Issue no. 389 - 22 June 2008

• DE - Spielen im Netz. Zur Systematisierung des Phänomens "Online-Games" (Hans-Bredow-Institut)
  Jan Schmidt / Stephan Dreyer / Claudia Lampert: (pdf-file, 1056 KB) Juni 2008.

Issue no. 388 - 1 June 2008

• EU - Video games: let's go for PEGI Plus! (Europa)
  Speech by Viviane Reding, Member of the European Commission responsible for Information Society and Media, Annual Conference Interactive Software Federation of Europe, Brussels, 7 May 2008.

• IT - La Procura indaga sul videogame violento (Il Tirreno)
  Violenze e rapine per essere capomafia: a Livorno GTA IV (Grand Theft Auto) finisce sott'inchiesta. Il reato ipotizzato è istigazione a delinquere. Così, GTA, ovvero Gran Theft Auto IV, il videogioco più famoso e venduto (settanta milioni di copie) finisce sotto inchiesta. La Procura di Livorno ne ha fatte acquisire due copie e ora le farà analizzare a degli esperti.

Issue no. 387 - 12 May 2008

• EU - Commission Communication on Video Games (RAPID)
  The European video games sector is dynamic, with expected revenue of € 7.3 billion by the end of 2008. However, public concerns that video games can cause aggressive behaviour, heightened by school shootings such as in Helsinki (Finland, November 2007), have led several national authorities to ban or block video games such as "Manhunt 2". In response, the European Commission has surveyed existing measures protecting minors from harmful video games across the 27 EU Member States. 20 EU Member States now apply PEGI (Pan European Games Information), an age-rating system developed by industry, with EU support, since 2003. In the Commission's view, industry must invest more to strengthen and in particular to regularly update the PEGI system so that it becomes a truly effective pan-European tool. Also, industry and public authorities should step up cooperation to make classification and age rating systems better known and to avoid confusion caused by parallel systems. A Code of Conduct for retailers should be drawn up within two years on sales of video games to minors. See Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the protection of consumers, in particular minors, in respect of the use of video games COM(2008) 207 final.

• UK - How video games are rated (BBC)
  Given that the average gamer is aged 23 or above, it's perhaps no surprise that a lot of games are rated over-18 only. But who are the guardians of taste and decency and how do they decide a videogame's age rating? In the UK, video games are classified by two bodies - the Pan European Game Information system (Pegi) and the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) - both of which have overlapping roles.

• The power of play on the internet (BBC)
  Game design and social networks are merging into one of the most persuasive forces on the net. That assertion was made by a string of speakers at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco.

• US - Games don't create killers, new book says (Reuters)
  Playing video games does not turn children into deranged, blood-thirsty super-killers, according to a new book by a pair of Harvard researchers. Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olson, a husband-and-wife team at Harvard Medical School, detail their views in "Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do," which promises to reshape the debate on the effects of video games on kids.

Issue no. 386 - 20 April 2008

• EU - Commission survey on the protection of minors with regard to video games in all EU Member States (RAPID)
  With the average age of video gamers now exceeding 23 years, the European Commission has been analysing the steps made by industry players and public authorities across the 27 EU Member States to provide clear rules for the protection of minors from video games more suited to adults. In its Communication "On the protection of consumers, in particular minors, in respect of the use of video games", the Commission will also be calling on all stakeholders to raise parents' awareness on existing self-regulatory age-rating systems and make them more effective in all 27 EU Member States.

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