I was watching TV and saw a commercial for Halo 3 and was a little surprised to see that 'M' rating on there. I just find it kinda funny how movie studios will bend over backwards to get that elusive PG-13 rating for their big summer blockbusters but video game companies have no qualms at all releasing the biggest selling games of the year rated 'M' I just find it kinda funny.

I posted this with Halo 2 a few years back. It seems ridiculous that the Halo games gets an M for having a FPS in which you kill aliens with green blood and yet when the 360 debuted in stores it was with CoD 2 demo on it, which is a T rated game, where you shoot and kill other human soldiers, but it's bloodless. That seems very arbitrary to me.

Besides we all know any time you take any shooter online, you're into M territory anyway.

Personally anything with heavy gunplay should be M in my opinion, colored blood/aliens or not.

That's because the average age of a typical gamer is 17-33, perfectly suitable for 'M' rated titles. Of course Nintendo is fucking that all up with their 3-93 age demographic now.

Yeah, that and it's been proven that lower ratings (i.e. not R) seems to get more $$$. I don't think the same is true for games.

Because up until recently, no one paid attention to video game ratings. And even now, very few stores care to check the rating of a game and selling a Mature game to a minor despite recent "uproar" about violence in games. Compare it to movie theater chains that regularly check ID for R rated movies which make it important to get the younger demographic in to the movie. Especially for those action and comedy movies that appeal to teenagers.

You have to have an "M" rating if you want EGM to give you anything higher than a 7.

Classic Groucho post...

It really speaks to how the folks who review games...who are usually "harcore gamers" (whatever that means)...have no idea why normal folks appreciate games outside of the narrow genres that they like.

Plus it was f'ing funny...and true.

I don't understand why the Halo series is 'M' rated, yet the Medal of Honor series is 'T' rated? What a joke...

The whole ratings system is fucked/broken/a joke. I genuinely think that ratings are bought or persuaded. The example above is the PERFECT representation of this. I've always thought Halo is rated M simply because it makes the game "cooler" or more appealing to its pre-teen/teenage audience, not because of its content. Here's a good example.. the SNES Final Fantasy trilogy (IV, V, VI) are rated T on the PS1, E on the GBA. THEY ARE THE EXACT SAME GAMES.

the whole manhunt 2 controversy had me thinking of the ratings. When a movie is hit with an nc-17 rating, the director most of the time will make cuts to get the rating down to an R. When it gets released on video, they can put out the unrated and rated version. So why cant video games do something similar. Release two versions of Manhunt 2. one M rated that goes to the general electronics store and the adults only version goes to an Adult store or online even?

I'd be a little afraid to pick up a box labled "Manhunt 2" in an Adult store...

This thread brings teh funny!

Well, if a video game was released "unrated" it would probably sell in stores but I don't think video games can be "unrated"