BBFC and PEGI classification of Games

There are certain companies whose job it is to classify games that are released, in order to restrict these games, from certain audiences, that may be unnappropriate for certain age groups ETC. Two of such companies are the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) and PEGI (Pan European Game Information). Although the BBFC specialises in the classification of films, it also deals with video games and has the same principal as PEGI- categorising games into age groups to give parents a clearer idea of the type of content that their children are exposed to. Although PEGI is the standard governing body for classification of games some titles are still rated by BBFC. The age groups that games are classified into are as follows: 3, 7, 12, 16 and 18. It is important that the games are put into the certain age ratings correctly because certain themes such as violence, fear, sex, drug abuse and racism all need to be taken into account and restrcited to older, mature audiences.

There must also be consideration towards disabled people- it would be ideal for someone with a hearing problem to still be able to negotiate the game with his/her disability not effecting their experience. Many games have subtitles nowadays and aren't truly impeded by a lack of sound. Another example is the Guitar Hero or Rock Band games- it would be unfair to disregard left handed people, as the game is displayed on the screen in coordination with the buttons on the guitar (and therefore the player's fingers). To overcome this the developers have included a special option to flip the guitar buttons on-screen to accomodate left-handed people.