Videogames 5 - the regulation of the videogame industry

The regulation of the videogame industry is largely ineffective, thanks to digitally convergent technologies. It means that it is impossible to impose regulations, as digital technologies have made it so easy to sidestep regulations. For example if you can't watch an 18 rated film at the cinema you could just watch it on Netflix or download it.


We need regulation for at least 2 main reasons:
1- To protect intellectual property or copyright 
2- To prevent harm

Audiences can make choices about what they buy because there are labels on the front of videogames with age rating's but also specific labels which tells you what is seen in the videogame like, sex, gambling, bad language, fear, and violence. 
PEGI Regulatory Process – Will Neary's A2 Media Studies Blog

ELSPA was the regulation association in 1989 but it wasn't very good and they are only guidelines.

In 2003 PEGI system came in which stands for Pan European Game Information. This is still only advisory and is not legal so shops don't actually have to follow up on the PEGI rules. Games can even be produced with no labels on it. 

BBFC (British board of film institution)  would in some cases also regulate some videogames if they had real life footage in them. 


Sonia Livingstone and Peter Hunt - Regulation Theory 

Regulation comes in different forms, in some cases it can be very strict eg: BBFC age restrictions however it is so much easier to subvert these regulations now a days.

-Consumer based regulation 
-Self regulation

The effective regulation of media products is largely impossible due to digitally convergent technologies this is things like piracy. Regulation can just be bypassed so regulation on any industry is ineffective. 




Game play footage - Assassin's creed Odyssey 

What material is likely to harm/offend the audience?
War, fighting, weapons, killing 

How does being an interactive videogame affect the potential harm and distress this game may cause?
The people are playing these violent characters themselves basically killing and fighting which could very easily cause distress. It is a very real experience, audiences are made to feel like they are really in the game.

In what way is the game trying to be inclusive and accessible to audiences? 
They can change what the character wears and what weapons he carries to make it there own in a way?? They have used different ethnic characters in some parts so they don't discriminate and makes the audience wider.

Who is the target audience?
Age 18+
Gender - the main charater is male so this could intrest the male audiecne more than women along with the fac that many more males are into videogames than women. 
Social class would be young lower to middle class groups 


Assassin's Creed regulation issues 

What regulatory issues are raised for this series?
Same as a lot of other videogames but this assassins creed series is based on the hole idea of murder and the game is often very violent way more than any films you might see.

Do they have BBFC or PEGI Ratings?
Certain games in this series have been given BBFC rating and others PEGI ratings which suggests that the regulation of videogames in the UK is ineffective and confused. One form of regulation is used for some and another for a different game which doesn't really make sense. 

How effective is the regulation of the Assassin's creed series? Does it effectively stop young more impressionable audiences from playing the game?
Not very effective which is the same for a lot of media industry's. You can get games on any digital distribution services regardless of how old you are. So this doesn't help stop younger more impressionable audiences.

What are the implications of this
It means regulation is pretty much useless and ineffective which causes a lot of implications. 

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