Recently I've seen quite a few topics pop up about different complaints, some saying that sex and violence in gaming has gotten out of control, others saying that its "hidden" away forcing developers to hide such contents or cut them completely. To give you some examples of this I bring up the notorious GTA3, and the daring Mass Effect.

Both games have taken a ton of heat and in different areas, mass ban's, boycotts, and overall negative unrest follows in their wake. I'll start with GTA3, this game is obviously an M rated game, you kill, have sex, and do tons of horrid things. Personally I'm not for or against the game, why because I respect the M on the box. I know when I pop GTA3 into my system that I'm going to experience some rather dark topics, that the game will push the social limits of what is right and wrong (mostly wrong) and at the same time I know its just a game and when I walk away I'll be the same person that I was when I started to play it.

Now as mentioned above GTA in general has taken a beating due to its content, personally I think this is very unfair. To use another example lets throw in the TV show the Sopranos, or American Gangster. Both movie and show have tons of 'R' rated content, both have nudity on some level, blood and gore on some level, and crime elements on some level. Yet these two bits of modern media take significantly less flack than the game counterpart why is that?

Before I answer the question... in the most neutral way possible let me address my other example, Mass Effect. The game is rather innocent, aside from killing aliens in a rather gore-less way it has no major flaws, a few changes and it may have passed for 'T'. Yet in the game we find a sex scene, after watching it I realized it was no worse than anything I had seen in an 'R' rated movie, yet again the game takes a ton of flack (I won't even get into the alien on human scene that everyone is going crazy over... that's a blog for a different time).

So is it unfair that games take so much heat for following in the footsteps of their parents, movies and shows? I say yes it is, and I feel the major reason games are taking a beating is because respect for the 'M' rating is low. When I see a big 'M' on a box I think 'R', I know its not good stuff for kids, I know it may contain foul language, violence, and sexual themes and if your unsure they list it on the back of the box! So I fail to see why it is that games can't have all the uncensored violence and sexual content of a movie as long as they throw it on the box for all to see? Some say that kids may get into it, well my response is if your a good parent you'll sensor your child's viewing, if its to hard to do that then you explain what they are seeing to them, you cover the bases and give them a strong moral guide.

The bottom line is, if a game has an 'M' rating than expect mature conetent, or if its easier for those who watch movies expect restricted content. Overall I feel that games in general are on the same level as movies and TV shows which both have rating systems now (movies before games), so why is it that games take such a beating? Because people haven't given the 'M' respect.