PEGI ratings and BBFC ratings, what's the difference?

[Dezm0nd]

Having worked in videogame retail for ages, i've always wondered what the difference between these two rating systems:-

PEGI

BBFC


It's never been explained to me properly and even looking at the PEGI website I still do not know if it's legal for me to sell a game to a child who is under the PEGI rating.

Personally I assumed that the PEGI one is more of a guidline for adults and children to be aware of whereas the BBFC ones are the law and would result in me breaking the law if i sold a copy of manhunt to a person below the 18 BBFC it has. Am I correct in assuming that this is the case? Can someone at the age of 10 walk into my shop, slap down a copy of Driver 3 lay down the money and walk out with it because it has the 16+ PEGI rating on the front?

I ask because obviously i'd like to know if i am breaching any sort of law here and obviously do not want to get into any kind of trouble. Alot of children recenrtly have been trying to buy the brand new copy of Fable from Argos, but because it has the PEGI 15+ (I think?) on the front they get refused...

Any information would be great, thanks!!

[Mayhem]

You've got it sorted in the second paragraph. The PEGI rating is merely advisory, but the BBFC one is compulsory (in a "if you're caught selling it to people under that age you can prosecuted" way). Most parents buy their kids the GTAs of the world anyhow, so the BBFC rating quite often flies out of the window.

As a retailer, you have the right (defined by your company's policy though) of not allowing the sale of an item to someone who is under the PEGI rating. You shouldn't get prosecuted however if it did sell it them however.

[Dezm0nd]

Excellent i was spot on then. Thanks for your advice!

[MJ]

I know this is an old thread but in a recent ShopTo thread ratings were being discussed and I just noticed something that it probably best suited here.

One of the things mentioned in the ShopTo thread was why does the BBFC rate some games while PEGI rates others and it was suggested the game's content determines this, especially the closer we get to real looking graphics when violence towards humans is involved, but today I noticed the PAL Assassin's Creed carries a BBFC 15 while CoD4 is a PEGI 16+. Due to its content, why didn't the BBFC rate CoD4?

[EvilBoris]

From what I can work out, on games BBFC certification is optional , the games developers don't have to submit it.

Problem is if they don't submit it and it runs into media trouble for being violent or whatever the publisher could find themselves with massive costs recalling the product or leaving themselves open to legal action.
BBFC ratings are enforced and cannot be sold to minors , as it is against the law (in the UK)

Pegi ratings are like a European version of BBFC that is on all games in the EU.
They are not enforced in this country and more of a guide to parents as to the actual content of the game.

[anephric]

Yes, it's up to the creator to decide whether the material should be classified by the BBFC, but if they forgo classification and the product, in hindsight, is deemed to have been suitable for submittance (say, if members of the public complain) then they can get in a spot of bother.

They don't even submit the game itself, just highlight reels of questionable material. I'm surprised CoD4 didn't get rated, though, when far more fantastical games with much more surreal violence (like Prey or whatever) get considered suitable for an 18 rating. It's worth noting some retailers consider PEGI ratings enforceable, and won't sell to minors. I'm sure this was policy when I worked at Blockies.

[EvilBoris]

It is odd considering that both of the previous games were BBFC'd and the making of disc for COD4 is a 15. weird

[elaniel]

I have a feeling sometime in the future the PEGI ratings may be standard and BBFC will not be rating games.

I mean, with Manhunt 2, they've lost their case and they're doing anything necessary (including trying to take the case to the High Court) to get it banned. It seems they're just using it as a scapegoat. I think the BBFC should stick with games. I mean, the US doesn't have a national rating thats required by law, ERSB is recommended and seems to work quite well. There's a lot of interesting conversations going on around the web regarding the BBFC ratings, especially after the Manhunt case.

[sj33]

When PEGI and BBFC age ratings differ, which they tend to do, it really underlines the subjectivity of age ratings.

[gossi the dog]

The PEGI rating is a form of self regulation by the video game industry. The publisher fills in an online questionnaire and depending on the answers given a rating is given. The BBFC rating is on the other hand given by an independent regulatory body, and the publisher must pay them to rate a game.

[Kubrick]

I'm surprised CoD4 didn't get rated, though, when far more fantastical games with much more surreal violence (like Prey or whatever) get considered suitable for an 18 rating.

For me, there's a clear distinction between a game like Prey which makes it considerably more worthy of a BBFC rating.

Call of Duty is just showing you warfare in a "realistic" manner (you could even say its sanitized), whereas Prey is quite brutal. Plus there's F-words galore in it (sometimes with the Mother prefix) which doesn't help it. The same level of language in a film would probably guarantee at least a 15 rating, whether it was violent or not.

[MJ]

There one point in CoD4 where Price knifes an unsuspecting enemy in the back and while there's no blood I though the knife action looked quite brutal.

[anephric]

BUT: CoD4, though, goes out of its way to show you that war is pretty nasty, not at all "honourable" and that POWs are routinely shot in cold blood, tortured etc. The BBFC is traditionally (and by its own admission) MUCH more lenient when considering fantastical violence (that is, violence against obviously imaginary creatures like in Starship Troopers and why that got away with a 15 theatrically) than when considering "realistic" violence, i.e. person-on-person in a naturalistic setting.

[MattyD]

I think CoD4 deserves a harsher treatment if anything for presenting a contrived mockery of warfare as somehow 'realistic'.

Fantasy violence of the kind you'd get in Prey or Gears of War is obviously no reflection on reality and it's not intended to be. Unfortunately there are people out there who believe the hype and are convinced (and from reading some of the reviews it seems many journalists are among them) that CoD4 is somehow 'authentic' and 'realistic'.

[Profit]

PEGI is a lot more strict than BBFC (due to EU standards being stricter than what is allowed in the UK).

Most PEGI 16 and 12 games would only receive 12 or PG/U under BBFC guidelines.