Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive may be celebrating the recent ruling permitting the retail release of Manhunt 2 in the UK, but the controversy dredged up during the nine-month battle between the BBFC and the game’s creators has resulted in increased focus on the overall classification system.
Manhunt 2 release prompts UK ratings focus. Credit: BBFC.
The approval of Manhunt 2’s release comes between the tabling of a Private Members Bill proposing increased government influence over the BBFC and also the imminent arrival of an official review by psychologist Dr. Tanya Byron into the effects of the Internet and videogames on children.
The tabled bill, which has since been talked out, was introduced in February by Conservative MP Julian Brazier, who wants to see the British Board of Film Classification made more accountable to the government while also granting it the power to “review and veto key appointments and the guidelines the BBFC works to,” namely the 1984 Video Recordings Act.
Also, the Video Appeals Committee (VAC), which overruled the British Board of Film Classification’s decision to deny an age rating for Manhunt 2, “needs sorting out,” claimed Mr. Brazier in a BBC report. He also went on to find fault in that the committee “always sides with the industry and only the industry itself can appeal.”
However, not everyone is convinced the BBFC’s system of classification needs to be overhauled in any way, citing its superiority over similar ratings systems used in Europe.
Specifically, gaming industry consultant and former editor of EDGE Magazine Margaret Robertson believes UK classification remains “a very robust approach to classifying games, in that it’s based on an independent party viewing and playing the game, and taking into account context and tone.”
She also notes that the BBFC’s system “sets a worldwide gold standard of game certification,” and is far more effective than the PEGI system utilised across Europe that only requires game publishers to complete a questionnaire regarding the content of their submitted title.
Some game developers would reportedly welcome PEGI-styled self-classification, claiming that they know the software more intimately than anyone else and are therefore the best judges of its content. However, while that may be true, any such action would likely lead to critics accusing developers and publishers of falsely downgrading their own certification ratings in order to reach a wider retail audience.
It’s also highly unlikely that the BBFC’s authority will be compromised to the point where developers and/or publishers are given license to apply their own ratings. Presently the BBFC’s ratings run in parallel with the voluntary PEGI system on UK games.
According to the Tiga organisation, which represents the commercial interests of game developers, rumbles of discontent concerning the software ratings system will soon see it thrust beneath the spotlight of scrutiny when the Byron Review arrives at the end of this month.
From Tiga’s standpoint, the organisation believes current classification standards applied to movie and television ratings should also be applied to videogame products.
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