Microsoft: PEGI is the clear standard, BBFC Lacks expertise

In the current debate over which ratings system is most appropriatefor consumers - the BBFC or PEGI - Microsoft's Neil Thompson comes downclearly on the side of the latter.
"We made it very clear to the Byron Report team, both as an industryand as Microsoft, strongly believe that PEGI has a lot more benefitsfor customers, parents and for everyone involved in the industry really.
Thompson notes that Byron has not yet decided if a single ratingssystem is the right way to go - but if that is, in fact, herrecommendation, he says that PEGI is the preferred route.
"PEGI has been established for quite a few years now as the industrystandard, so the industry has got behind it and invested a lot of timeand effort in it, and it offers a level of in-depth information as wellas a level of expertise to be honest, that the BBFC doesn't."
Thompson said that last year the PEGI system rated close to 2,000 games while the BBFC rated about 100 or so.
"There's just a scale difference in terms of industry knowledge and industry insight that goes into these things," he said.
Addressing the BBFC's claim that the PEGI symbols don't mean enough,Thompson thinks that PEGI's iconography helps consumers to quicklyascertain whether or not a game is appropriate for a certain age.
The key, he says, is for the industry and government to continue toeducate parents about the ratings system and what the symbols, words orage ratings refer to.
The fact that the industry is behind PEGI will give it a lot more momentum.
"It's becoming the European standard and whenever you have somethingof that magnitude where you're getting more countries evolving to thatstandard I think you're going to see a lot more progression in terms ofeducation and the way that technology can evolve, because it's mucheasier to move when you've got one clear standard like that."
The first part of our interview with Microsoft's Neil Thompson can be read here.