News MS: New ratings might make games more costly

[CardJoe]

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/06...-more-costly/1

Microsoft executives have indicated that the changes to UK ratings suggested by the Byron report may make games more expensive.

[steveo_mcg]

Good excuse to hike the price up... any excuse to hike the price up.

[Paradigm Shifter]

Originally Posted by steveo_mcg

Good excuse to hike the price up... any excuse to hike the price up.

Of course!

It's not greed.

It's never greed, no.

[liratheal]

Wait, so they need to cost more even though we already pay more than, say, the US by damn near $20?

God, I hate you money grabbing **** scoffs.

[Phil Rhodes]

Well, since we don't pay nearly as much as in the US anyway - oh - no - hang on...

[M4RTIN]

any excuse for the picture eh? lol

[The Infamous Mr D]

Originally Posted by M4RTIN

any excuse for the picture eh? lol

Yeah baby!

Although I fail to see how a publisher who has completed a game, paid off and fired its dev team, sent it off to the BBFC and are now waiting a few weeks or months would need to charge a premium for that game. I suppose they would need to pay out if they didn't get the rating they hoped for and needed to tweak said game to remove the offending content, but still - it just smacks of publishers crying about not getting their way so much. And trying to fleece the honest consumer in the bargain.

[Timmy_the_tortoise]

Originally Posted by M4RTIN

any excuse for the picture eh? lol

Yes.. but we need a new one...

Can't the government just legally enforce the PEGI rating? rather than having a two-tiered system which is just damned confusing.

[Darkedge]

Originally Posted by Timmy_the_tortoise

Can't the government just legally enforce the PEGI rating? rather than having a two-tiered system which is just damned confusing.

this is the solution NOT using the BBFC - much easier all round and across the EU to have ONE simple rating and PEGI is that as BBFC will not be accepted outside the UK. That will keep things simple for consumers and publishers.

[mrb_no1]

who is the chick in the picture anyways?

peace

[naokaji]

and the bbfc is most likely paid with tax money anyway.. I dont really see why ms needs more money other than pure greed.

[Timmy_the_tortoise]

Originally Posted by mrb_no1

who is the chick in the picture anyways?

peace

Dr. Tanya Byron

Hottest TV psychologist ever.

And naokaji, the BBFC is a government institution (instated by the Thatcher government.. in 1982, I think..) ergo, it is funded by Taxes.

[SaNdCrAwLeR]

sure, put their prices up to what we usually get here...
and then we'll see if piracy is a problem :P (specially when a game 2-3 years old is being sold at its launch price) :P

[NuTech]

Originally Posted by naokaji

and the bbfc is most likely paid with tax money anyway.. I dont really see why ms needs more money other than pure greed.

Originally Posted by Timmy_the_tortoise

Dr. Tanya Byron

Hottest TV psychologist ever.

And naokaji, the BBFC is a government institution (instated by the Thatcher government.. in 1982, I think..) ergo, it is funded by Taxes.

The BBFC is actually a private company that is in no way funded by the government or 'our taxes', the government just empowers them. Their fee is charged to whoever submits the media (usually the publishers). The fee varies somewhat (relative to the length of the work), but the cost of an average video game or film is about £1100.

I kind of understand the point Microsoft is trying to make here (although I don't think they're being entirely upfront with their motives). Currently if they want to publish a game in Europe, they first send it to PEGI where it receives a rating which is good enough for most of Europe (bar countries like Germany which have a separate system for violent media), and if it receives a 15+ rating, it's then sent to the BBFC.

Now here's the problem, as a publisher it's generally quite simple to predict which games are going to be rated 15+ (they usually have lots of blood), so all they have to do is send it to the BBFC and PEGI at the same time resulting in minimal delay. However a game can be rated 12+ for various reasons, leading to a delay when subsequently sent to the BBFC (under the proposed Byron report). So if you bare in mind that release dates are usually quite precisely timed events (taking into account various factors; advertising, coinciding releases etc), you can probably get an idea why publishers are against such a change.

Also, nobody likes a big red warning circle on the front of their shiny new game

[Timmy_the_tortoise]

Originally Posted by NuTech

The BBFC is actually a private company that is in no way funded by the government or 'our taxes', the government just empowers them. Their fee is charged to whoever submits the media (usually the publishers). The fee varies somewhat (relative to the length of the work), but the cost of an average video game or film is about £1100.

Well, that's me corrected... I can't trust TV documentaries (of which I forget what this one was) to inform me anymore..

[DXR_13KE]

why don't they make the plastic cover of the game with a big ass warning in case it has lots of blood and gore and violence?

[LordPyrinc]

Extra cost? Please... if the UK or anyone else has a different rating system, just slap a cheap 2 or 3 cent sticker with the appropriate rating on the box. No need for a whole different box as I think MS might be alluding to.

Oooo, I got an even better idea... If you are under 18, you can't buy any games (PC, Console, or Boardgames). Only adults (18+) should be able to purchase any games. We don't want to shatter the innocent minds of our youths do we? Oh, and lets not forget movies... Disney is notorious for including adult humour in their films. Let's not stop there, toys are violent too. Only adults should be able to purchase any toys. GI Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, Indiana Jones toys? Only an adult can determine if these are okay for our youth. Let's not forget books either. Harry Potter books should be rated 18+ because they have characters that get murdered.

Sorry, rant over.

[LordPyrinc]

By the way, I was being sarcastic... just to let everyone know.