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Game ratings are under increased scrutiny following the decision to give Manhunt 2 an 18 certificate in the UK. The game was approved for release after a nine-month battle betweendevelopers Rockstar and the the British Board of Film Classification(BBFC).
Its release comes as the UK games industry awaits the Byron Review into the impact of technology on children.
A Private Members Bill proposing more government oversight of the BBFC was tabled last month but was talked out.<!-- E SF -->
Julian Brazier, Conservative MP for Canterbury and Whitstable, whointroduced the bill, had said he wanted to "legislate against videonasties". Writing on his blog before it was talked out, he said: "Mybill aims to make the British Board of Film Classification accountableto Parliament.
"It would give a Parliamentary committee the power to review and veto key appointments and the guidelines the BBFC works to."
Mr Brazier told BBC News: "The problem is that the Video AppealsCommittee needs sorting out: it always sides with the industry and onlythe industry itself can appeal."
Dr Tanya Byron is due to deliver her review into the internet and video games and their effect on children at the end of March.
Games consultant and former Edge magazine editor Margaret Robertsonsaid the Manhunt 2 overruling came at a bad time for the BBFC.
She said: "Whatever the merits of this specific decision, what'sfrustrating is that the BBFC's system remains a very robust approach toclassifying games, in that it's based on an independent party viewingand playing the game, and taking into account context and tone."
She added: "I still feel the BBFC sets a world-wide gold standard of game certification."
She said that the BBFC's system was superior to the European voluntaryapproach of Pegi, which runs in parallel to UK-specific classification.
"Compared to the Pegi system, which is based on a questionnaire filledin by the game publisher, the BBFC system is clearly a moresophisticated and nuanced approach."
<!-- S IIMA --> [TABLE] [TR][TD]
Dr Tanya Byron's report is due at the end of March
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She added: "As games become more complex, and start to tackle morediverse and challenging themes, we need an intelligent, sensitiveratings system which is alert to the fact that games can and do have asubtext to what they portray, just as film and television can."
Ms Robertson said that a much wider debate was needed about how theBBFC was run and how much oversight was appropriate for government.
Only a small percentage of games, those that contain violence or sex, are referred to the BBFC.
A spokeswoman for the BBFC said the body continued to work to the rules laid down by the 1984 Video Recordings Act.
She said there had been no suggestion from government that its role as a video games classifier was about to change.
Developer David Braben, head of Frontier Games, said self-certification of games by developers was a potential solution.
"We've heard reports that the Byron Review will say that the classification system is not entirely working.
"The law is a very blunt weapon. The real problem is that games arequite complicated and are a non-linear media, and are therefore muchharder to rate.
"There is strong argument for self ratings. For me, the Pegi system has worked well.
"Developers intimately know the content - whether its cartoon violence,nasty violence, or has sexual elements - and can apply ratingsdirectly.
"The issue is almost whether you need something above 18, whichAmericans have as 'Adults Only', which is used for porn and cannot beon public display."
He added: "We need a system that is very clear to all of us. At times I fear the BBFC feels it is powerless."
Richard Wilson, chief executive of Tiga, the national body whichrepresents the commercial interests of developers, said members wereseeking consistent standards for games, films and TV.
He said: "The whole ratings system is going to be under review because of the Byron Review.
"Whatever was going to be the outcome of this particular case withManhunt 2, the government has initiated the Byron Review and that willsupersede that decision
"We feel that the same standards that apply to films and TV should apply to games."
Dr Tanya Byron <byronreview>Look forward to hearing the outcome of the ByronReview next year. Be safe Love Nicole ... I Can't understand why the ByronReview have been gave ...
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