While PEGI's new traffic-light games-rating system looks to be getting rolled out in Europe by next spring, debate in the UK still rages on over who knows best. A report into the rating of games by Dr Tanya Byron, which concluded its consultation review yesterday, suggested that the current PEGI symbol system is too confusing for parents, with some believing the black and white age suggestions referred to the difficulty of the game, rather than whether or not they'd be exposing their little cherubs to a screenful of violent laser death.
 
PEGI (Pan European Game Information) has come up with a traffic-light solution, where the age ratings would be displayed in colour-coded circles. ELSPA, the UK's governing body, seems to think this is a good idea and has submitted a report to the Government suggesting that the PEGI system should be adopted and become legally enforceable. But the British Board of Film Classification disagrees. It sees itself as the arbiter of taste and decency, especially when it comes to those little round symbols. "We have challenged a number of organisations who have come up with symbols that look very close to BBFC symbols," said David Cooke, the BBFC's director.
 
So the argument looks set to continue. As games reach new heights of photorealism, and gamers lust after more violent, bloodthirsty titles - or simply ones where the violence and bloodthirsty-ness appear more realistic - there obviously needs to be a system in place which monitors and advises on the suitability of a game for a certain age range. What this does not need to boil down to is an arm-wrestling contest between the BBFC and PEGI over who owns the rights to put numbers in coloured circles. Maybe squares, or some other, more imaginative shapes, are the way forward?