The British Board of Film Classification, that smug and faceless organization that controls Britain’s media viewing and is still fighting for sole rights to rate videogames, has warned Sky News that sexual content in videogames is on the rise.
“On the whole, sexual activity in games is nowhere near as common as violence, but it is becoming more common,” said board member Sue Clark. This follows research which states that 74% of British parents want an independent review board to rate games, while 79% of them believe games can affect the minds of children.
Clark also raised the issue of swearing as a concern, using one of the most amazingly backward pieces of logic I’ve ever read: “If you’ve got a film with one (swear word) in it, you’ll hear that word once, but in a game you can go back and play that bit again and again.”
Yes, you read that correctly. In videogames, you can go and replay sections with swearing, but in movies, you can’t! Apparently, Ms. Clark has never heard of the “rewind” function, and DVD scene selection is a completely alien concept to her. I am actually astounded that she tried to use that logic in an argument to suggest videogame swearing is worse than movies.
If Ms. Clark doesn’t even understand how DVDs work, I’ve got to wonder if she’s in the right line of business.
