BBFC responds to the Byron review

[HEXUS]

The BBFC respond to the publication of Dr Tanya Brown's proposals to improve online safety for children and state that 'games like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas are for adults, and should be treated in the same way as ‘18’ rated films and DVDs.'

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[dangel]

I'm not sure if this is a waste of time - we have a rating system (which parents appear to ignore) - does making it 'official' make any real difference?

The simple fact of the matter is that parents need to look after their kids.

OTOH i'd be glad if we finally realised that we CAN have adult orientated games out there and then we could stop freaking out when a pair of boobs appears in a game. Games are always seen by the mainstream media as 'for kids' when statistically nothing could be further from the truth.

[kopite]

I havent read the report my self only read other peoples views of it, It seems though that the byron report speaks a lot of sense.

BY using the same standard that Parents are already familair with in the film industry and as long as the parents actually pay attention to them instead of the current ysituation where parents seem to think that computer games arent as bad as movies then it should start to give the games industry a bit of credibility.

Plus it will shut Jack thompson up.... Wel we can dream

[directhex]

I'm not sure if this is a waste of time - we have a rating system (which parents appear to ignore) - does making it 'official' make any real difference?

The simple fact of the matter is that parents need to look after their kids.

OTOH i'd be glad if we finally realised that we CAN have adult orientated games out there and then we could stop freaking out when a pair of boobs appears in a game. Games are always seen by the mainstream media as 'for kids' when statistically nothing could be further from the truth.

The weird bit is talking about GTA.

GTA is *already* given a BBFC rating, which is legally enforceable under the same rules as a DVD (with the hardened laws following the Jamie Bulger case). Not only that, but BBFC ratings on games are roughly 4x larger than BBFC ratings on movies.

Making PEGI ratings legally enforceable will not improve a thing - parents ALREADY ignore legally enforceable ratings and buy inappropriate material for kids.

[kopite]

I remember reading somewhere about a parent who kicked off at the staff in Game for telling them that the game they where buying for their 12 yr old was aimed at over 18`s.

I have grown up playing games and I do want games aimed more at my age group now. The problem is because the parents and ppl in other media still perceive games as being childish then the notion is that all games should be suitable for their 12 yr olds.

[beanbandit]

I'm not sure if this is a waste of time - we have a rating system (which parents appear to ignore) - does making it 'official' make any real difference?

The simple fact of the matter is that parents need to look after their kids.

It was only a matter of time before this sort of thing was going to happen. The problem we have at the moment is that we have 2 standards, one is enforceable by law the other is a voluntary system. It makes sense to have one over riding standard.

Your right tho about parents needing to look after their children, just today i was talking to someone at work who said her 13 yr old son wanted GTAIV. But she was in two minds about buying it for him. Its this sort of situation that needs to be fixed, parents need to be educated. But i can't see that happening.

[Vroomparrot]

Has anyone had a read of report (Department for Children, Schools and Families : Byron Review) yet? From what I've had a look at so far* it's actually quite balanced. It seems to put the emphasis on educating parents rather than outright banning or censoring of games for example. Also having one rating system rather than the hotch potch we have now makes sense. Of course with some parents none of this will make any difference.

*Admitedly only part of the Executive Summary.