Tag Archives: age ratings

Australia’s governing bodies have long taken issue with violent content in games and has refused to establish an 18-rated certificate for games featuring mature content. While the certificate is making headway in all regions, it has been wrenched back to the drawing board by Western Australia authorities.

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Tanya Byron, author of the Byron Review – a study into the way children are affected by gaming and exposure to the internet – has underlined the role of parents in ensuring their children don’t play games featuring mature content.

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Brendan O’Connor, Australia’s minister for home affairs, has said that the adoption of an R18+ rating for games in the country would create jobs. Consultation on the adult-only rating is taking place in July.

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DSi has been region-coded to protect the innocent, Nintendo UK boss David Yarnton’s told The Times.

“There are many different age requirements with games around the world,” said Yarnton when asked why Nintendo had blocked games from other regions.

“I’ve been involved with the Industry Body, and we’ve just had the Byron review, so it’s quite topical. As an industry, we are trying to take a responsible stance in that area, to make sure that we have people aware of what content they get, and that there is a certain amount of protection.”

So there you go. It has absolutely nothing to do with grey imports and general sales control. Absolutely not.

DSi hits Europe at the beginning of April.

Singapore has announced plans to introduce a new ratings system for games, two include only two levels of age restriction: Mature 18 (M18) and Age Advisory.

According to this Xinhuanet.com report, “M18 is a restricted category for persons 18 years old and above with retailers required to conduct an age check at the point of sales.

“Age Advisory is suitable for persons 16 years old and above. It is an advisory category to assist consumers in making informed choices. While retailers need not conduct age checks at the point of sale, they are encouraged to exercise responsibility by not selling these games to those below 16 years of age.”

More through the link.