seriously, I wish they would sell games with an AO rating.

it doesn't change the fact that if AO ratings were allowed to be sold in retail stores, and etc, that we could potentially have some great games, and many regions would not have such heavily edited versions.
also, here's this
[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit_(video_game]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit_(video_game[/url])

Indigo Prophecy (aka Fahrenheit) was an awesome game. I'm probably going to end up buying a PS3 just to play Heavy Rain.

I'm going to have to see about getting a copy of Farenheit.

It's an absolutely amazing game. Not a big fan of the ending, though. And yes, I, too, just bought a PS3 to play Heavy Rain.

European ratings seem a bit more sensible in this respect. More games might receive a 18+ rating (e.g., Mafia and The Witcher are 18+ here), but there are no limitations on selling them.
Also, boobies.
Up until its last few hours, where it took a sharp turn for the worse. All I'm going to say is "slow-mo floating matrix kung-fu zombie wallrunning jesus".

Europe is a lot more liberal than the United States, as a result of its tight-lipped conservatives cowering behind the Second Amendment and not letting people smoke pot unless they have terminal cancer.

But the ESRB ratings aren't legally enforcable like the australian & british ones (I tihnk the brit ones are), if a store worker says that he can't buy it becuse it's for big boys, little jimmy could just say "yeah well fuck you, I'll spend my us$60 elsewhere" (though he may not specify the specific currency) and I'll lay odds that principles are rapidly forgotten
Yeah Farenheit was awesome and I'm glad I was considered mature enough to cope with a soap opera level sex scene. As always it's not amajor cut but it's still a cut and thats bad, it's forcing one person's opinion on a work of art.
And yes the "3/4 of the way though and suddenly I'm a superhero" was a bit of a surprise and not the most pleasant one but I still enjoyed the game overall. Hell the PC version would be an ideal addition to GOG one of these days.

All ratings systems need to go and die a horrible death along with the "think of the children" harpies. There's too much goddamn handholding in this world in relation to mass media. If you don't know what it is about, then use the magical power of GOOGLE and it should come up with something that will inform you of the contents of the piece of mass entertainment you are about to purchase,whether it is a game , movie, or a book. There is too much real life Oblivion going on these days : too many people want to be told what to think, they are given far too many "moral compasses" while raking their carpets.

I've almost bought Waxworks, I just am having a little trouble justifying that price for a 14mb game that comes with nothing extra but the manual..

Ahh yes but the ratings thing is for when you're in the shop and are, quite tragically, googleless.
Ratings are fine, there's no such thing as too much objective and accurate information (sure there's text on the back of the box but without being too graphic, it's hard to describe how strong the gore is for example), BANNING or CENSORING is the problem
Sure not many people are going to think that a game called "Grand Theft Auto" is for kids but "Waxworks" or "Silent Hill"could be anything. "Little Big Planet" might be a game about a midget shagging a 500kg woman for fucks sake. And I'd buy that game!
Maybe you need a little encouragement
G'WAAAAAAN!

In terms of AO games here, we have a Z rating (can be sold in stores but must be kept on the highest shelf) for which all the GTA games and many other Western games fall >_>.
Funnily enough, most stores either ignore the fact that Z rated games are supposed to kept on the highest shelf, or their highest shelf is at knee height. So yeah, that requirement works well!

Yeah, but from the watered down imported stuff that I have seen here, Japan has really weird stuff anyways, so how can the purchaser tell what is Z rated and what is for normal consumption?

The big black capital Z found on both the spine and the front of game box is usually a dead give away =P. As is the even larger "Warning! This game contains scenes of violence and grotesque imagery!" label on the front of the box. Come to think of it, I don't think the porn games have warnings similar to the violence ones (I have no idea though as no local stores stock them, nor do I care to play them). Although they do have the Z rating.
It is now a legal requirement for game packaging to carry a CERO rating. Although movies, are still unrated... Just another contradiction for this country I guess =)