Hey guys, first of all I loved your "Stump the Retailer Segment" as I work at my local Bleep-Stop where we buy and sell used Bleeps. Because of this I am also used to putting up with ESRB bullshit.
Your Man Hunt 2 discussion piqued my interest and it got me thinking. (I apologize for the following long ass post) Basically what is happening is that because the big companies like Nintendo and Sony won't allow Ao rated games on their respective consoles, coupled with the fact that the ESRB has so much power that they can essentially block a title from being sold anywhere if they give it an Ao rating, video game publishers are being censored and regulated on what they can or cannot create.
I know this is jumping to conclusions, but this type of regulation could lead to even worse things. What if some day because of this ESRB nonsense, a customer will walk into a store and every game on the shelves will be called "Maximum Amount of Violence Allowed to the Point of not Being Rated Adults Only"?
My point is that limiting the creative juices of game developers could cause generic or limited games, in terms of content. Now with all that out of the way I thought of a solution to this problem, and it is this:
Developers of extremely popular, yet violent game franchises (Halo, Grand Theft Auto, Gears of War, Resident Evil, etc.) must do the following: Release Halo 3, Grand Theft Auto 4, Gears of War 2, and Resident Evil 5. Make them the greatest games that their respective series have ever seen. Except up the violence and gore to such a point that they would have to be rated Ao. Then the plan would unfold. Most stores would not carry these games, but any that do carry them would sell out like crazy. A large demand would grow for these games, but they would be very hard to find since 90% of retail stores vowed not to carry them. Public pressure would grow, people would walk into Gamestops wanting these hot titles, and when they are told that Gamestop refuses to carry these games, customers would be furious and would lose faith in these retailers. After all if they're not going to carry the games from these huge franchises, then what's the point of shopping there? Every industry is motivated by one thing. And that's the almighty dollar. When retail chains that don't carry these games see them start selling like hot cakes from other sources, they will realize what a huge piece of the proverbial pie they are missing out on. The general public as well as investors in those companies will pressure them to start selling the Ao rated games. Eventually they would crack, and start selling them, and from that point on, things would be different.
My point to all of this rambling is that publishers have to come together in some sort of way (maybe the way described above). They have to stand together and say, "We will not let some generic rating system dictate what type of games we can or cannot create. It's up to the consumer to decide."
If a consumer buys a certain type of game, obviously more of that game will be made, since there is demand for it. If the opposite is true, publishers would stop making that type of game, as no one will buy it. This is how it should work with Ao rated games. The consumer will naturally decide whether they should be sold or not. I guess that concludes my "State of the Industry Address" wanted to know what you guys think if this situation. Thank you for your time.