New games ratings needed as adrenalin overload virtually assured

The ability of virtual reality games to invoke severe adren­alin responses may require new content classification.

In this Sept. 2, 2015 file photo, a man tests a Sony 'Project Morpheus Virtual Reality' device after a press conference at the company's stand at the IFA 2015 tech fair in Berlin, Germany. There are the promises of virtual reality in the form of headsets that drop you into another world and offer 360-degree views that shift as you turn your head. If VR doesn’t reach a broader audience, it could constrain development of tools to help with training, medicine, building design and other tasks yet to be imagined. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn

The ability of virtual reality games to invoke severe adren­alin responses due to their ­realism may require new content classification, Sony Computer Entertainment says.

The Japanese electronics giant next year will start selling its virtual reality-based Play­Station VR headset globally. It and those of rivals will change the nature of gaming from controlling play displayed on a TV screen to wearing a headset and being inside the game.

But the instinctive adrenaline rush and fight-or-flight response users can experience when confronted with danger in their virtual world could be physically dangerous in the real world. This can happen despite a gamer obviously knowing it’s only a game.

This reporter experienced a huge adrenalin rush when trying out The Deep, a virtual reality experience for the headset. In The Deep, the user is lowered under water on an enclosed platform. At first the experience is pleasant but later the scene darkens and a shark starts attacking and breaking up the platform.

The fact a user can virtually walk around the platform (by walking around in the real world) adds to the realism.

“I think classification for VR might need to include some warnings,” Sony Computer Entertainment ANZ managing ­director Michael Ephraim said.

Sony was working with the Australian Classification Board on the issue. “VR is on their radar. We’ve had them in to demo it.”

Still, people must make responsible choices about what VR games they played. “People need to think about what they’re doing in life, whether going on a roller coaster in a theme park to bungee jumping or watching a horror movie. They’re not for the faint-hearted.”

Classification of virtual reality-based computer games ­operates in the same way as for traditional computer games. But it is understood that if the immersive nature of the experience affects the impact of the game, this will be relevant to the ACB’s assessment.