First, I love all video games.  Kiddie, near-porn, ultra violent, and so on.  However, I have a young gamer in the house and I'm growing tired of constantly trying to figure out what is *really* OK.  Gears had an interesting setting to remove some of the hardcore blood and language but it didn't remove "shit" and other adult-speak.  Some games will let you turn off blood which is OK, I guess.

I know developers want to see their "vision" in all it's glory.  That often means graphic sex, gore, language, and so-on.  Forcing them to dumb it down would make for some lame games.

The question is this:

If developers were given a standard system on each console where a "setting" would allow a developer to tone down the sexual content, gore, and language for different levels -- say maybe 4 or 5 levels -- would they do it?

Would a game sell more copies if a parent knew they could control the content?  Are the incremental sales worth the effort to develop alternate animations, dress on characters, voiceovers, etc.?

For example:  There are enough games out there like Fable and Oblivion, for instance, that are just objectionable enough that I won't get it for my young gamer.  With a few tweaks, I would...

Edit: whoops, this should probably have been in the "gaming" forum rather than here in the 360 forum.  Oh well.  Maybe it will play out OK.  If a Mod would take 360 out of the title and move it, that would be cool...

Some things could be done (additional clothing on "ladies of the night" or elimination of graphic blood and unnecessary violence) but a lot of the reason games get the ratings they do is because of elements you can't remove ... You can't exactly turn Gears of War into Gears of War: Paintball and retain the tone of the game

Yeah, I understand that dumbing down some games basically makes it a different game. GTAIV, for instance, just has to be the way it is. Changing the content too much would be a waste...

Question: How old is your gamer?

I don't think it will help that much, as the games certificate won't change, I mean, remember when hackers discovered Hot Coffee, and the game was reclassified?

she is 10. I let her play things like halo (M-rated) because there isn't anything overtly sexual and the violence is cartoonish and alien. There really isn't anything in Halo, in my opinion, that requires that it is an M title. Teen would have sufficed on that one. Other games have just a moment or two that make me uncomfortable which makes the rest of the game off limits which is a shame. I control what is watched and played very carefully which some might think is overkill, but I'll relax it a bit when she turns 13.

 First off im glad that you are watching out for your young gamer :)

Secondly I think it would be a decent idea to but I don't think it would be implemented at least in a prevalent manner. I think it would honestly help sell a a few more copies as informed consumers, such as yourself, would look to purchase/allow young gamers to play. While the monetary gains wouldn't be groundbreaking by any means, the implementation of a new system would certainly better the image in the eyes of parents/relatives looking out for their future gamers.

 Edit: Spelling and....how does the Halo series get a mature rating? Im not sure if there is swearing in Halo 3 or not but i remember some in Halo 2 particularly before crossing the bridge on the level "Metropolis"

I don't agree at all with the Halo 1-3 "M" rating. Giving Halo an M means games like GTAIV should have an "AO". And... how is the COD 2 or 3 less violent or mature than Halo 1 or 2? At least Halo is purple alien blood and is quite unrealistic while COD tries to be realistic while killing actual humans. So COD 2 and 3 get Teen ratings and Halo gets an M. I'm confused. I usually ask, play, or in some way preview the game so I know what I'm getting into. The rating system clearly doesn't work and needs an overhaul.