ESRB Ratings

[MDMAlliance]

ktay95 said:

MDMAlliance said:

TheLegendaryWolf said:
Rated M games do sell a lot nowadays, but rated AO will never sell well because it is sold at much less stores.

But do you believe that they are selling BECAUSE they are rated M, or do you believe that somehow, there must be some kind of other element pushing the sales of a game (a mixture of things).

Being rated M has that look Im an adult now... even though I havent even hit puberty thing going for it
That and how much sites like IGN and Gamespot hype it up... and PewDiePie... yeah sadly thats what sells games to a mass audience these days =(

I get that, but the problem is when someone actually believes that the M rating actually is what sells the game.  If that were the case, people could just release games left and right with M ratings and not worry about anything else.  ESRB M ratings CAN negatively effect game sales, too.  Like, for example, if a game that WOULD have been M rated somehow got an E rating (all content is the same), more players readily have access to purchase it.  What that, in turn, means is a higher potential for sales.  What the person I was arguing with was denying this connection at all.  Person was pretty much saying that the M rating doesn't stop anyone.  Pretty much that the ESRB ratings are, in some way, pointless in doing what they are supposed to do.  

While many people who aren't supposed to be playing the games end up getting the game anyway, I don't think anyone can find a good case where you can say it doesn't stop anyone.