With computer and video games such as Miss Bimbo and Manhunt 2 both contributing to the recent moral outcry thrown at the gaming industry’s feet, continued focus on the potential shortfalls of UK software classification takes another twist this week with the delivery of the much talked about Byron Report.
Byron Report calls for more movie-like coverage on BBFC\'s software age ratings. Credit: Rockstar Games.
Commissioned by the UK government and conducted by psychologist Dr. Tanya Byron (who found fame through BBC3’s House of Tiny Tearaways), the Byron Report suggests that the current British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) videogame rating system needs to be revised for the sake of both parents and children alike.
Along with recommending the implementation of a UK-based group to monitor the safety of children when online, Dr. Bryon’s report also calls for the introduction of a new BBFC age rating that categorises software for children aged 12 plus, which would sit before the current BBFC ratings of 15 and 18.
Games submitted to the BBFC for a mandatory age classification review are done so due to the content including instances of human sexual activity or extreme levels of violence. The BBFC then assigns its 15 and 18 ratings accordingly -- or, in the case of Manhunt 2, refuses classification completely and renders the game ineligible for retail release.
The BBFC’s refusal to classify Manhunt 2 has since been overturned following a VAC appeal lodged by its creators Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive.
According to a figure quoted in a BBC report, the British Board of Film Classification presently receives around 100 videogame titles each year for review and the inclusion of a new ‘12 plus’ age rating would see its assessment workload increase significantly to accommodate wider parameters of content appraisal.
Dr. Byron also focuses on Europe’s voluntary PEGI software classification system, which currently runs parallel with the BBFC’s ratings and assigns its standard based on computer and videogame creators merely filling in a questionnaire regarding the content levels within their product. The report suggests that only one classification system should be printed on packaging to prevent confusion.
Dr. Bryon offers that children are being left vulnerable to the risks associated with the digital worlds they populate due to a general lack of technological confidence and awareness portrayed by their parents, an issue she believes could be addressed with much more prominently placed and rigorously enforced age ratings.
“We have to make child digital safety a priority. If you are under 18, you should not be able to buy an ‘18’ game and if you are under 12, you should not be able to buy a ‘12’ game,” said Dr. Byron, who would like to enforce that view by hitting retailers with considerable fines or as much as five years imprisonment should they sell to those beneath the new statutory age ratings her report is proposing.
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