So I got into a little argument with someone and this person thinks that ESRB ratings do not prevent anyone from buying games.  That is obviously a stretch, but it gets worse.  This person also thinks that games like GTA, which is rated M, gets higher sales because it is rated M.  That ratings more strict cause sales to go up considerably (not denying the fact that there may as well be people who gets a game to seem more "mature").  

The worst part?  This person thinks an AO rating would make sales BETTER, not worse, for a game.  

How did this arise?  I pretty much mentioned the fact that exposing and deliberately making a primary sexual characteristic visible and have certain characteristics would make a game rated AO, and therefore be a bad idea.  (This is how GTA was brought up, even though the game does NOT do this).

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).

I believe it to be a mix of both.

I feel like the AO rating is kinda like the NC-17 movie rating. Anything that's rated with it will be doomed because of the type of content people usually associate the rating with (pornography mostly).

Technically PS and Xbox gamers generally tend to be in their teens so I don't think its to shocking to see M rated games with such high sales... I doubt you'd see an 18 year old buying Barbie dolls epic princess quest.
That being said I think the only "Child" oriented games that sell well typically tend to be platformers though like for example the beloved Mario sonic and Crash
Those games sell well with their audience because younger kids tend to lean towards platformers Thats just me opinion

I can understand that, but I personally believe that if being rated M boosts sales, it is not by a substantial amount.  Otherwise we would have just a bunch of M rated games everywhere.  

I think that people who look for if it's M rated are usually looking at if there will be X thing that usually is in M rated games (such as gore or violence).  The guy I'm talking about was pretty much arguing that M rated simply increases sales AND denies the possibility of LOSING sales due to ratings like that.  

Why do I say that?  Because you have less exposure out in retail stores and need more work arounds when you get those ratings. 

Guess I'll be the Jizz_Beard and point out that a lot of people surely buy "mature" games for the tits and related scenes. Not to mention the blood and gore. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if most people that want this sort of stuff in their games are the ones that are below the age ratings.

On a side note, let's say that time travel was possible and that the same game was released worldwide twice; one time uncensored and one time censored to lower the ratings. Which version do you think would sell the most?

This isn't about what the content is, this is about the rating itself.  

Wasn't there a GTA game that got rated AO and they delayed it so they could bring it down to an M rating. I don't think AO games are allowed be sold at stores so it obviously wouldn't sell well.

I think people play M games because in real life you can't kill people or blow up buildings without getting arrested. I know one guy online said he plays Grand Theft Auto because every day he has to wait in traffic to get to work and he enjoys speeding through traffic in a video game.