Former ELSPA boss Bennett questions the validity of the Manhunt 2 ruling

A lot of members of the gaming industry are currently considering the implications of the recent refusal of the BBFC to rate Manhunt 2 in the UK. This decision essentially made it illegal to sell the game to the public.

The former director general of the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) Roger Bennett has questioned the criteria upon video games are being rated as compared to other forms of media such as TV shows and movies.

Apparently, the guidelines that were used in making this decision assumed that because games are interactive, they should be classified uniquely and not grouped with other forms of screen entertainment. Bennett gave the exact reasons on why this shouldn’t be the case,

There is no evidence for it to make such a flawed assumption and concerns should be apparent that through pressure from Government, games are becoming increasingly and wholly unjustifiably separated from other forms of screen entertainment. Thus prejudiced and equally unjustifiable comparisons are forming its and the BBFC’s judgments.

It seems to me that the Government and thus the BBFC have become heavily influenced by previous events which in no way have any link to our industry, other than the fact that someone with a certain opinion stated that there is, without a shred of knowledge or fact to justify such a claim.

Following his logic, it shows that the decision must be taken into reconsideration. The entire case must be handled by industry leaders who know the gaming culture and know the effects and roles video games play in the lives of people. And more importantly, these same people are regularly exposed to video games themselves.

To end this article, I would like to close with a very striking quote from Bennett that I believe sums up what supporters of this game are fighting for.

In what is often called a ‘civilised society’, adult people should at last be given the responsibility for making informed judgements as to what they or their children do/watch/play, or whether they should continue to be told by the State what is or is not good for them.

If that were to happen, then it would definitely be “Delicious.”

Via MCVUK

A lot of members of the gaming industry are currently considering the implications of the recent refusal of the BBFC to rate Manhunt 2 in the UK. This decision essentially made it illegal to sell the game to the public.

The former director general of the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) Roger Bennett has questioned the criteria upon video games are being rated as compared to other forms of media such as TV shows and movies.

Apparently, the guidelines that were used in making this decision assumed that because games are interactive, they should be classified uniquely and not grouped with other forms of screen entertainment. Bennett gave the exact reasons on why this shouldn’t be the case,

There is no evidence for it to make such a flawed assumption and concerns should be apparent that through pressure from Government, games are becoming increasingly and wholly unjustifiably separated from other forms of screen entertainment. Thus prejudiced and equally unjustifiable comparisons are forming its and the BBFC’s judgments.

It seems to me that the Government and thus the BBFC have become heavily influenced by previous events which in no way have any link to our industry, other than the fact that someone with a certain opinion stated that there is, without a shred of knowledge or fact to justify such a claim.

Following his logic, it shows that the decision must be taken into reconsideration. The entire case must be handled by industry leaders who know the gaming culture and know the effects and roles video games play in the lives of people. And more importantly, these same people are regularly exposed to video games themselves.

To end this article, I would like to close with a very striking quote from Bennett that I believe sums up what supporters of this game are fighting for.

In what is often called a ‘civilised society’, adult people should at last be given the responsibility for making informed judgements as to what they or their children do/watch/play, or whether they should continue to be told by the State what is or is not good for them.

If that were to happen, then it would definitely be “Delicious.”

Via MCVUK