Should more games be rated AO?

[Sqrl]

bdbdbd said:

Well parents can buy any game they want for their kids (if parents are at least 18). And also i would let the parents judge what type of games fit for their kids. Reason for this rating system is that you have something that you can decide with. If there wouldn't be any rating system, kids could buy any game they want, if they have the money, and parents would buy any game their kids want, unless they at first play it (preferrably 100% thru). There are too many parents at the moment, who a) don't care about the rating b) don't have a clue what the rating is all about c) think that the rating means the level of (intellectual) challenge in the game (like in board games). At it's best, parents even brag how their little 12yo (or even younger) Johns know how to play 18+ rated games.

So the rating works as a guideline to parents and a limit to retailers who don't care what they sell and to who.

Anyway, there always are things that shouldn't be only in parents control, "it's ok for my 6yo to smoke some pot and use speed".

The problem is not the video game with your examples, it is bad parenting. So why then is the solution to this problem a rating system? I don't see how someone being a bad parent means that I don't get the option to play Manhunt 2. I realise the role the system tries to play, and if that was actually what it did I would be fine. But the facts are that parents don't look at anything other than these ratings because the ratings have encouraged them to be lazy about censoring their child's multimedia content and now since so many games have great incentive to be right on the border of "M" or "T" these kids are getting games that are arguably to violent, sexually explicit, etc....

The rating system is causing more harm to these children then good. Their parents are simply given the illusion of safety while the kids are getting games that are oh so close to the next highest rating but just barely scrap by due to industry pressure. Meanwhile people who want to make true adult games are stifled because of the impracticality of it. I don't see how this system is helping anything.