UK Game Raters: What They Earn, What They Do
UK Game Raters: What They Earn, What They Do
May 15, 2008
Among gamers, the British Board of Film Classification is best known for issuing a controversial ban on Manhunt 2 last summer.
In the wake of the Byron Review, however, the organization's game rating future is up in the air as the UK video game industry has expressed a preference for using the PEGI rating system. With that backdrop, Spong takes a look at the BBFC and how games get rated there. Press officer Sue Clark told Spong:
[Examiners] have to be good at playing games. There are no 'formal' qualifications... but you do have to have a good level of education and a good grasp of English as you are required to produce well argued written reports... Most games are played by at least two examiners and if necessary several may play the game.
Clark said that the average BBFC examiner is in his or her mid-thirties. Of the 32 employed, 19 are men and 13 are women. They are well-paid, earning from £33.950 to £45,758 [US $66,036 - $89,003].
You also have to have an interest in film because games examiners don't just classify games. It also helps if you have an understanding of child development because the majority of the works classified are for people under the age of 18.
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Posted 08/28/08 at 10:03pm
ZippyDSMlee: Dark Sovereign: right? ack sorry for the long windedness ><
ZippyDSMlee: Dark Sovereign: right? ack sorry for the long windedness ><
Posted 08/28/08 at 10:02pm
ZippyDSMlee: Dark Sovereign:infrastructure, let the states deal with the millions on disability or SSI let states run shanty towns for the great unwashed masses and all the death and disease that will ensue, as long as the middle and rich pay less taxes who cares righ
ZippyDSMlee: Dark Sovereign:infrastructure, let the states deal with the millions on disability or SSI let states run shanty towns for the great unwashed masses and all the death and disease that will ensue, as long as the middle and rich pay less taxes who cares righ
Posted 08/28/08 at 10:00pm
ZippyDSMlee: Dark Sovereign:classes, thus government has to regulate business to ensure its not raping the populace and try and get business to aid the lower classes somehow. If government cannot do this then it should go back to worrying about the border and infrast
ZippyDSMlee: Dark Sovereign:classes, thus government has to regulate business to ensure its not raping the populace and try and get business to aid the lower classes somehow. If government cannot do this then it should go back to worrying about the border and infrast
Posted 08/28/08 at 10:00pm
ZippyDSMlee: Dark Sovereign:cost of ignoring millions because they do not have to not take a loss on the grotesque, Government by default has to regulate business because business is becoming larger than it and its damaging government indirectly by ignoring the lower
ZippyDSMlee: Dark Sovereign:cost of ignoring millions because they do not have to not take a loss on the grotesque, Government by default has to regulate business because business is becoming larger than it and its damaging government indirectly by ignoring the lower
Posted 08/28/08 at 09:59pm
ZippyDSMlee: Dark Sovereign:"Competitive market" is a misnomer as well, in a blind capitalistic setup it creates conglomerates that seek to maxize profit by raising cost on the end user, "profiteering" is a inherent issue when they can make grotesque profit at the co
ZippyDSMlee: Dark Sovereign:"Competitive market" is a misnomer as well, in a blind capitalistic setup it creates conglomerates that seek to maxize profit by raising cost on the end user, "profiteering" is a inherent issue when they can make grotesque profit at the co
Posted 08/28/08 at 09:26pm
HarmlessBunny: http://jaablog.jaablaw.com/2008/08/28/election-postmortem.aspx#comment-132072 There we go for you Mattie 5
HarmlessBunny: http://jaablog.jaablaw.com/2008/08/28/election-postmortem.aspx#comment-132072 There we go for you Mattie 5
Posted 08/28/08 at 08:50pm
Mattie: @Harmeless Bunny- Could you post the link? I'm having trouble finding it.
Mattie: @Harmeless Bunny- Could you post the link? I'm having trouble finding it.
Posted 08/28/08 at 06:50pm
Tarosan: The truth hurts a lot... a whole lot but then again he's already fucked
Tarosan: The truth hurts a lot... a whole lot but then again he's already fucked
Posted 08/28/08 at 06:49pm
Tarosan: LOL he's attacking a newly elected Judge for calling him unprofessional
Tarosan: LOL he's attacking a newly elected Judge for calling him unprofessional
Posted 08/28/08 at 06:18pm
Mech: Dark Sovereign, you are sorely in need of an economics lesson.
Mech: Dark Sovereign, you are sorely in need of an economics lesson.
Posted 08/28/08 at 05:14pm
HarmlessBunny: Woot! JT is now attacking the newly elected Judge's in Florida. Guess he thought he could use more enemies :P Checking the JAAblog is addictive to watch lol.
HarmlessBunny: Woot! JT is now attacking the newly elected Judge's in Florida. Guess he thought he could use more enemies :P Checking the JAAblog is addictive to watch lol.
Posted 08/28/08 at 05:01pm
Dark Sovereign: @scribe: There is still no adequate reason for the government to run healthcare.
Dark Sovereign: @scribe: There is still no adequate reason for the government to run healthcare.
Posted 08/28/08 at 04:57pm
E. Zachary Knight: I agree that the awards in many cases are to much.I admit that healthcare is complicated and it is hard to find the right formula.
E. Zachary Knight: I agree that the awards in many cases are to much.I admit that healthcare is complicated and it is hard to find the right formula.
Posted 08/28/08 at 04:56pm
E. Zachary Knight: Darn Dennis for flying to PAX today. I wanted some news.
E. Zachary Knight: Darn Dennis for flying to PAX today. I wanted some news.
Posted 08/28/08 at 04:17pm
scribe999: in terms of malpractice and negligence. Tort reform is something I do happen to agree with.
scribe999: in terms of malpractice and negligence. Tort reform is something I do happen to agree with.
Posted 08/28/08 at 04:16pm
scribe999: civil regulations are still regulations. and a major argument for why healtchare is so expensive is the ease of legal recourse
scribe999: civil regulations are still regulations. and a major argument for why healtchare is so expensive is the ease of legal recourse
Posted 08/28/08 at 04:07pm
E. Zachary Knight: If a healthcare provider was neglegent in their duties they could be sued for that neglegence.
E. Zachary Knight: If a healthcare provider was neglegent in their duties they could be sued for that neglegence.
Posted 08/28/08 at 04:07pm
E. Zachary Knight: I am talking more of civil court. Not criminal.
E. Zachary Knight: I am talking more of civil court. Not criminal.
Posted 08/28/08 at 04:06pm
scribe999: just a gap in what you wrote EZK...how does a judicial system enforce regulations without regulations already in place.
scribe999: just a gap in what you wrote EZK...how does a judicial system enforce regulations without regulations already in place.
Posted 08/28/08 at 04:05pm
E. Zachary Knight: where did I say the judicial system would write legislation?
E. Zachary Knight: where did I say the judicial system would write legislation?
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Comments
Wouldn't it be better to have a guideline as to what is and isn't appropriate for certain age groups (on a classification front?) I mean, if you end up with people making an opinion instead of basing it against a checklist, you end up with a bit (or in the worst case scenario, a lot) of bias in terms of the person's personal values.
The system is "fail" on the count that now, you have developers having to scratch their heads and wonder "Who's gonna review my game over there today?"
I am sure they have guidelines, but I am sceptical that completely objective standards would accomplish anything useful. Where a 1.5-3 hour movie might succumb to objective age-ratings (such as, a certain quota of swear words, certain types of nudity, or a certain level of gore), a game that is designed for 50-100 hours or more of play might have deeper hard-to-quantify issues. Such as, are moral decisions handled well? If the player wants to choose a path of evil, does the game allow/condone/encourage/discourage it?
I think, for example, a game that is morally grey, rather than black and white, would be more suited to a mature audience.
In any case, movie-type ratings cannot directly translate into game ratings, and anyone that doesn't play and enjoy games should not be rating them.
The BBFC (human) system is far better than the PEGI box ticking approach. A human can weigh up the cumulative effect of events in a game where as PEGI relies on which boxes have been ticked by the games own publisher.
You are probably right, but this kind of system is just begging to be abused by biased people with ulterior agendas.
---- There is a limit for both politicians against video games, and video games against politicians.
Actually a human assessment without some level of box ticking quantitation could easily be more subjective. I'd prefer a hybrid myself, the BBFC seem to go part way there with swear words but don't give much detail on how the rest of the content is assessed. There must be guidelines describing what levels of violence/sex fit in which rating, it can't be as free form as this interview would suggest.
Gift.A friend of mine is a part-time examiner with the BBFC. He's in his 30s and has always been a gamer, but has also had a career in the law and media. He was involved in the rating of Gears of War and many other gamesas well as films. Watching porn for a living isn't as glamerous as you might think.
They are all pretty experienced people who have varied media interests. I'm pretty happy that they do a good job within the contrainsts in which they work.
They get paid that much? I wonder how much an ESRB rater gets paid.
Oh sure, when a monkey does it, that's fine. But whenever I throw barrels at an Italian plumber, then its a hate crime! - Stephen Colbert
Well we have an elite here in my opinion. a very accurate track editor and extreme speeds. but if they are making a gsurfers 2, make a ship maker! :) still 5/5 from Game-Rater
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