Top 10 of 2009: News
What were the key stories running through the past year? Find out here
Following on from the Top 10 of 2009: Interviews, here's a run down of the most important news stories which developed over the past year. Unlike yesterday, which was in order of publishing, these are ranked in order of importance, building up to what we consider the most crucial story of the year.
While 2009 was another hugely busy year in videogames, we've selected the main ten themes – there were plenty of others which made the reserve list, so do you agree with our conclusions?
Number 10: The Ratings Issue
Given that this was a political debate, Number 10 is probably the most fitting placement on this chart - but while the original Byron Review was published last year and any implementation won't happen until next year, there were still a few decisions around the PEGI age ratings system that could prove crucial for the markets in the UK and Europe.
As 2008 drew to a close it was widely expected that the consultation period on Dr Tanya Byron's recommendations that the ratings system for videogames in the UK be overhauled to make it clearer and easier for parents to understand would back the historically popular BBFC system.
Certainly the general feeling in Parliament was that, as the existing standard for film classification, the symbology was recognised more widely than the publishing community's own PEGI system, while the latter's self-assessment style caused some discomfort.
But at the end of January the first good news for PEGI came in the form of an endorsement from the European Parliament, which called on member states to use and promote the system, and while a survey commissioned by the BBFC in February found that 74% of parents favoured an independent ratings body, the UK government announced that PEGI would become the standard system in the release of the Digital Britain report in June.
"Protecting children and giving parents a clear and robust new system has always been our starting point," said Creative Industries Minister Sion Simon at the time. "The new system of classification follows the essential criteria set out by Professor Tanya Byron, who recommended a trustworthy, uniform and clear set of symbols that is flexible and future proof.
"We will now work with PEGI and the Video Standards Council (VSC) to agree exactly what the new symbols will look like and how they will work in the UK market, to ensure they provide the clarity and safeguards that are needed."
Unsurprisingly ELSPA welcomed the decision as "absolutely the right decision for child safety" while the BBFC announced that it would "co-operate fully" with the decision, although it did outline its views on what it felt was needed from a ratings system - and that it was still best placed to provide it.
Since then little has happened on the matter, with Parliament's recess disrupting any immediate action, and speculation that the impending General Election next year could push the process back even further - although Labour MP Tom Watson recently told GamesIndustry.biz that he believed PEGI would make it into law before that happened.
Ultimately, it's still a hugely long process to address a child safety issue - the Byron Review was first announced in September 2007, which means it will be at least two and a half years between identifying the problem and finding a solution. Clearly the wheels of government take time to turn, but for something that's surely as important as ratings, it's a shocking and disappointing amount of time to have lapsed.