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MS: New ratings might make games more costly
Author: Joe MartinPublished: 30th June 2008
Microsoft has voiced concerns that changes too the UK ratings systems could result in more expensive games.
"We're in the business of providing great games to a broad audience of gamers, and we need to be able to fulfill that role by getting products to consumers quickly and at a good price," he told GI.biz.
"We're concerned with any measures that would mean this process is made more unwieldy, or incurs additional costs which have to be shared with the consumer."
Although Dr Byron suggested in her government commissioned report that games should adopt a new rating system where any game rated 12+ by the opt-in PEGI standard should be re-rated by the governmental body the BBFC, Microsoft is cautious about such a change. At the moment only games rated as 15+ are examined by the BBFC.
"We want a steady stream of product to consumers via retail and therefore support PEGI as the single ratings system in the UK," said Thompson. "That way, we're able to ensure the right content goes to the right audience, as efficiently as possible."
The comment comes shortly after EA;s Keith Ramsdale voice similar worries that the proposed system could slow down UK releases.
How much would you pay for games nowadays? Won't increased costs just push more people to piracy? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
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Comments (17)
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It's not greed.
It's never greed, no.
God, I hate you money grabbing **** scoffs.
Yeah baby!
Although I fail to see how a publisher who has completed a game, paid off and fired its dev team, sent it off to the BBFC and are now waiting a few weeks or months would need to charge a premium for that game. I suppose they would need to pay out if they didn't get the rating they hoped for and needed to tweak said game to remove the offending content, but still - it just smacks of publishers crying about not getting their way so much. And trying to fleece the honest consumer in the bargain.
Yes.. but we need a new one...
Can't the government just legally enforce the PEGI rating? rather than having a two-tiered system which is just damned confusing.
this is the solution NOT using the BBFC - much easier all round and across the EU to have ONE simple rating and PEGI is that as BBFC will not be accepted outside the UK. That will keep things simple for consumers and publishers.
peace
Dr. Tanya Byron
Hottest TV psychologist ever.
And naokaji, the BBFC is a government institution (instated by the Thatcher government.. in 1982, I think..) ergo, it is funded by Taxes.
and then we'll see if piracy is a problem :P (specially when a game 2-3 years old is being sold at its launch price) :P
I kind of understand the point Microsoft is trying to make here (although I don't think they're being entirely upfront with their motives). Currently if they want to publish a game in Europe, they first send it to PEGI where it receives a rating which is good enough for most of Europe (bar countries like Germany which have a separate system for violent media), and if it receives a 15+ rating, it's then sent to the BBFC.
Now here's the problem, as a publisher it's generally quite simple to predict which games are going to be rated 15+ (they usually have lots of blood), so all they have to do is send it to the BBFC and PEGI at the same time resulting in minimal delay. However a game can be rated 12+ for various reasons, leading to a delay when subsequently sent to the BBFC (under the proposed Byron report). So if you bare in mind that release dates are usually quite precisely timed events (taking into account various factors; advertising, coinciding releases etc), you can probably get an idea why publishers are against such a change.
Also, nobody likes a big red warning circle on the front of their shiny new game ;)
Well, that's me corrected... I can't trust TV documentaries (of which I forget what this one was) to inform me anymore..
Oooo, I got an even better idea... If you are under 18, you can't buy any games (PC, Console, or Boardgames). Only adults (18+) should be able to purchase any games. We don't want to shatter the innocent minds of our youths do we? Oh, and lets not forget movies... Disney is notorious for including adult humour in their films. Let's not stop there, toys are violent too. Only adults should be able to purchase any toys. GI Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, Indiana Jones toys? Only an adult can determine if these are okay for our youth. Let's not forget books either. Harry Potter books should be rated 18+ because they have characters that get murdered.
Sorry, rant over.