How will you protect your children from the hidden dangers of video games? - PHP Games PEGI package blog

Protecting children from the dangers of the internet is a very serious matter. Some of these dangers come from video games. 

The almost daily involvement of young people in this field often brings them face to face with information that is socio-psychologically harmful for their proper development.

One solution tried to provide PEGI (Pan European Game Information) by establishing labeling about the content displayed within the video game. Thus he defined two categories of marking, age and content indication. 

3 YEARS OLD 

The game should not contain any sounds or pictures that are likely to frighten young children. A very mild form of violence (in a comical context or a childlike setting) is acceptable. No bad language should be heard. 

Game content with scenes or sounds that can possibly be frightening to younger children should fall in this category. Very mild forms of violence (implied, non-detailed, or non-realistic violence) are acceptable for a game with a PEGI 7 rating. 

Video games that show violence of a slightly more graphic nature towards fantasy characters or non-realistic violence towards human-like characters would fall in this age category. Sexual innuendo or sexual posturing can be present, while any bad language in this category must be mild. 

This rating is applied once the depiction of violence (or sexual activity) reaches a stage that looks the same as would be expected in real life. The use of bad language in games with a PEGI 16 rating can be more extreme, while the use of tobacco, alcohol or illegal drugs can also be present. 

The adult classification is applied when the level of violence reaches a stage where it becomes a depiction of gross violence, apparently motiveless killing, or violence towards defenceless characters. The glamorisation of the use of illegal drugs and of the simulation of gambling, and explicit sexual activity should also fall into this age category.

In addition to the numerical PEGI ratings, you will also see the "Parental Guidance Recommended" rating for some non-game apps, introduced by PEGI for storefronts that use IARC. This serves as a warning that these apps can offer a broad variety of user generated or curated content. Typically, this applies to products such as Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.

The game contains bad language. This descriptor can be found on games with a PEGI 12 (mild swearing), PEGI 16 (e.g. sexual expletives or blasphemy) or PEGI 18 rating (e.g. sexual expletives or blasphemy).

The game contains depictions of ethnic, religious, nationalistic or other stereotypes likely to encourage hatred. This content is always restricted to a PEGI 18 rating (and likely to infringe national criminal laws). 

The game refers to or depicts the use of illegal drugs, alcohol or tobacco. Games with this content descriptor are always PEGI 16 or PEGI 18.

This descriptor may appear as 'Fear' on games with a PEGI 7 if it contains pictures or sounds that may be frightening or scary to young children, or as 'Horror' on higher-rated games that contain moderate (PEGI 12) or intense and sustained (PEGI 16) horror sequences or disturbing images (not necessarily including violent content). 

The game contains elements that encourage or teach gambling. These simulations of gambling refer to games of chance that are normally carried out in casinos or gambling halls. Some older titles can be found with PEGI 12 or PEGI 16, but PEGI changed the criteria for this classification in 2020, which made that new games with this sort of content are always PEGI 18.

Purchases

The game offers players the option to purchase digital goods or services with real-world currency. Such purchases include additional content (bonus levels, outfits, surprise items, music), but also upgrades (e.g. to disable ads), subscriptions to updates, virtual coins and other forms of in-game currency. This content descriptor is sometimes accompanied by an additional notice if the in-game purchases include random items (like loot boxes or card packs). Paid random items comprise all in-game offers where players don΄t know exactly what they are getting prior to the purchase. They can be purchased directly with real money and/or exchanged for an in-game virtual currency. Depending on the game, these items may be purely cosmetic or they may have functional value. 

Sex

This content descriptor can accompany a PEGI 12 rating if the game includes sexual posturing or innuendo, a PEGI 16 rating if there is erotic nudity or sexual intercourse without visible genitals or a PEGI 18 rating if there is explicit sexual activity in the game. Depictions of nudity in a non-sexual context do not require a specific age rating, and this descriptor would not be necessary. 

The game contains depictions of violence. In games rated PEGI 7 this can only be non-realistic or non-detailed violence. Games rated PEGI 12 can include violence in a fantasy environment or non-realistic violence towards human-like characters, whereas games rated PEGI 16 or 18 have increasingly more realistic-looking violence.

The package contains a class (TPEGIHandler) that handles retrieving PEGI icons and descriptions in the browser's respective language. 

If your language is not in the package's language files, then English is used automatically. 

The display format as well as the contents to be displayed depend on the display theme you have created and the video game information you have provided as data. 

To learn this particular package, a sample data table has been created through which the basic example gives the information to the user. In actual operation the developer will need to create the appropriate database as well as the code to retrieve and create the PHP table, such as the data in the example.