X-Zone,Uncensored

All video games come with an international ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) rating,which specifies the age-group. “Despite the ratings,anyone can buy them here in India,unlike in the West,” says Atindriya Bose,country manager-India,Sony Computer Entertainment. While an original CD or UMD (Universal Media Disc) can cost anywhere between Rs 750 and Rs 2,500,the cracked version that can be directly downloaded and the pirated CD versions cost anywhere between Rs 80 and Rs 200 per game.

Most of these games are manufactured by foreign companies like Santa Monica Studios (a subsidiary of Sony),Rockstar Studios and Ready at Dawn studios.

Some of these games are banned in other countries for various reasons. For instance,in Germany,games like The Darkness,Wolfenstein 3D and Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines were banned because of Nazi references. In 2005,China banned Football Manager because it recognised Tibet as a separate country. Fallout 3 was banned in Japan because of a historic reference to the atomic bombing during World War II. Saudi Arabia banned the GOW (God of War) series and GTA games for their explicit sex scenes. In 2008,Sharmila Tagore,former chairman of the Censor Board,moved a petition to bring in censorship for video games. Eventually nothing materialised.

Jitendra Pratap Singh,Regional Officer,Mumbai,Central Board of Film Certification says,“The most important thing is whether they come under the purview of the Cinematography Act of 1955,falling under the same category of movies. As of now,there is no regulation in place for their censorship. But we will take up this issue soon.”

Prasad,however,argues that there are a lot of issues involved in the censorship. “Since they are for personal consumption,we cannot impose strict laws on sale. We also need to check where all these games are sold,who are the importers and through what channels are they being bought into in India,” he says.

Meanwhile,the popularity of these games is only escalating. Parents purchase these games for their children because they are not really aware about the content. “Instead of a heavy censorship,these games should be sold through the right channels. Banning them will only fuel the grey market,monitoring which,will be quite impossible,” says Bose.