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Not everyone knows that the BBFC classifies games as well as film and video. The next time you go into a games shop, take a look at the cases of the titles on sale – you’ll see some with symbols awarded under the industry’s voluntary PEGI system and some with BBFC symbols that will be instantly familiar from film posters and DVDs. How has the classification of the videogame industry evolved and where might it go in the future?

Games have often found themselves causing controversy and it isn’t only modern games like Grand Theft Auto that have done that. The first to upset the media (in this case over violence) was the 1976 title, Deathrace. A racing game bearing absolutely no relation to today’s sophisticated equivalents, Deathrace encouraged players to drive a car up the screen in order to run over ‘gremlins’.

The first lawsuit over a controversial game came in 1983: Custer's Revenge was an Atari 2600 title where the player had to avoid arrows and rape a Native American woman tied to a cactus.

Early titles were not subject to any legislative control but that changed in the aftermath of the “video nasty” debate in the early 1980s. The BBFC was given the responsibility for classifying some games when the Video Recordings Act was passed in 1984. Since then, games featuring certain proscribed content - "gross violence," for example – have to come to the BBFC for mandatory classification. The first game given a mandatory BBFC classification wasn’t released until 1986 when the text-based adventure Dracula was passed at 15. Jack The Ripper was the first game to be given an 18. Since then, the Board has passed videogames across the entire classification spectrum.

Lower category games, such as Over The Hedge (U) or Peter Jackson's King Kong (12) are not unusual, and all children's games are carefully examined given the clear appeal to very young players. Recent tie in Curious George , for example, was recently given a PG, despite a U request, as it contained mild imitable behaviour.

Videogames and controversy are never very far apart. The highly controversial Mortal Kombat series began in 1993 and immediately caused a media storm. Harvester - a game which included cannibalistic violence with a sexualised edge - was the first game to be cut by the BBFC. Manhunt was released in 2004 and was (wrongly) implicated in the murder of the Leicester teenager, Stefan Pakeerah. The videogame version of The Punisher comic book had changes made to minimise the effects of a series of brutal and sadistic interrogations. The list goes on.

Because of controversial games like these, tabloid newspapers have called for all games to come under the VRA. This prompted the industry to set up their voluntary rating system, administered by the Video Standards Council. That system has changed over the years and now the pan-European PEGI system is in place - today, games that do not require a mandatory BBFC rating receive the voluntary PEGI one instead.

How does the classification system work? Games are submitted to the Board and are then tested and measured by specialists in the IT department. Examiners are then given the titles to classify in pairs. They play each game for up to five hours, using cheats and level skips to get through as much as possible. Once they have finished playing, they discuss amongst themselves the issues that have arisen and then make a decision in line with the BBFC’s guidelines (adapted specially for games).

Sometimes the game will require additional playing time or further viewing. Examiners also watch 'cut scenes' and additional material such as trailers. The category recommendation is then considered by a senior examiner and, in almost all cases, is agreed. A certificate is then issued to the distributor and, provided certain rules relating to the labelling of the title are met, the game can be legally offered for sale.

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and the imminent release of Nintendo’s Wii and Sony’s Playstation 3 make it an exciting time for gamers. All manner of new technology is being debuted and it's difficult to know how classification will apply to titles. Downloaded content is not covered by the VRA and industry figures have predicted that many more games will be released online only, using systems like XBox Live. Indeed, Sony have predicted that the Playstation 4 will not need to access physical media at all. It’s likely that government and the public will require some sort of classification system to continue to guide their buying choices, but its exact form and structure are up for debate.

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