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Fins get tough on games?

By Chris Bennett, Tudor Carsten, Michael R. Coburn, Sarah Dale-Harris, Pablo Guzman, Danielle (Dani) Lemon, Chris Metcalfe and David Spratley

According to a weekend report from Afterdawn, the Finnish Christian Democratic Party (CDP) is pushing for a new domestic video game inspection regime. The CDP, which holds only 7 of the 200 seats in the Finnish Parliament, is also looking for more accurate and detailed descriptions about possible violence and erotic content in video game packaging.

But the proposal has garnered criticism from the Finnish Games and Multimedia Association (FIGMA) which was quick to point out that each video game in Finland is already vetted by the Pan European Game Information (PEGI) classification system. The PEGI classification consists of five age categories, 3+, 7+, 12+, 16+ and 18+. The games can also be reviewed by the Finnish Board of Film Classification (VET) if necessary.

In a statement, FIGMA claimed that an additional domestic examination would "decrease the number of released games, cause delays in release schedules, and increase the price of video games." FIGMA also claimed that a new system would likely give consumers a reason to buy their games outside Finland.

Coverage here.

Contributed by Michael Mjanes, articled student.

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Full post as published by Video Game Law Blog on February 06, 2008 (boomark / email).