My argument for only two video game ratings

[SamuelRSmith]

astrosmash said:

The government shouldn't be giving advice on purchases nor determining what is appropriate for children except on the 18+ border.

Does the government do that in the UK? Here in North America the esrb is run by video game industry itself, precisely because they don't want the governments to get involved.

All games, videos, etc must be rated - but it's up to independent raters to rate it, the two main ones are BBFC and PEGI.

Books, plays and cinemas are different. Books and plays are unrated and can be shown to anyone, whilst cinemas are at the control of the local council - council's usually just follow what the ratings agencies say, anyway - but they have the power to change the rating or ban stuff if members of the community throw up enough fuss about it (though I don't know of any instances where this power has been used).