Rated M or AO?

[Glorb]

The view that sex is okay and violence isn't is stupid. The other day at GameStop, a dad was buying Doom 3 on Xbox for his seven-year-old son. He asked if it was rated M for sex/nudity, and the clerk said no. However, the clerk also said that it's rated M for blood, gore, and intense violence (brains literally getting blown out of heads), but the dad didn't care, because it had no nudity. I think that stores should allow clerks to prevent parents from buying inappropriate games for their kids. I don't believe that video games influence behavior in anyone but little kids (they pick up everything from TV, books, and other kids).

[Lizard Dude]

The view that sex is okay and violence isn't is stupid.

I think you meant the other way around from your story?

[PaperLuigi]

Sex is something that many will experience in their life, but violence is not.

Well, I shouldn't say that, since there's war, domestic violence, blah blah blah. It's just not something we should experience.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that sex shouldn't be as bad as violence...kinda.

[Vidgmchtr]

Both topics need to be explained to children so they get the right idea, no matter how embarassing it is for parents to speak about sex to their children. It's just like those anti-smoking ads that depict parents and children. It really will work the same way if you speak about it to them while they're young enough.

I like Europe's view a bit more than ours, that they're more lax on sex and strict on violence. I'd think there should be a good balance though, as in, not being too lax on both, or being too strict on both. Again, neither of those things are immune from children prying into them.

[ShadowBrain]

AO is less about one more year of age, and more about "hey, this game will burn out your eyeballs!" Seriously, there's a lot of games that probably needed AO instead of M, but if pretty much nobody will sell a game with that rating--and only about 2 or 3 games in history have ever had it, why should it even exist (On a separate note, does anybody, anywhere ever use the EC rating--even when necessary anymore?)

[Glorb]

The reason no one thinks AO is ever used is because no one sees them. They're only distributed over the internet and not in stores. The thing is, if you do that, then why not just leave it unrated? So it seems like AO is just the ESRB's way of gently persuading developers to tone down violence. A scare tactic, in other terms.

[Chupperson Weird]

Because the ESRB really cares about that. Not.
My two cents: Violence is worse because more people get hurt. I'm speaking strictly of ingame depictions of things here, not any imagined effects on society.

[Lizard Dude]

AO is less about one more year of age, and more about "hey, this game will burn out your eyeballs!"

9 times out of 10, AO just means there are people with no pants or many people without shirts, ef you know what I mean.

There is exactly one (1) game rated EC for Cube (and also PS2). It is Dora The Explorer: Journey To The Purple Planet. Deezer told me it was good.

The only other EC games I could find on any modern system were all three (3) for GBA:
Care Bears- Care Quest
The Koala Brothers- Outback Adventures GBA
Franklin the Turtle

Here are all the AO games I found that were not solely porn:
Playboy the Mansion: Private Party (PC)
Lula 3D (PC)
Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy Director's Cut: PC CD ROM (PC)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PC, PS2, XBOX) -- This was the first version.
Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude Uncut and Uncensored (PC)
Singles (PC)
Peak Entertainment Casinos (PC) -- The only descriptor is "Gambling". That must be a LOT of gambling!!
Thrill Kill (PSX) -- This never came out but I guess it got rated.
The Joy Of Sex (CD-i) -- Not sure what this is, but notice the system it's on.

Then there are 14 more AO-rated PC titles that are pretty much just porn-based but went through the ESRB for whatever reason.

[SolidShroom]

I read an article about the Peak Entertainment Casinos game, and apparently they wanted that rating because they are a very anti-underage gambling casino company. I'm not going to link to the article here, however. because of possibly nsfw ads, however I will quote it.

WILLEMSTAD, Curacao -- Peak Entertainment(TM) announced that they've become the very first online casino company to receive an ESRB rating for its gaming software. ESRB ratings have long been the standard rating system for console and PC video games, but have been largely ignored by the online gambling industry.

Their gambling software was rated Adults Only, a rating that reflects Peak's stance against underage gambling.

"Getting the ESRB rating of AO (Adults Only) was exactly what we wanted. Our goal is to show lawmakers and parents that we share their concerns about underage gambling, and that we are taking the necessary steps to curb it," commented Shelley Knight, public relations manager for Peak Entertainment.

As an advocate for regulation of the online casino industry, Peak Entertainment continues to be at the forefront of self-regulation. "We continue to prepare ourselves if and when regulation of online casinos in major markets like the U.S. should occur," added Knight.

[BP]

The subtitle was completely random.

[Chupperson Weird]

No "They"?

[Glorb]

Corrupting children, one game at a time.

[bobman37]

The only other EC games I could find on any modern system were all three (3) for GBA...

I seem to remember there being an Elmo game that was rated EC. It's a possibility that it was an N64 game but I'm leaning toward GBA.

[MaxVance]

Glorb, the ESRB wasn't around in 1979.

[PaperLuigi]

Mabey that's part of the joke?  :\