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 Digg.com Facebook Google Bookmarks N4G Gamerblips del.icio.us Reddit Slashdot.org StumbleUpon I'm really unconvinced parents are going to take any notice of these. Better than just the black background and white text it was before. At least parents may see it this time and then choose to ignore it. I'd have to agree with that, most parents are well aware of the mature ratings on the games they are buying for their kids, but they are simply choosing to ignore it. They should take notice though, games probably affect minds a lot more than movies. I agree, you're the one actually conducting the violence...that's got to be more affecting than being a bystander.
I was working at Gamestation when GTA 4 was about to come out and I lost count of the amount of mothers that came in asking about the game. It's these ignorant prats that don't take any notice of ratings and warnings and then blame society and the education system for their atrocious parenting. Some parents take notice some don't. I remember last Summer being in a branch of Game looking at the games and next to me is a child who was definitely no older than ten / eleven (i know this as i am a parent myself with a child of the same age)who is standing their with his Mum getting her to buy GTA IV for him. And she did!!! I was shocked, but said nothing, it had 18 stamped all over it and really it is none of my business, i think responsible parents take notice of these age restrictions but there are plenty of parents out there who just don't give a s**t. I've played GTA IV, i've murdered my fair share of Prostitutes after having my wicked way with them in Liberty City and i know i would never let a child of mine play this game. So i don't think it will make much difference. Some parents just don't seem to be bothered what their kids are exposed to. The simple solution is to indicate the grade with a fit bird - fully clothed, it's okay for kids! Baps out and it's a 15. Bum, tits, fanny, the lot and it's an 18.
Can you really see Mrs. Uninformed buying a copy of GTA for Little Johnny if the cover has a big blart on it? @ Lokmonkey. Love it, great idea. itl have the opposite effect, il explain
when, if you see a pg or a 12,(DVD) u generally stay well away unless its a conedy/romantic u and ur bird want to watch, otherwise there mostly duds.
i know for now i will look for games that are yellow and red.
no green pegi stickers making it in my colection,
its an (almost) sure fire way of spotting a lemon. It doesn't matter what ratings system they use, if it isn't enforced - with penalties against the retailers AND any adults (parents or otherwise) who ignore the ratings - it means jack shit. We fine people who buy alcohol for minors, this should be treated in a similar (but less extreme, obv) fashion.
I don't mean to sound draconian, but this is what needs to happen in a culture that penalises the gaming industry for "marketing" unsuitable material to children (which is an absurdity, but stay with me) while simultaneously flouting the guidelines that are there to prevent it from happening in the first place. Inconsistent parenting and apathetic, half arsed legislation is at fault.
So **** 'em. Iron fist I say. They made the bed, etc.
On another note:
This is the greatest idea I've heard all year. What is the difference between 3 and 7 age rating? That has to be nit picking. I can't see how a developer could tone down a 7 rating to get it for 3 year olds.
That's just odd.
Also, regarding game stores/mum's purchase, have any game store employees ever been instructed to ask "is the game for you?/Are you buying this for anyone under this age limit?" when obvious "soccer moms" picking up 18+ rated games?
Most gamers know that ratings don't really do much when it comes to who is playing what rated game, especially when bratty kids complain to mums to purchase games.
A good solution to this is to have lots of information within stores for parents to pick up regarding ratings.
Do no stores do this? (sorry for ignorance, I'm an expat living in Spain and order games online. Haven't been in a game store for a good few years) »
+1 :D haha So the UK has had this massive government debate, with gaming doing this and that to all us gamers, dropping the BBFC, and the result is...... the same numbers with a color background. Well worth it i say.... ^
That and a ****ing ridiculous tax on broadband, and they're now propping up commercial broadcasters with public money.
Bloody disgrace. There's a really simple solution to this...
When junior says "Mum, I wanna play Resident Evil 5", the first thing Mum does is pick the box off the shelf, turn it over and look at the pictures on the back so I would suggest that the back cover of boxes contain a large picture gratuitously depicting what the potentially harmful content is:
Horror: Half rotted zombie Head
Nudity: Big pair of T*ts
Violence: Raging Bull style face punching with blood
Swearing: The word "F*CK" in massive letters
This will at least make Mum think "What the hell am I buying?"
Problem solved. Also, I hate my job so if anyone from the BBFC or PEGI fancies hiring me, please PM me!!! :lol: wow
its completely different from the old ones by light years waste of money. better not be tax.
if its got violence in it, a game it should have 15 or 18 smacked on it. thats all you need. the PEGI system is superior to the BBFC because its INdustry endorsed and influenced. Its good that the government have taken gaming seriously enough to let it have its own legally enforced ratings board rather than just bundle it up with the BBFC, who in all honesty didn't really have a clue.
The PEGI ratings are based on both the complexity of the game as well as its content. Which is the difference between 3+ and 7+ which will not have legal restrictions placed upon there sale.
only 12 and up will be enforceable by law. Hopefully the colours of the new stickers will ring a chord with people as they are similar to the BBFC colour scheme.
This isn't so much about placating outraged parents and the tabloids but not giving them an excuse. Wow this is great! They look really good actually, much better than those old plain ones.
I can't wait to see those in the shops. Furthermore, they're very clear so surely this will stop anyone who's underage from mistakenly buying a game they shouldn't.
This could solve all the problems involved with violent video games. Nice one :) Well said, that man. That's part of the problem.... all the higher rated games on PS3 and Xbox are violent, gorey or have other adult themes. Most games aimed at kids are poor and rushed out to tie in with the latest kids film. No wonder they want to play GTA, Prototype and whatever.
There are too few Mario Galaxies that everyone can enjoy. I think we have found our new king. Totally agree with the majority... this is an absolute waste of time. It's like that typical attitude of politicians or business of doing enough to cover themselves, to make themselves appear responsible or caring, but in reality don't actually care at all.
The publishers or developers, in my opinion, don't have to do anything. Like the makers of violent movies or porn, what they create is up to them, where the responsibility lies is with the people who effectively end up displaying or selling it. In fact, if the authorities or government really cared about this, which, let's be honest they don't, they would force Microsoft to take a more active role in policing themselves.
Microsoft for providing the service is directly responsible for ensuring kids don't play violent games. Microsoft are judge and jury over Live and they're the only ones who can police properly.
There's a simple solution, at least with regards Live, to resolving part of this problem.
Microsoft could easily have administrators join games, or listen in on games. Your average gamer has endured listening to kids in a game their not supposed to be playing. It wouldn't be difficult and would at least route out the underage in online games. But the fact is Microsoft do not care at all. No one does! 3!? what game is suitable for a 7 year old but not a 3 year old? »»
Here here! Brilliant idea.
Can I just question as to how the symbols between the BBFC and the PEGI are different? Oh sorry one is square and the other circle :roll:
Any real difference in the system though? It's not just about the government picking one symbol over another - its about the difference in copability between the two ratings boards; which one has the better understanding of the industry; which one is least likely to have a negative impact on the industry (i.e. delays in release due to time required to rate the games, etc) and so on.
The symbols are just the visual element we'll see. An example is Crush for the PSP. The game itself would be suitable for all ages. However, the story/setting, the enemies and the music can be seen as scary (hence the Fear icon). A 3-year-old could get nightmares playing that game.
I'm not sure how violence plays into it. There is a difference between the first Crash Bandicoot game (PEGI 3+) and Alex Kidd in Miracle World (PEGI 7+). Ahh makes sense now. Cheers guys. As stated, PEGI is industry led, wheras the BBFC system uses censors who may have no knowledge of games/systems/gamers. Therefore it has to be a preferable system.
Re stores selling games, my Missus was a manager at woolies (RIP) and they recieved age rating training on day one of starting so no excuses there then. Game and Gamestation (who are supposed to be "specialists" - read "****ing retards") are another matter as I myself have witnessed. Go figure. The colours will be a big help. Since most idiot parents in this country are only focused on their kids happiness when they're little, they wont notice an age rating unless its a vibrant colour. Obviously red means mature, so if they buy it then complain, i hope retailers tell them to go **** themselves. Does anybody REALLY believe that games influence kids lives? I have never thought that getting a chainsaw from someone's back garden and going on a rampage was a good idea. People that are "influenced" by video games, to murder people, either have an underlying medical condition or a shameless defence lawyer. If games REALLY influenced someone to commit these sort of crimes, then games wouldn't be available to ANYONE, 18+ or no. Is an 18 year old really more mature than a 13 year old? We hear of 18+s dying after playing a marathon bout of World Of Warcraft, and is it really necessary that they play for 72 hours straight? Disgusted at the elitism of the 18+s, who from their teens up to the golden age of legalism, have been pining to their parents for an 18 game, changing their views and spreading "Oh, videogames shouldn't be sold to kids", JUST because they've turned 18 last weekend. But, if you look at it, I'm not against 3+ games, but, if you're trying to ban us from 18 games, then at leat make some GOOD non-violent games!
Under teen ratings we have:
Mario, who should be laid to rest instead of shamelessly renting out his corpse to any and all party game.
ANOTHER tennis game tie-in with Sonic and Mario going against each other.
Then we have the Wii, which, is the point that I would begin to dangle from a noose.
18+, we have BioShock. Why do you get BioShock while I'm stuck with dead Mario? Any idea when these new ratings come into effect? Well I'm (and a good majority of people here probably) over 21 so these don't mean Jack to me! wooooooo new symbols to ignore! When I was in Gamestation a while back I noticed a woman come into the store holding a copy of Vice City saying she wanted to bring it back with the quote, "I had no idea this game would be so unsuitable for my 12 year old." The main reason for her disgust it turned out, was the fact her son was laughing as he ran over prostitutes... This is despite the nice clear 18 BBFC symbol on the front, back and side of the case! They look shite. WTF was wrong with the Black and White backround and text?! They looked cool. These just look stupid :evil: Hmm... Haven't posted on here for a while :shock:
I see the same old uninformed stance against the BBFC (they had game experts to rate games and if anyone had actually bothered to read the report they released a couple of years back they'd have found the BBFC were actually much less worried about game violence than the hysterics on here would have you believe).
As for the new rating symbols - they won't make a blind bit of difference: the BBFC 18 certificates were perfectly clear, well known from film and video, so there's never been an excuse for not knowing what they meant.
Basically a generation of non-game-playing parents simply can't get their heads round the fact that games can actually be made specifically for an adult audience and that things have moved on from the glory days of their youth when the worst you'd get was Barbarian or Sam Fox strip poker on the Spectrum :lol:
Well it's either that or pure ignorance/neglect... | 
