david78: I am looking at my copy of Mass Effect (PAL) and yes - the game is PEGI:18+, but no - they do not mention sex.

@stoneagedan: I believe PEGI does not censor games and only gives them ratings ... what exactly makes it pointless?

uzivatel

"It is designed specifically for interactive software. It understands games and their potential for infinite variations. "

Exactly, BBFC is for films, PEGI is for games. Makes sense that PEGI should rate all games released in the UK.

OkayOctane

How long until video game boxes are covered in so many different rating icons that there is no more room for the title?

16bitman

@OkayOctane:PEGI have to justify why their fill it in yourself questionnaire is more relevant and useful to an interactive medium as BBFC's actual playing of the game.

hahnchen

So many acronyms. . . so many . . .

Sumone989

Nice to see a fair bit of support for the BBFC. I'm just all round happier with them to be honest, the ratings from the PEGI seem downright bizarre at times. I also like it being law, I see no harm in being asked for ID when buying games/films. And the argument about it being silly to suggest you're suddenly mature enough to buy 18 rated material at 18 is moot, there has to be some sort of age point, the same with alcohol/sex/driving, you can't 'test' for maturity. But that's my opinion, I'm not going to put down those in favour of the PEGI, although to call the BBFC conservative (as others have said here) is just plain wrong.

TearsandScreams

These people have no say in the matter anyway. Their opinions are not going to influence the UK government any more than those posted in this thread. Personally, I think the BBFC ratings are far more informative.

For example, the aforementioned Mass Effect got a PEGI rating of 18+ and apparently contains a fist holding barbed wire, which may refer to violence but this is not specified on packaging. The BBFC gave it a rating of 12, and states 'Contains moderate violence and one moderate sex scene.' on the box.

Gears of War. PEGI: 18+ rating, and like Mass Effect contains the fist (violence). The BBFC on the other hand, gave it an 18 rating and states 'Contains strong bloody violence'. Not so dissimilar?

Here's another one: Bully Scholarship edition. According to PEGI, it contains the fist (violence, same logo as Gears of War's), and foreign languages (swearing). It gets a 16+ rating. The BBFC gave it a 15 rating and states on the box: 'Contains strong violence and imitable behaviour'.

Imitable behaviour is quite an important one really, and is what causes the difference in rating between Bully and Mass Effect, because you can't actually shoot aliens with laser guns or kill people with bionic powers, but you can shove nerds in lockers and hit jocks with bin lids. PEGI does not distinguish between the violence in Bully, Mass Effect or Gears of War, whereas the differences are clearly visible.

Also, there is little or no swearing in Bully, which PEGI have stated, whilst there is in Mass Effect and it isn't mentioned. Maybe that's because Bully has a lower rating, but content descriptors are content descriptors. And they don't even play the games? Incompetent. The BBFC is clearly the better system.

MrLister

You can count on Nintendo backing something that could possibly result in longer game delays in the UK. As if Brawl wasn't a long and painful wait as it is.

MeleeKirby