Front page news on The Guardian over the weekend flashed the headline "Ministers plan clampdown on 'unsuitable' video games"

According to the article the government is planning on introducing "a legally enforceable cinema-style classification system." At the moment only the few games that show "sex or "gross" violence to humans or animals" have the BBFC age restriction on them, like your GTAs, Halos and Mass Effect (which has only a 12+ rating). This means that "up to 90% of games on the market , many of which portray weapons, martial arts and extreme combat, free from statutory labelling" and to make sure these games don't get into the wrong hands ministers are proposing a complete overhaul of the ratings system, which will no doubt be similar to the cinema ratings system and include similar penalties to those who sell DVDs to underage kids.



Ministers are also extending their reach to recommend "blocking mechanisms" to stop the underage from seeing unsuitable games online as well as blocking unsuitable emails and websites and talks with internet service providers regarding this are already happening.... although I'm skeptical as to how this would be implemented successfully it's better to be safe than sorry so start downloading all that porn kids before it's too late!

Also an investigation of violence in video games and the current rating system and its effectiveness is being carried out right now and the results will obviously guide them in how to shake things up and I think everyone knows what that report is going to sound like...

Most interestingly though is the proposal for a bill that's also expected to be introduced that would create a separate body of people to appeal the decisions of the BBFC and its ratings of DVDs and games, because everyone knows DVDs and games are different right?

Surely this is a good thing? It means that the government is taking video games seriously which means that the public will see games in a more socially acceptable light. After all the path to acceptance is a long and arduous one. Perhaps more practically though it means that parents can no longer blame ignorance when they buy their 12 year old GTA 4 when it comes out and is confused why he keeps trying to beat up police officers in the street. Who knows maybe we'll see manhunt 2 released over here............yay?!
I guess the downside to all this comes to how conservative this new body becomes..... It may be awesome and fair but there's equal chance that it won't be and unfair ratings may become detrimental to a games reception and sales. You could be super cynical and say that this is all a response to the public (especially because Labour ain't doing to hot right now) and not really a proposal for the greater good of the games industry, which means that games will get harsh ratings to please the masses of peons.....

I guess it's too early to really say how these new laws will be applied but let's hope this all works out because I wouldn't be suprised if this spreads to the rest of Europe like my ex Sally....