Tag Archives: bbfc

The British Board of Film Classification has said that, despite Heavy Rain depicting child murder, a serial killer and prostitution, it still warrants a 15 rating.

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The BBFC‘s listed Heavy Rain as a classified 15.

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The British Board of Film Classification has outed a Sonic Collection for possibly Blu-ray or DS.

Called the Sonic Classic Collection, it contains the original title, Sonic 2, Sonic 3, and Sonic & Knuckles and its subsequent “collaborations” with Sonic 2 and 3.

Also contained within it is a Sonic image gallery and a “History of Sonic” video, and a trailer for Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.

While the listing is leading some to believe it is for DS, others cite a leaked SEGA document which mentioned a “Best of Sonic” Blu-ray for PS3 containing “all of the old Sonic games” for around $100.

We’ll mail SEGA for comment.

Thanks, Kombo.

The BBFC’s rated BioShock 2 as an 18. Not the most shocking thing in the world.

The game “contains strong bloody violence and very strong language,” as you already know.

BioShock 2 will release in “early 2010″.

The BBFC’s rated Assassin’s Creed II a 15.

The game was made with no cuts, but info did reveal that the game will contain over three hours worth of cut-scenes in the game.

A minute and a half is put aside for a  trailer of Avatar: The Game.

ACII is out on November 20 for PS3 and 360.

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.