Video game rating system to be reviewed
"A UK government-backed review has stated it thinks that The video game ratings system should be revamped."
Published: 27th March 2008 | Source: BBC |
The video game ratings system to be revamped? 
The Beeb have been reporting today that a UK Government-backed review has called for the video game rating system to be revamped to make it easier for parents and children to understand.
The review was carried out by psychologist Dr Tanya Byron, who has recommended a new rating for games aimed at children aged 12 plus.
Currently games only get a mandatory review by classifiers if the games contain "human sexual activity" or "gross violence". Each year the industry submits about 100 games for review by the British Board of Film Classification. The introduction of a statutory requirement to classify games for children aged 12 plus will see the workload of the BBFC increase dramatically.
Voluntary system
The games industry also adheres to a voluntary European ratings system called Pegi. It means some games can have two differing ratings from the two bodies. Dr Byron has said games should have just one set of symbols from the BBFC on the front of all boxes, which are the same as those for films. Pegi ratings will now appear on the back of boxes.
Many people in the games industry had been hoping the review would favour the Pegi self-regulatory system over the BBFC system.
Keith Ramsdale of giant games publisher Electronic Arts said:
"We were very clear, unanimously clear as an industry, that we want a single system and using Pegi as that single system will make that much clearer to the consumer.
"We don't believe it needs to be legislative; we believe it could be self-regulatory, with some very sharp teeth."
Internet Safety
On another subject Dr Byron has also called for a UK body to oversee children's Internet safety.
Dr Byron's report has said the online industry needs to take greater responsibility when it comes to policing content posted to websites, such as video sites and social networks. She has recommended codes of practice for the industry, which should be independently monitored.
Schools secretary Ed Balls told the BBC that the government was going to implement all of the proposed recommendations in full and commented “It’s a ground breaking report”.
He said the government would ensure that websites and hardware manufacturers gave better guidance to parents about safety features and controls.
Some of the points the review has recommended are:
• The creation of a website for parents where they can find our more information about online safety
• A comprehensive public information and awareness campaign on child internet safety
• Clear and consistent guidance for industry on how games should be advertised
• High profile efforts to increase parents understanding of age ratings and improved parental controls
Do you think there really needs to be any changes to the way games are rated? Or is it just a futile exercise due to children being able to get their hands on the games one way or another regardless of age rating.
Discuss in our forum.
Most Recent Comments
I was going to launch into a load of stuff and links but I’m at work so I can’t. All I know is when I did my rig at the time q6600 OC’d, 8800gt oc’d and NB after all the calculations and graphs I needed 100cfm fans.
I wanted peace and quiet so I ended up using some 70cfm fans at 19db on a controller…
People always end up doing what they want. I sacrificed a few degs on the temp for some silence.
This is probably the least helpful post I’ve made. What I’m saying is if you do what you plan it will be fine.
also, the reason i was thinking for a fan controller is due to the fact that i could put it on silent fan speed whislt at idle yet id be able to whack it up to full speed when im playing games, encoding, etc etc etc.
i dont mind loudness when im doing something that requires 100% cpu/gpu load, however, if i decided to lets say.........download overnight or whatever it may be, then I could whack the fan speeds down, keep it nice n quiet, and be able to actually get a good night's sleep.
Mr Smith, if you could either add me on msn: [email]modem7@gmail.com[/email] or post what you were going to post at another time here, i would be much obliged, as both yourself and llwyd seem to know their shizniz (which is more than i can say for myself).
thx for the response guys.
I'll try to dig up the links re the pa fan thing but it was some time ago and will take me some time. I'll be on my pc tonight so I'll look...
It was something like use the psu calculator to calculate the TDP to be dissipated by the loop.
Then use this gpm calculator to find out the gpm of your loop.
Then use this graph to see what fans you can get away with using...
[IMG]http://www.thermochill.com/PATesting/PA1203HeatdissVSFlowrateGPM.jpg[/IMG]
Maybe google around a bit but like i said i'll look later
CSS Valid
im going to be watercooling my new rig, and I think i've opted out on the T-Balancer to do so.
I am thinking of the following (all 120mm):
3x Fans on the Rad
1x Fan for the HDD
Then to get the hot air out, i was thinking of having all fans in the system pulling cold air in to the case apart from the Rad fans which will be pulling air out on top of the case.
Now, my colleague stated that this probably wouldn't have enough air pressure.
so i was thinking of the following (apologies for the pic, was in college and they dont have photoshop here, so paint had to suffice (see attachment):
now, the 4 MAIN fans in the system would be the rad fans and the HDD fan (front blowhole fan), these would be some decent Yate Loon 120x120x25 D12SL-12.
and the rest of the fans would be some resonable, LOW SPEED fans, just to aid airflow, not to cool the system.
now, first off: Would u recommend the low speed airflow helpers to be attached to the mobo and then the decent ones to be attached to a fan controller like the kama master?
or would u recommend a totally different fan setup (eg, maybe scrap the fan above the HDDs, keeping the HDD cage seperate from the mainboard cage (so 2 fans on the HDD section, one in, one out), and one fan in on the mainboard cage/partition pulling cold air into the case and have the 3x rad fans pulling hot air OUT of the case......
I'll be cooling CPU, Mobo (NB, SB, Mosfets), and 1x 8800GT.
everything will be overclocked. See http://oldforums.overclock3d.net/showthread.php?t=20802 for more details on specs and project plan + log.