This is kind of an extention to *Esquire's* thread about Gamestop going too far here, yet outlines basically more or less the same sort of issues as *Esquire* was trying to put across...


I would invite you all to feast your eyes on this:




As some of you may know - In the UK we have three different game rating systems. We have the PEGI and ELSPA rating systems, and then we have the BBFC classification / certification.

I won't go into too much detail about each, as I assume you all know what each one is, but in a nut-shell, the first two ae for GUIDANCE only, and the last one is LEGALLY BINDING


Basically, this means that if the game has the red circle with "18" emblazoned on it, then the store CANNOT sell to anyone below that age - As is the law in this country with Video's, Dvd's, and Video Games which display this certification.

However, if it has either an ELSPA or PEGI rating of "18" it can legally be sold to anyone under that age, seeing as how these two systems are there purely as a guide to parents to how suitable the game's content is. Again, IT IS NOT LEGALLY BINDING, unlike the BBFC classification.


The particular example of GTA Vice City I showed above is one I bought last week off of eBay. It is a European version, which has somehow managed to work it's way to UK shores, and DOES NOT have the BBFC classification, but instead has an ELSPA rating on it...

Now if this particular copy of this game were in a game shop (Eg, GAME) then they would be able to LEGALLY sell this to any child of, say, eleven years of age!!!

Of course, there would always be some ethical questions to whether a child of that age should be buying the game (Seeing as how it is the exact same game, just with diferent packaging), but the fact still remains that it would be perfectly legal for me to sell this particular copy to a child of that age!