PEGI Becomes LAW in the UK!!!

PEGI Now LAW in the UK!!!

Well after four years of seeing the PEGI (Pan European Game Information) ratings appearing on many games like Assassins Creed, Call of Duty, Prototype and even Mario and Sonic the UK government has now made it LAW to govern games ratings in the UK. It also means ANYONE caught selling the game to underage people can and WILL be fined £5000 or even face 6 years in jail!!!

So alot of people (parents mainly) will go into a store and buy their kids games like Call of Duty and Assassins Creed clueless to the content in said games, Now they have NO excuse! As of today July 30th 2012 PEGI will replace the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) ratings on ALL games.

PEGI was brought in to make understanding the games content easier for all to understand BUT as it was not LAW no one took notice!!! Well as of today you will!!

So what are the things I should be looking for you ask?? Below is an image of ALL the PEGI icons that will appear on games as of today:

PEGI Icons

 The above icons are now the thing you should look for on the games you buy for yourselves and your kids!! They will appear on the front and back of the boxes. The black icons will more often than not appear on the games rated 12-18 and are fairly self explanatory! It's the colored ones I think ALOT of people (Mainly parents and youngsters) have the issues with.

So with that in mind I'm now about to put my rant hat on to explain these colored ones and what the REALLY mean to you and your kids.

Now before I go on I don't have kids (YET) but I know alot of kids playing games that they really should not be!! But even before PEGI was brought in I had always said my kids will NEVER play games like GTA or Call of Duty till they are old enough to understand the content in them. You can also think of the ratings as traffic lights.

What are the ratings?? and Can your kids play them??

PEGI 3 (Green)

 This is the lowest rating in PEGI's list, This basically the game is suitable for all over the age of 3 to play and the content in this game is easy to grasp and understand (Cartoon violence) and they should not really see the characters as if they are real life people, And yes your kids can play them anytime without worrying about what they could be learning.

PEGI 7 (Green)

Basically the same as the PEGI 3 rating BUT the games under this rating is aimed and geared for kids/big kids ;) from the age of 7 up. With slightly more content and at times more frighting scenes that younger kids may not like and more advanced it can be difficult for some kids under 7 to understand and play it but in the same as 3 you can leave them be with the games marked 7 :).

The next two ratings is where the BLACK PEGI icons would start coming in more often,

PEGI 12 (Yellow/Amber)

PEGI 12 games will show slightly more graphic violence (MILD) towards the human looking characters and not the fluffy little bunnies of the younger classifications, You may also find some nudity and some bad language you may not hear in the younger classifications.  

PEGI 16 (Yellow/Amber)

Now PEGI 16 games are as bad as they can be before the PEGI 18 rating once the violence and sexual activities look like they would in real life and with more extreme bad language than the PEGI 12 games and the depiction of crime and use of tobacco that you would not see in the other games.

PEGI 18 (Red)

 Now the PEGI 18 rating is fairly self explanatory basically 18 means 18!!! Blood, Guts, Drugs, Sex, Violence and more of the bad stuff I know I will never let my kids near in layman's terms kids aged 7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17 should NOT play games like this regardless weather they are sensible or not!! 

I was always brought up on the "anything bad you see or hear pay no attention to" speeches from my dad and my grandparents, and if the movie or game was an age rating older than I was i could not play or watch it!! So call me boring call me old fashioned but this is how my kids will be brought up!!!!

I think parents that buy these PEGI 18 games for their kids need to take a long hard look at themselves and stop and think "If i was their age would my mum/dad buy this for me??".

I will tell you a story I worked in a big games retailer when Call of Duty MW2 (About a week or two after to be exact) came out, and a kid came in with his mum he could not have been older than 10 years of age and was like " MUM MUM MUM Buy me Modern Warfare 2 PLEASE!!!" she came to me and said "Is this game suitable for my boy??" I said "In a word NO!! there are scenes although skip-able that are extremely unsuitable for him!!" say asked about the infamous "Airport mission" again I said "it is skip-able BUT I played it through to see what it was like and even i found it disturbing shooting innocent people and kids." I then said "is I had kids your boys age I would NOT even own this for myself as I feel its to violent for the kids" she then said thanks for your honesty and left!!

 So parents please take time to look at the icons before you buy the games for your kids!! I know this will not stop anyone from buying these games for their kids I don't expect it too but hopefully it will help you understand the PEGI ratings and the LAW it has come with!!! Yes I agree with the PEGI ratings and I'm glad they are now LAW.

For more on the PEGI ratings goto PEGI INFO SITE and give it a read it may even change your mind!!

Thanks for taking the time to read this :)