Censorship

[Peter Neal]

Originally Posted by vipco

The BBFC dont know how to rate Games , all age restrictions concerning Games should be handled by PEGI as its recognised throughout Europe and it solely rates , not censors.

Tell that to the German "USK" or "BPJM"....I fully agree with
your points, but I'd rather sat down with the BBFC regarding games than those two censorship heavyweight groupings....

[Angel]

Yes there's very little censorship regarding video games here anyway. Violent games are tied in with the VRA so the same rules apply.

[Angel]

Originally Posted by vipco

The BBFC dont know how to rate Games , all age restrictions concerning Games should be handled by PEGI as its recognised throughout Europe and it solely rates , not censors.

Why should the BBFC not know how to rate games? Surely they have been trained to classify games as well as films.

[vipco]

Not according to developer interviews in most PS3 magazines .
They claim the BBFC want them to produce a finished product for certification , which would mean recoding parts of the game, if the BBFC wanted change, resulting in many weeks/months of work, thus delaying release and losing buyer interest as the hype would be long gone by the time the approved version hits the shops.

The Games industry has its own rating system, PEGI, and has always made no secret that it wishes to remain self regulating.
PEGI has done a good enough job when Games were the domain of us Gamers, but now its a mainstream multi billion dollar business the BBFC want a slice of the action.

Most developers and the Games Industry doubt the BBFC's ability to regulate certain games were the playing experience is open and different for each player depending on what choices they make within the game.

BTW Peter, your very right on Germany. The German censor dont allow blood to be red, they prefer green(?) and games like Medal of Honour have had to have all nazi signs changed to crosses as nazi references, even in a WWII game are prohibited .

[Angel]

Yeah PEGI have been critical of the BBFC's role in classifying games, the BBFC for their part have hit back saying that a lot of what PEGI have been saying about them is not true.

[NossB]

http://www.edge-online.com/news/bbfc...mes-says-elspa

PEGI have been classifying games since the early 90s, they have the experience and the knowledge to classify games as well as the support of the games industry.

As VIPCO has stated, the BBFC want their slice of the pie and with the games industry being bigger than the music industry these days, it would be a very big slice.

[Peter Neal]

Just to let you know, the German censors and "yuth protectors" were very busy this month....

"Insanitarium" and "Saw V" (!!!!!) joined the "B List" of the German "Index of restricted movies", meaning that the "BPJM" recommends those movies to be banned, which'll eventually happen when a judge/DA/court decides in their favour...which they usually do.
Particularly the case of "Saw V" is worrying, as the very nice looking "Collector's Edition" had been on sale for only a few weeks by now, but the "BPJM" has the option to take "immediate action" if they deem a movie to be particularly "dangerous"- due to wide spread availability, for instance.
I wasn't surprised when the unrated "Saw III" earned its "B" entry, but "V"?

The following titles were ALL quite heavily cut for the German release, yet all of them earned an "A list" entry on the "Index", meaning that sale and advertising in public is forbidden, they can only be sold or rented in "adults only" video stores from now on....

"Otis"
"Manhunt" ("Rovdyr")
"Rest Stop: Never look back"
"Ten Dead Men" (already cut by over 7 mins!)

You guys can really hug and kiss the BBFC, as they (almost always) treat you like adult citizens of a demcratic Western country!

On a minor positive note...:

Well, at least they took the censored "The Big Boss" off the "Index" after 25 years....

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

Jesus,that's a nightmare....perhaps we shouldn't be too quick to jump down the BBFC'S throats....

[Peter Neal]

Yes!
With fare like "Saw V" spawning such a harsh counter-measure, it's definitely "open season" on "violent movies" in Germany yet again.
I was somewhat surprised that they went after "Saw V" BEFORE "Martyrs"- which is a surefire "B" list canidate for the coming months...

[Peter Neal]

Yet another modern horror bit the dust in Germany:

"INSIDE" got just BANNED in its cut-by-1.54 mins German version by a Berlin set court.

http://www.schnittberichte.com/news.php?ID=1492

This is the 4th. (!) CENSORED movie to share the fate of getting banned over there after "Mexican Werewolf in Texas" (!), "Hostel Part 2" and "Storm Warning" in just under a year!!!!!!