Nintendo of Europe GmbH is a member of ISFE, the Interactive Software Federation of Europe. This means that in the United Kingdom and Ireland, all Nintendo-published games are submitted to a voluntary rating scheme, and rated under the PEGI (Pan European Games Information) age rating system.

Established in 2003 to help European parents make informed decisions on buying interactive games, the PEGI age rating system was designed to ensure that minors are not exposed to games that are unsuitable for their particular age group. The system is supported by major console manufacturers like Nintendo, as well as by publishers and developers of interactive games throughout Europe.

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There are games available on our systems for all ages and types of players. Just as with films or music, the videogame market is made up of people with varied tastes and interests, and the games made by Nintendo and our licensees reflect those differences.

To make sure you're fully informed about the content of our games, and to help you choose appropriate titles for your family, Nintendo submits relevant games to an industry ratings board, which then reviews each game and assigns it a rating based on content.

Under the PEGI system, a game is rated with two separate elements, both clearly visible on its packaging and this website:

1. An Age Rating Icon, which shows for which age range the game is suitable. The five PEGI age ratings are: 3+, 7+, 12+, 16+ and 18+.
2. Game Descriptor Icons, which advise you on the type of content contained in the game. The seven descriptors highlight seven types of content: Discrimination, Drugs, Fear, Bad Language, Sex, Violence and Gambling.

Additionally, games with higher ratings can be submitted to the BBFC (the British Board of Film Classification). If the BBFC decides the game warrants its own 15 or 18 rating, it is a criminal offence for anyone to supply those games to people below the stated ages. Nintendo may also submit games to the BBFC itself.

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Nintendo of Europe GmbH is a member of ELSPA, the European Leisure Software Publishers Association. Before April 2003 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, all Nintendo-published games were submitted to a voluntary rating scheme and given one of four ratings: suitable for 3 to 10 years, 11-14, 15-17 and 18-plus. So on some games released before April 2003, you may see the ELSPA rating marked on the packaging and on our website.

All Virtual Console software for the Wii console is rated anew according to the current PEGI age rating system.

beISFE (Interactive Software Federation of Europe) is an industry trade body of European interactive software publishers. Its rating system - combined with the industry code of conduct - aims at "providing consumers, especially parents, with clear and easy to act on information about a game’s age suitability, exclusively as related to content and not playing skill". For more information, visit the ISFE home page at http://www.isfe-eu.org/, and the PEGI home page at http://www.pegi.info/.

ELSPA (the European Leisure Software Publishers Association) is an industry trade body of European games publishers and developers. In 1993, ELSPA, in conjunction with the Video Standards Council (which oversees a Code of Practice and Code of Practice Rules designed to promote high standards within the video industry), developed and introduced the voluntary ELSPA ratings system. For more information, visit the ELSPA home page at http://www.elspa.com/.

While we recommend purchasing your Nintendo products in your country of residence, you should know that different parts of the world employ different age rating systems. Should you decide to purchase a game overseas, we encourage you to look up that game on our website to see if it has already been rated under the PEGI age rating system as well.

If the game was released overseas before it has been rated by the PEGI age rating system, you should check the website of the age rating system used in the country of purchase. For example, in the United States videogames are rated by the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board).