Tag Archives: bbfc

Modern Warfare 2 has been given an 18 by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).

It had a TBC 18 slapped on display boxarts for retailers, but now it is indeed confirmed.

The game passed certification without any cuts.

It’s also the first COD game to be given an 18. World at War was only a 15.

More through the link. Game’s out on November 10.

The BBFC’s given Dead Space: Extraction an 18, as you can see here.

No cuts were made for UK release, and the game contains “strong bloody violence and strong language,” according to the UK ratings body.

Keep everything crossed against the mature-games-don’t-sell-on-Wii-naysayers, innit.

It’s out in October. Thanks, GoNintendo.

It looks as through three men will be the sole power behind rating games with the new PEGI system in the UK, reports The Times.

Mike Rawlinson, the director-general of ELSPA, says that the three men in the Video Standards Council are “very skilled in their work” and despite BBFC advocates saying otherwise, the PEGI system has been “strengthened and its standards match those of the film censor.”

Meanwhile, another interesting tidbit popped up in the article.

Apparently, the BBFC discovered a recipe for crystal meth when Grand Theft Auto IV was being reviewed for a rating.

After having a chat with Rockstar, who assured the ratings board the recipe was not accurate, it was allowed to remain in the game.

Wow.

Via Kotaku.

British Board of Film Classification director David Cooke says that the regulating body could do a better job than PEGI.

His comment stems from the announcement that PEGI is now the sole games ratings board for UK.

“The BBFC has always supported PEGI and wished it well, but it continues to believe that it satisfies these requirements better than PEGI,” said Cooke.

“However, it will cooperate fully in the detailed work needed to give effect to the government’s decision. And it must be independent in substance as well as appearance, reaching its decisions and providing information on the basis of its own detailed assessments.”

More through the links.

Via MCV.

The release of today’s Digital Britain report will reveal how games are to be rated in the UK.

The tussle between the BBFC and PEGI is expected to be fully resolved this afternoon. Watch from 3.30pm onwards.

If UK games ratings float your boat, obviously.

Thanks, deftangel.

Activision confirmed today that Radical’s open-world, shape-shifting action game, Prototype, will ship on June 5 and 9 in Europe and North America respectively.

The title has passed inspection without any cuts from the BBFC for an 18 rating (thanks, deftangel), while the ESRB has handed it an M for Mature. Did we expect anything less?

The official website has also been updated with new information and content, including a partial video of the game’s introduction.

It’s out for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Press release is below.

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Update: Apparently this is a PSN release of the original PSone game. Thanks, deftangel.

The BBFC’s rated the first Silent Hill, which probably means we’re not that far off an official announcement of Climax’s rumoured Wii-make.

No platforms or developer are listed on the ratings board’s site.

Climax is thought to be developing the game for both Wii and PSP.

Thanks, Kotaku.

Tonie Manders, a politician who sits on the European Parliament’s Committee, has recommended to The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), that Europe should universally adopt PEGI’s rating system.

Mander’s draft report on videogames acknowledges that games and can also be used “well for valuable educational purposes.”

He also believes the PEGI system “provides an elegant solution to the questions raised by the evolving global games industry.”

“Toine Manders has taken a very close look at the needs of a rating system for games that works well across the EU and concluded that PEGI is the right way forward both on- and off-line,” said Michael Rawlinson of ELSPA.

“It is a ringing endorsement of the rating system that we in the UK were instrumental in helping to set up several years ago.

“The protection of children is of paramount important to this industry and we are delighted that a body as significant at the EU’s Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs committee fully comprehends the merits of PEGI.”

In July last year, the BBFC said that PEGI rating were performed by a “couple of blokes” in a bitter war words about whose ratings system was best. (seriously)

Later than month, Ubisoft, Sega and Nintendo all backed PEGI.

By Mike Bowden

According to this GI story, PEGI’s traffic light symbols are to go live in Europe this spring.

The ratings body will tweak it’s original design after the BBFC said it would take legal advise over the fact it all looked a bit “similar” to its own symbols.

“PEGI has agreed those changes and they will be implemented as part of the PEGI system in the new year, probably in the spring by the time the information has been transmitted to all publishers and incorporated as part of the approvals process for the format holders,” said ELSPA MS Michael Rawlinson.

Ratings: amazing. More through the link.

According to this Edge piece, the BBFC is taking legal advice over ELSPA’s newly announced traffic light ratings symbols.

“Our classification symbols have been colour-coded since 1982. They’re very widely recognised, and in fact they are trademark and copyright protected,” said a rep.

“We’re happy for ELSPA to make sensible improvements, but not if they encroach on the protection of the BBFC’s symbols. We have these symbols using colours, using circles and using numbers, so we are now taking legal advice.”

Whoops. More through the link.

ELSPA boss Paul Jackson has told the Labour Party that the BBFC is not fit for purpose as a ratings system for UK games.

Jackson was speaking at a Labour Party Conference fringe event, where he once again claimed that a PEGI-only solution for the UK was the right choice.

“A linear ratings system like the one the BBFC uses is designed for films with a beginning, middle and end where the outcome is always the same,” said Jackson.

“It just can’t cope with the infinite variety and complexity of modern videogames, and the interaction between players.”

More on GI.

Here. The EA horror contains 52 minutes of cut-scenes or “linear elements and scripted events,” as the UK ratings body would have it.

Game’s out at the end of October.

ELSPA put out a press release this morning dripping with quotes from “senior leaders of the UK and European video games industry” that supports PEGI as the sole rater of UK games.

“The Government’s proposed changes will create extra administration and cause delays in getting hit games into the hands of British consumers,” said EA UK boss Keith Ramsdale. “Only PEGI is built to address the fast changing nature of the games industry and is best placed to deliver the needed protection for minors.”

There’s tons more after the break. As you’ll recall, the Byron report recommended a two-tier system of ratings in the UK, with the BBFC handling censor duties for older games.

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Destructoid‘s reporting that BBFC’s David Cooke has said that PEGI ratings are given by “a couple of blokes.”

The quote comes from an interview with The Times newspaper, where Cooke says, “The trouble is that it is not clear who PEGI is. Administration is handled by the Dutch film regulator, who subcontracts to a couple of blokes [the Video Standards Council] in Borehamwood.”

This latest statement in the ratings board wars comes just a week after Cooke asked PEGI to stop slagging off the BBFC.

More mundanity through the Destructoid link.

By Mike Bowden

The BBFC has given Soul Calibur IV a 12 rating, thanks in part to the fact you can’t strip the female characters to the nude.

“The game… contains some female warrior characters with exaggerated ‘curvy’ figures accentuated by skimpy costumes,” said the body. “They are presented in a comic book manner and although the game allows characters’ costumes to be customised, the player is not able to create a character with full breast or buttock nudity.”

Game’s out on August 1.

Thanks, DarkZero.

BBFC boss David Cooke’s responded angrily to recent concerns over the affects of Byron Report proposals that will lend the body responsibility to rate all adult games.

Both EA and Microsoft have hit out at the plans, saying games are likely to become later and more expensive in Britain. Not so, said Cooke.

“The BBFC’s current average turnaround time for games classifications is eight calendar days. In terms of international comparisons, this is notably quick. There is no reason why the increased role for the BBFC envisaged by Dr Byron should lead to delays.”

He added:

“The games industry really does have nothing to fear from a set of proposals which would provide more robust, and fully independent, decisions, and detailed content advice, for the British public, and especially parents. The Byron proposals, far from envisaging the collapse of PEGI, specifically provide for a continuing PEGI presence in UK games classification. They also provide significant opportunities to reduce duplication of effort and costs. And they would make wider use of a system, the BBFC’s, which British parents recognize, trust and have confidence in.”

Press release after the link.

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Speaking to GI, EA UK MD Keith Ramsdale has said that if proposed ratings changes outlined in the Byron Review go ahead, British gamers will face delays to the release of new titles.

“The government’s proposed changes to the existing age rating systems will create further delays in getting hit games to the UK,” he said. “An extra and unnecessary layer of administration beyond a single system slows the process, and that delay will get passed on to the players themselves.”

Oh dear. More through the link.

Speaking at Gamehorizon in Newcastle this morning, Microsoft’s XNA boss, Chris Satchell, has said that user generated content can be responsibly rated by an audience of its creators’ peers – and doesn’t need any intervention from the BBFC or PEGI.

“PEGI and the BBFC simply are not going to be able to rate community content. We have to work out a way to police ourselves to avoid huge regulatory pressure,” he said. “The core of Creators Club Online take it very seriously. If you give the community tools, they act responsibly.”

More on MCV.

Speaking to GI, BBFC director David Cooke has moved to assure the games trade that the people now responsible for rating games in the UK are well into them, like. So much so, in fact, that he’s claimed the BBFC’s testers are better gamers than those at European organisation PEGI.

“The point I want to get across about this is I’ve got people in this building, about ten examiners who do games, and these are some of the best gamers I’ve ever come across and these are people who are passionate about games and know a great deal about it,” he said.

“I know the PEGI testers as well, and I think the people here have a greater expertise and knowledge of games.

“The thing that’s getting lost in this argument is that we actually like games and we’re enthusiastic about games and we do buy into the argument that some games are beautiful and aesthetically satisfying. Bioshock and Shadow of the Colossus and so on.”

Well, we’re not convinced, David. We’ll only be happy when you prove the BBFC’s worth in a Halo deathmatch against PEGI. You can pwn them. Send them to school. All that shizzle. Let us know when you’ve set it up, yeah?

The BBFC’s given Ninja Gaiden II an 18 and made no cuts, and has put out its traditional martini-dry, comedic plot detail thing.

Apparently, “The game was classified ’18′ for strong, bloody violence” and “includes sight of Ryu’s weapons sending body parts flying through the air and onto the walls and the ground, with blood splattering beside them.”

There’s a list of weapons through there, so don’t look if you want to stay pure. Also, “The game also contains a ‘cutscene’ in which a female character bathes in blood and talks to Ryu with her breasts and buttocks visible.”

It’s like being 13 again. You can read the full thing after the link.

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