BBFC defends rating system after Microsoft exec. remark

“Public couldn't get their heads around" the pictograms the PEGI uses.”

Gosh, that is so simple.

The hand breaking a glass means there are going to be acts of burglary or closed doors or sharp objects in the game.

The text globe with sings means the game was conveniently translated to l33t.

The 18+ means that 18 is the required power level.

The Block with a question mark means there are going to be super Mario references in the game or power ups.

The flags obviously mean that is an educational game.

Not being limited to games due to parental opinions, nor being a teenager, and being older than 21, I unfortunately cannot say I care about video game content ratings. But I will say, when I was younger, my parents bought me Mortal Kombat, and the shock of the game's violence was sort of a bonding between parent and child. A sort of "Wow, that game's bloody"/"Yeah, pretty neat, aye?"/"I dig Raiden's hat" moment.

I lol'ed at "a group of "very well-qualified games examiners."

If thats the benchmark, BBFC fails horribly also.

That's utter crap excuses. Everyone knows how much Europhobes the British people (er.. English people really) are, and where's this decision coming from. lol Little Englander syndrome I tell you.

I think this is Microsoft's frustration of the Manhunt 2 ban showing through here. And judging from the BBFC's response, they know they've made themselves increasingly unpopular between developers and publishers alike.

However, I'm all for 18+ ratings to appear on games. I don't think the BBFC should ever ban content, we should decide what we, our friends and our families watch, play and listen to, not the government. 18+ just restricts this to those who's ages 18 and over and is then legally responsible for themselves and considered an adult under UK law.
PEGI and the ISFA rating system are voluntary and cannot be legally enforced, it's up to retailers to enforce the PEGI rating system, where as the BBFC rating is enforced by law and those seen selling games/movies to underage people can be fined.

But with a review of video games to be carried out by the UK government, don't expect to see the BBFC to give up their legally binding position. This is more to defend the games industry than anything, however things may get tighter as this review is carried out. But it's all bollocks anyway and the media will still hound video games regardless the outcome of this review.

So we're all staunch anti-Europe activists, then? All of us? Don't make such stupid generalisations. These slanging matches between MS and the BBFC are just bitterness on MS's part over losing Manhunt 2 potential sales; they advocate PEGI, because PEGI is determined only by publishers (i.e. you can't be refused a PEGI rating), and they hate the BBFC because they're an independant body (so they can't be easily controlled or paid off) and legally binding (their opinions actually matter).

As for the ratings, I'd have to agree with the BBFC that PEGI is confusing. What the hell does a spider icon actually mean?

I have to side with the BBFC here. The PEGI pictograms are fairly useless and pretty obviously an overzealous attempt to overcome the multiple-language problem.

It amazes me that someone, somewhere, must have thought "Well, we could either run the word "violence" through Google translator a couple of dozen times or we could doodle a cartoon fist..."

The BBFC's system (no matter how "very well qualified" their examiners are) isn't perfect but at least you can tell what the ratings mean without a glossary.

Looks like British parents are mildly retarded.

The BBCF should just fucking die and let the PEGI rate games, they are a game rating board after all. Or better yet still get rid of the rating systems all together.

BBFC gave Crackdown the 15 rating, lower than the majority of the world, because it was cartoony, satirical, and all just a bit of fun. This is more sensible than any other rating board decision I've heard about in years. BBFC all the way.

I prefer PEGI, but that's because I prefer a globalisation of entertainment. The UK is part of Europe, they should have the same rating system (in fact, Australia too since we're a PAL market). Yes, different country, different government... let me live in my pie in the sky fairy land.

PEGI's system is crap. As soon as the developer/publisher is in charge of the rating you might as well not have a system in place. In addition as far as I can remember there have only been 1 or 2 games outright banned in the UK, and one of those definitely saw release later on after changes.

I also think it makes more sense to have a cross the board rating system, parents can hardly claim no idea what the 18/15/12 etc rating on the box means when it has been around for decades on all the movies they've seen.

Also for anyone willing to do some research the BBFC was set up by film makers and remains independent, so it's hardly a government mouth-piece / censor.