New IARC ratings coalition to streamline digital ratings

[Salamander]

Live in Europe?  Use the Nintendo eShop?  I feel your pain.  But things may be looking up with the recent announcement of the formation of the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC), a group including the ESRB, PEGI, USK, and Brazilian and Australian ratings boards intended to streamline the ratings process for digital stores, including the Nintendo eShop.  It's apparently intended to be both quick and free, neither of which are presently the case in Europe.

 

From the press release:

 

The IARC system assigns age ratings, content descriptors and interactive elements for digitally delivered games and apps.  Developers can only access the system and use IARC ratings on digital storefronts that have licensed and integrated the system into their on-boarding process.  There is no cost for developers to use the system, which features a single questionnaire that once completed immediately assigns different ratings for various territories around the world.  Those IARC-certified ratings are then ingested by the storefront and mapped to their respective regions.  IARC and its participating rating authorities are responsible for monitoring and ensuring the accuracy of ratings assigned by the system. The fundamental goal is to enable digital consumers, especially parents, to have broad access to established, credible and locally relevant ratings for interactive entertainment products, regardless of the device on which they consume them.

 

Read more here.  Then, cross your fingers that this is as good as it sounds, as the present ratings system is the bane of indies attempting to publish in Europe, and I'm sure we can all think of some notable recent examples.

[Thigolf]

OMG, does that mean I don't have to wait for MONTHS for Indie games to come out here anymore, if they come at all (since some devs claim the rating costs are too high)? That is FANTASTIC News, I'm really, really excited!

[Thigolf]

And it's finally here!

The eShop supports the IARC System now! Which means it's way cheaper and easier for Indie devs to let games get rated, which in turn means more games for everyone (but mostly Europe and Australia :P) !  

I can't express how happy I am about this, as an Indie game Lover, this is just amazing news. Bring on the Indie goodness <3

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

And it's finally here!

The eShop supports the IARC System now! Which means it's way cheaper and easier for Indie devs to let games get rated, which in turn means more games for everyone (but mostly Europe and Australia :P) !  

I can't express how happy I am about this, as an Indie game Lover, this is just amazing news. Bring on the Indie goodness <3

In theory this could also apply to Virtual Console game as well, which would make it more likely for us to get more third party titles, and more in general, since a primary inhibitor was the cost of getting them re-rated compared to how much they would make

[Salamander]

Yes, this is great news.  This should really smooth out the localisation process in future, as getting ratings was always just one more big, time-consuming stumbling block that was so much simpler in America.

[JaidynReiman]

In theory this could also apply to Virtual Console game as well, which would make it more likely for us to get more third party titles, and more in general, since a primary inhibitor was the cost of getting them re-rated compared to how much they would make

Its entirely possible this is the reason why VC has been so strained across the board; Nintendo has to wait for games to get rated in different territories.

 

Here's hoping we start seeing a lot of improvements. Its also helpful for me because I'm trying to get things organized so I can start making my own Indie games as well. ^^

[Blacklightning]

Is that why us Australians miss out on so much eShop content? Fucking hell. You learn something new every day.

[PSI Wind]

Not only that, Nintendo is the first of the 3 major console companies to use the IARC. For once, Nintendo isn't behind on the digital age :V

[JaidynReiman]

Not only that, Nintendo is the first of the 3 major console companies to use the IARC. For once, Nintendo isn't behind on the digital age :V

I think the issue is they had to adapt to it quickly, otherwise they'd lose a lot of Indie support and Indie's are pretty much the only third-parties developing for Nintendo atm. Sony and MS can afford to not jump on the bandwagon immediately. Nintendo couldn't.