Mark Androvich 08:00 (BST)
06/03/2008

In the current debate over which ratings system is most appropriate for consumers - the BBFC or PEGI - Microsoft's Neil Thompson comes down clearly on the side of the latter.

"We made it very clear to the Byron Report team, both as an industry and as Microsoft, strongly believe that PEGI has a lot more benefits for customers, parents and for everyone involved in the industry really.

Thompson notes that Byron has not yet decided if a single ratings system is the right way to go - but if that is, in fact, her recommendation, he says that PEGI is the preferred route.

"PEGI has been established for quite a few years now as the industry standard, so the industry has got behind it and invested a lot of time and effort in it, and it offers a level of in-depth information as well as a level of expertise to be honest, that the BBFC doesn't."

Thompson said that last year the PEGI system rated close to 2,000 games while the BBFC rated about 100 or so.

"There's just a scale difference in terms of industry knowledge and industry insight that goes into these things," he said.

Addressing the BBFC's claim that the PEGI symbols don't mean enough, Thompson thinks that PEGI's iconography helps consumers to quickly ascertain whether or not a game is appropriate for a certain age.

The key, he says, is for the industry and government to continue to educate parents about the ratings system and what the symbols, words or age ratings refer to.

The fact that the industry is behind PEGI will give it a lot more momentum.

"It's becoming the European standard and whenever you have something of that magnitude where you're getting more countries evolving to that standard I think you're going to see a lot more progression in terms of education and the way that technology can evolve, because it's much easier to move when you've got one clear standard like that."

The first part of our interview with Microsoft's Neil Thompson can be read here.