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New UK game rating symbols: Pictures of numbers! photo

With the news that PEGI has become the UK's sole game rating system, a brand new set of game rating symbols have appeared. These new symbols share similiarities with the old PEGI ones, but have been given a splash of color and are due to appear on the front and back of all videogame boxes once PEGI fully takes the reigns.

The old descriptors on the back of the box (pictures of spiders and fists and other abstract things) will remain exactly the same, giving parents a quick at-a-glance idea of what kind of questionable content lurks within each game. While most parents are too lazy, stupid and inept to pay attention to these new ratings, they are very clear and distinct, which at least should mean it'll not be the game industry's fault if Little Timmy Twatty gets a copy of GTA in his hands. 

What do you think of the new logos? Will you buy the official T-shirts or the plushies?


Continue: More United Kingdom stories





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20 comments | showing # 1 to 20

The Young Scot's Avatar
The Young Scot at 06/17/2009 08:09
Wait, if green means go... they're sending subliminal messages to turn us all into paedophiles!
Sexualchocolate's Avatar
Sexualchocolate at 06/17/2009 08:12
Fuck me, the authorities over here in the UK really think we're stupid. well a lot of us are, but come on. It's not that anyone didn't understand the ratings over here, the problem is...

1) Government pays people so fucking much to sit at home, not work and have kids.

which leads to...

2) millions of parents who are lazy, didn't REALLY want kids, don't really give a shit about their kids and would rather give their 12 year old an 18+ game than put up with their whining, or god forbid; discipline them!

It's got nothing to do with the ratings, the parents just couldn't care less.

you could put a massive sticker, covering the whole box saying "DO NOT LET CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 18 PLAY THIS GAME" on a high profile game and you would still have millions of parents buying it for Timmy Twatbag for Christmas.

Being well over 18, and over 21, i have a serious worry that this new ratings board will be a bit ban happy, last thing i want is the next manhunt-esque game to come out and for it to be fully banned over here.

i like me a bit of graphic violence and disturbing images.
Alex's Avatar
Alex at 06/17/2009 08:16
UK is getting like Germany. Stop that. I want to import my games uncut!

Also, Germany has 12 cm² big signs on every game (even the ones with no restrictions) and yet children still get the game which is 18+. Heck, these signs are so big, companies have to edit their cover so it fits with the cover.
themizarkshow's Avatar
themizarkshow at 06/17/2009 08:17
It looks like a much simpler system than what America uses. At least it has ages and colors to warn even the dimmest parents about what the content could hold... whereas the states have stuff like "teen" and "mature"... the former could be anything from 13-19 and the latter is just completely subjective (many people would claim I'm not mature and I'm in my mid twenties).
hjd uk's Avatar
hjd uk at 06/17/2009 08:23
So its all gone in a big circle but the PEGI signs are now coloured in, that was just a massive waste of time and money. Fab.

As long as games are clearly marked, no-one cam complain so im glad this is being sorted out.
Conan-san's Avatar
Conan-san at 06/17/2009 08:29
Better wasting money now than the next big game I want to get suddenly shooting up to the 60 range or not even geting released.
wadawoodo's Avatar
wadawoodo at 06/17/2009 08:41
when you broke the news yesterday i said i hope they do this!
Freefall's Avatar
Freefall at 06/17/2009 09:01
Green to red? it looks like: Cool. cool. warm. warmer. HOT STUFF!
Cowboy TTop's Avatar
Cowboy TTop at 06/17/2009 09:43
Well, we knew this was going to be a merry government dance of pointlessness. However, going for the PEGI system I think will only benefit all U.K gamers. Remember, PEGI didn't ban Manhunt, unlike the BBFC, who have really weird conditions for certification.

The colour system is a good improvement, which we've had for ages in the U.K. Now its going to be all over Europe is a good thing, so much so, that I really hope the U.S ratings adopt the same system eventually. Using colours works.

What Sexual says is spot on, though. A lot of U.K parents are like that and think their kids can do no wrong.
Aurain's Avatar
Aurain at 06/17/2009 10:00
That Red... It makes me wanna kill.

It's not games that make me violent. It's pictures of the number 18 with a red background >=(
GoldenGamerXero's Avatar
GoldenGamerXero at 06/17/2009 10:20
Hopefully this will tell parents stop buying this for your kids unless you think they can handle it and you know what's in it. People shouldn't blame the freaking developers when they give out games with perfectly good ratings.

@SexualChocolate and CowboyTTop

Actually some kids can in fact handle more violence than other without going crazy and should not be punished for some idiots but I agree on the whole. I knew 9 year-olds who played Grand Theft Auto! WTF!?
psycho terror2's Avatar
psycho terror2 at 06/17/2009 11:04
i've thought about this, and i don't care. i'm not a child and i don't have kids of my own, these ratings mean nothing to me.
TJF588's Avatar
TJF588 at 06/17/2009 12:15
Hm, all this, like, a week or so after snagging a Euro FFVA from a Turkish vendor.
Balaamsafe's Avatar
Balaamsafe at 06/17/2009 13:08
It really annoys me is Age rating look dumb, like these, they ruin the box art.
Avalon51's Avatar
Avalon51 at 06/17/2009 14:05
I don't know what I'd do if they got rid of the spiders, fists and needles
LsTr Of SmG's Avatar
LsTr Of SmG at 06/17/2009 17:02
Why's everyone being so anti this? PEGI are an infinitely better ratings board than the stuffy old BBFC. I'm not fond of the colour addition but I understand why - some people really ARE that stupid.
hbl's Avatar
hbl at 06/18/2009 05:30
@ListerOfSmeg: Stuffy old BBFC? Is this the same BBFC that just passed Lars Von Trier's Antichrist UNCUT? Seems pretty liberal and forward thinking to me. I should imagine that the MPAA on the other side of the pond cut (read: censored) the living shit out of that film.
LsTr Of SmG's Avatar
LsTr Of SmG at 06/18/2009 13:18
@ hbl

The reference was in their relationship with their games rating system rather than their film rating one. I would have thought that would rather be inferred by the fact that I posted the comment on a gaming blog.

I wont deny the BBFCs liberal stance on film rating - in fact that's why I found their conservative stance on games ratings so disappointing.
LsTr Of SmG's Avatar
LsTr Of SmG at 06/18/2009 13:19
*Additional to above:*

Also the BBFC has only recently begun to be so liberal - even in film. During the 70s and 80s they were far more conservative.
LsTr Of SmG's Avatar
LsTr Of SmG at 06/18/2009 13:24
*Another additional (need edit button BADLY)*

Also your comment about Antichrist is incorrect the MPAA DID NOT censor the film - IFC chose to do that themselves. In fact they released the UNCUT version in some cinemas (mainly on the coast). There were ALWAYS two versions of the film as evidenced by it's appearance at the Cannes film festival with it's 'Catholic' and 'Protestant' versions.
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