November 23rd, 2008

Adult Rated Games, Going Low

Once they got the "red mark," adult rated games become inaccessible to those below 18 - or at least that's what is supposed to happen. Obviously, this law can't stop parents to get such games for their kids despite the rating, and sometimes even kids themselves can do this, but this is not about such situations, since a rather funny thing has happened recently, with a bunch of adult rated games having their rating lowered...

In UK, it seems various game rating organizations can't get along regarding what should be rated as adult game, and what should not be. According to the ELSPA, "The BBFCs downgrading of games opens

up the potential of unnecessary risk for UK children and teenagers when playing games against other non-UK players online.

Last year, of the 50 games that PEGI rated 18+ and passed to the BBFC for classification, the film rating board downgraded 22 of them – almost 50 percent."

On the other hand, BBFC director David Cooke said "We're British, and I do think it's important even in an online game world to be able to take account of British sensibilities and we consult the public very widely when we revise out guidelines."

Heh, maybe they should simply go out of business and be replaced by a few hundred paid game testers to decide what is "adult" and what is not, when it comes to gaming...