Sims Computer Game

Game labels: a developer's viewpoint

Yesterday, I spoke to Mario Wynands, the managing director of Sidhe Interactive in Wellington, about the Office of Film and Literature Classification suggestion that all games be submitted for classification to the office. Here are his thoughts from a game maker's perspective. He's enlightened me further on the issue.

Take it away, Mario.

"While I support ratings standards and the work that the OFLC has done to date, I believe that requiring the OFLC to rate every title would limit the number of games released in New Zealand.

"There are a couple of key reasons for this.

"Certainly the additional costs cited for publishers would be a barrier, but the actual logistics of organising and liaising with the OFLC from overseas is going to be an additional disincentive.  Publishers currently generally already have to deal with the ESRB (NA), PEGI (Europe), USK (Germany), CERO (Japan), and the Australian Classification Review board, each with different standards, submission requirements, response timeframes and costs. Preparing and managing an additional submission to the OFLC at the same critical stage of the project may not be worth either the time or the effort (much less both combined) compared to the small size of the market, especially for smaller publishers or independent self-publishing developers.

"As NZ is a relatively small market, publishers benefit from being able to leverage the benefits of aligning packaging, shipping, advertising and classification submissions with Australia, using NZ as an incremental revenue opportunity. Introducing additional packaging, advertising, and classification restrictions/requirements on top of what is already in place may drive up the cost and hassle factor further. To give a sense of the market, even top-selling games in New Zealand mostly only reach "thousands" rather than "tens of thousands" of copies, and runs of custom packaging and marketing materials that small become prohibitively expensive.

"The OFLC, to my knowledge, only has limited resources available for games ratings and currently only deals with a very small number of games out of the overall volume released here. I would question whether this would be able to be effectively ramped up to deal with an exponentially greater volume in a manner which did not produce either a backlog of products waiting for classification or a drop in standards of assessment. 

"To be honest, I think the bigger issue is the existing usage of classifications in New Zealand.  Parents aren't well informed or choose to ignore classifications because their child is "mature enough" (supplying their kid with an age-inappropriate game is actually a crime), and I imagine the enforcement/standards at retail is inconsistent given the lack of policing of the issue.

The Sims 3: Late Night review | GameZone.com - PC

Sims 3 Late Night expands the world of Sims once again by adding a slew of new content, as well as a few gameplay changes to shake things up a bit. Players live up the nightlife within Bridgeport, a sleepless city of glamorous celebrities and nightclubs packed with more vacant sex-appeal than an episode of Jersey Shore.

As with previous expansions, Late Night adds new furniture and items to customize your pad, and a ton of stylish clothes to outfit your Sim. Sim celebrities make appearances all over Bridgeport and successfully befriending them will net you celebrity status. On the flip side, as a paparazzi you snap pictures of celebs with your cellphone and gain street cred by showing them off to your Sim friends.

Being a socialite is all about status and gaining popularity is at the heart of the Late Night expansion. Clubs and bars aren’t all accessible to just any Joe Schmo as most of them have a certain requirement to get in, and it’s up to you to make a name for yourself, be it with the aforementioned celebrity status, a hot shot paparazzi, or joining a band and rocking the late night clubs.

Setting up your own band and watching them rise to success is yet another gratifying experience. Once you get over the initial hump of learning an instrument and getting your band together, playing a gig will make crowds will flock to the stage as you perform rocking tunes. Watching your bands rise to success is both satisfying as it is rewarding since it pays a nice sum of Simoleons. Fame is the goal for both rock stars and celebrities, though celebrities have a harder time maintaining it since paparazzi are always trying to smear their name.

Once you’re in the club, it’s time to let your Sims tear up the dance floor and mingle with others. Bartending is also an option, which is a great way to make new contacts while mixing and pouring drinks. Since the Late Night expansion focuses on rising up that social ladder, what better place to meet people than bars right?

The supernatural returns in the form of vampires (cause they’re still hip?). You’re able to meet different vampire families and even become one yourself. This changes the dynamic of the game by letting you go out only at night (duh), learn skills much faster and the ability to “turn” people at will. You too can live out your fantasy as a suave, club-going Edward Cullen and have ladies swoon over every Simlish word.

Careers in the computer game industry

Critical play, radical game design

The Sims 3: World Adventures, Prima Official Game Guide

Computer Game Developer

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