I find it amusing that people are still surprised that Adult Only rated games will not make it onto systems. Here's why:

1. Even if Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo allowed these AO rated games on their systems, it would sell far less than a game rated M. It's not just because we live in some kind of puritan nation--although there is definitely truth to that--it's because of profits. If you eliminated an entire base of people who want to, but are legally not allowed to purchase the game because they're underage, you're not going to make as much money as you want.

2. Another thing I hear is "since the ESRB rating system is strictly voluntary, why not just skip rating the game and put it out there to the public?" Again, money is the answer. I believe that most large retail chains that sell games won't carry games that aren't rated, and the major platforms also won't allow them on their systems as well. This = no audience, which then= no loot for developers and publishers.

3. We still live in a very Puritan-like country. Look who founded this place, after all! Sexuality, violence, drugs--all of these things are apparently to be locked away in a closet and their existence denied. This, unfortunately, has been the standard for a very long time, and video games, as well as other forms of media and expression, suffer for it.

Thankfully, there are cheats that can be employed, and not always at the expense of compromising the game (or art in general). For example, while not directly related to the video game industry, Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Volume 1 is an example of how people maneuver around ratings systems without cutting anything out of their product. Anyone who has watched the scene where the Bride fights the Crazy 88 on the dance floor of a restaurant noticed that this gory, bloody scene switched from color to black and white during all the action. This action just happened to include gallons of spurting blood and hacked body parts. Now, in every other country except America, this scene was kept in color. However, in America, Kill Bill: Volume 1 was going to receive an NC-17 rating just because of this scene. So Tarantino compromises by filtering the scene into black and white--then presto, the movie is then rated R in America, and we get to see a fine, violent piece of cinema. The scene loses nothing in the process, and we get to see it uncut.

With games such as Manhunt II garnering all this attention for their violence and almost getting choked out with the AO rating, there are plenty of people who worry that the developers have carved out large chunks of what's making the game fun just to lower the rating and make the game marketable again. To them, I say don't worry. I'm sure there are plenty of ways to get around the system. It's just unfortunate that Big Brother doesn't realize that video games aren't just for kids anymore. One day they'll get the message and stop locking sex, drugs, and violence in the closet, as if they're the boogieman.

In a game like Gears of War where the prime objective is to massacre the other team in any way possible, I still hear a lot of whining about cheap kills through my headphones. "Grenade tags are cheap." "Chainsaw kills are cheap." "Meleing with a shotgun is cheap. Be a real man and shoot it out." And so on, ad naseum; mostly with derogatory words peppered liberally throughout the commentary.

Why are all these things not fair ways of playing? Gamers whine and complain about these kills, yet Epic saw fit to include them in the multiplayer version of its game. They saw merit in these types of kills. Epic even assigned specific achievements to the chainsaw kill and the grenade tag, two of the kills that I hear the most people complain about. I'd say that since Epic assinged achievements to these kills, this negates any whining that any player should have about so-called cheapness in these deaths. It is a part of Gears of War. They are there for a reason. Epic kept the Lancer and grenade tags in multiplayer and designated them achievements, which should be enough proof that the developers believe these kills should be in the game, so that should be the end of the debate.

Even if my own argument doesn't stand up to scrutiny, there is one saying that will stand, which has been said through the ages--all's fair in love and war.