April 9, 2008 -
MCV UK has coverage of meetings held last week between members of ELSPA (the U.K. equivalent of the ESA) and Dr. Tanya Byron.In the first installment, SCEE president David Reeves tells Byron that the industry is in favor of giving the PEGI rating system the force of law. This is a quite different approach from the U.S., where the ESA strenuously opposes any such regulation. During the meeting, Reeves told Byron:
We funded research into the subject of age ratings... the findings that came out were this: the ratings are well known in Europe, less so in the UK and there’s more confusion In the UK than anywhere else in Europe...
They concluded also that retail is doing an excellent job at policing the ratings... But they also concluded that the ratings had no teeth whatsoever and that they believed PEGI should be given teeth, it should be made law... And we supported that... and we were hoping that the Byron report would recommend to Government that was the way to go.
And Dr. Byron, I don’t want to be controversial, but I think you’ve been too nice to us. We... were looking for something that was perhaps a little bit more direct... This debate goes on in every European country and in Switzerland it’s at the top of the agenda for every political party. It’s a major hot potato...
For her part Byron defended her recommendations, including a surprising degree of concern for the video game industry:
...One of my big things... was about the emotion that was happening – the paranoia that was around – and I have felt quite protective of the video game industry. I didn’t want to make a recommendation that would have huge implications for PEGI, but I also had to make a recommendation on the evidence presented to me and what I was hearing...
I’m disappointed you don’t think I’ve been clear, I don’t think I could have been clearer, but I think I’ve certainly been fair. Europe is full of different countries, different people. But the UK’s parents need to understand the context of a game and that’s very important...
I don’t think that [PEGI] recommendation would have done well for the industry at this point in time.
Comments
I'm sorry, I can't help, but point this out. When did Switzerland leave Europe? Did I miss something here?
Well, Switzerland is neutral. Maybe they are now continentally neutral, not picking one continent over the other.
But I don't understand why everyone attacks the ratings. From what I can tell, PEGI works pretty well when self regulated.
That is PEGI...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_European_Game_Information
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Papa Midnight
They should just move everything over to BBFC, that would erase all these problems in a single stroke, and would be far easier for the videogames industry to defend itself.
I think Mr. Reeves was looking more for direction on SCEE's part on things they haven't already done.
The second one is much... dirtier... the cleanest way I can think of his words is that he's simply saying "Thank you, ma'am! Next time, put your wrist into it!"
This guy is a tool.
Oh - Sony. That explains a lot.
Gift.
THERES THAT MAGIC WORD FOR ALL YOU LOBYIST TITS! CONTEXT!!!