Video games to be age rated

Computer games will be regulated by a compulsory classification system designed to warn parents of graphic images of sex and violence, according to a report last night.

Like the system governing films and videos, computer games across the EU will carry classifications, ranging from 3+ to 18+ specifying the age groups by whom they can be bought or played. The code comes into force next April.

The move follows complaints about the content of some games played by young children that were deemed violent or disturbing. The industry's existing voluntary code was criticised for allowing games to slip through the net. Games which are so violent they fall outside the new code will be regulated by the British Board of Film Classification and could be banned altogether. Selling banned games would lead to unlimited fines and possible imprisonment, the reports claimed.

Experts dispute the effects of computer games on children. While Home Office research found no direct link, studies by Middlesex University found children did become more aggressive the longer they played violent computer games.

The new classification system is the industry's response to demands for tighter controls by a number of EU states, including Britain, after the voluntary code was deemed ineffective.

Patrice Chazerand, of the Interactive Software Federation of Europe, told an international industry publication recently: "Consumers in most of Europe can expect to see logos with our rating system on products by April 2003. The only major exception is Germany, which has put together its own rules, largely as a result of recent killings linked to violent computer games."

The multibillion pound video games business is one of Europe's fastest growing industries and producers hope the code will end criticism of violence, sex and crime portrayed in increasingly realistic images and sound effects.