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Rated AO For Absolutely No One At All

Is the video game industry censoring itself? The AO Rating seems to be showing up every where these days, and mostly in Rock Star's video game library. It's the Scarlett Letter of the video game industry. When you get, you're in for a long line of bans, whining parents, lawsuits and angry Jack Thompsons. Does the ESRB really take these games seriously or just give them a quick look through and shelf 'em?
We understand that the ESRB is just doing its job and that retailers certainly have the right to carry or not carry whatever products they wish, but if we all trust the ESRB system and the retailers to enforce the ratings (not to mention parents to properly monitor their kids), then why shouldn't console manufacturers allow AO titles on their platforms? Ultimately, what it boils down to is that the same industry that cries foul while fighting legislators month after month to protect first amendment rights is seemingly censoring itself – even if no one single party is at fault.
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  • 0 thumbs!
    twilightprince | August 25, 2007
    What's the point of having an AO rating if Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft doesn't allow AO games on their consoles?
    • 0 thumbs!
      Gothic Girl | August 25, 2007
      I agree. They shouldn't deprive people of games simply because the game might be unsuitable for people of a younge rage. After all, "AO" stands for Adults Only, so adults should be the only ones playing them.

      Plus... in regards to making an NC-17 rating ... if the ratings boards (and Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo) are so worried about the AO games being sold, then, instead of making a NC-17 rating, they can boost the games up to a full-on 21+ rating, as opposed to flat-out barring a game from being sold. That way, only ADULTS can be permitted to play the games, as the companies intended.
  • -3 thumbs!
    BANDITO ATTACK | August 25, 2007
    AO games aren't 'popping up everywhere'.. I can only really think of 2 caces of AO, manhunt 2 and GTA san andreas with hot coffee mode..

    btw, i'm pretty sure if they developed an AO game for the PC, microsoft wouldn't be bitches about it. Hell, i bet they would have let it on the 360, too.

    and at least nintendo had an excuse, they're freakin NINTENDO. they don't like games that don't match colors minin games and have plumbers playing freeze tag. what's sony's excuse? they need all the AAA they can get, their library is anything but impressive right now
    • 0 thumbs!
      twilightprince | August 25, 2007
      quote
      Hell, i bet they would have let it on the 360, too.
      Wrong. Microsoft have already said that they won't allow AO games on the XBox 360. It was around the same time Manhunt 2 got banned.
  • 0 thumbs!
    Theory of Chaos | August 25, 2007
    I don't understand this rating at all. Why is it such taboo? The age difference between buying an M rated game and an AO rated game is one year. Why can't we allow these games to be sold?
  • 0 thumbs!
    Jaw Knee | August 25, 2007
    San Andreas, Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, Singles: Flirt Up Your Life, and now Manhunt 2. If you ask me, they're happening quite often.
    • 0 thumbs!
      Ameer | August 25, 2007
      Yes, 3 games out of hundreds is often.
  • 0 thumbs!
    Jaw Knee | August 25, 2007
    Four. Learn to count plz. I was pointing out some of the more popular titles that would most likely get more publicity then something like Alien Hentai.
    • 0 thumbs!
      Ameer | August 26, 2007
      My mistake. I skipped over Singles, not that it makes a real difference.
  • 0 thumbs!
    Revenger of Wastelan | August 26, 2007
    Those guys are starting to be annoying.

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