Ugh, I wonder how similiar this ratio of sales is to the ratio of games actually made with these ratings.

fearing

@kortcomponent:

Wal*Mart: You're very welcome, Mr. Not-Our-Target-Customer. Go to GameStop and stop your bitching.

mjpm

Clearly these aren't Kotaku brand graphs... I don't see the duct tape and stucco o_O
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j/k Mark :p
...
It's good to see that the Mature market isn't being hurt by the casual scene but I have to ask myself how many of those mature sales are for people under 17. If memory serves me correctly, it was 45% or something. These numbers if concrete, in the right hand, can be spun to show that the gaming industry really has no incentive to keep mature games out of the hands of under-age minors (is that redundant?). luckily I have enough bias to overlook such inflammatory ideas but it makes you wonder does it not?

okenny :)

@Ultrasinc: I might. As a non-parent, the rating is the last part of the box I look at.

Torgen thinks AAA means “Costs $60”

Lol, yeah who buys E10+ games? It's another way of saying VIOLENCE: Nerfed/Kids version

Ultrasinc

where are all the AO titles? Where are my porno games? I demand answers as well as satisfaction. *throws down glove* Why should my fantasies be sanitized? Thanks a lot Wal*Mart. Thanks for nothing.

kortcomponent

Well being the M games are what I actively search for at game stores. Please keep making them. I have kids too, but when its time for Dad (me) to play, I want to blow shit up, bloody style.

axiomatic

I'd be curious to see this broken down as Game / ESRB Rating / Aggregate Critic Rating / Software Sales.

How much of the total sales do all of the AAA Mature titles account for, especially those titles that rated over 7.0 on average?

I think this would be more telling.

chinesedentist

@BadOmen: Exactly. There are plenty of E10 games. They just don't sell worth a damn. I wouldn't be surprised if games that get E10s initially start getting their content adjusted for T ratings in the future.

@LeLoi: Exactly. This is why the PS2 won, and why the PS3 can win if Sony plays their cards right. Nintendo is mostly family games, Microsoft is mostly shooters, the PS2 was both of those AND a bunch of stuff that you couldn't find on either of the other systems. Sony continues that trend, and the PS3 will easily catch up to, if not surpass, the other consoles.

RawSteelUT

For those saying there aren't many E10+ games, from the first chart it sure looks like there are over twice as many E10+ games as there are M games, and in fact almost as many E10+ games as T games.

BadOmen

its not super accurate since there arent to many E10+ games, so thats why they're bought the least.

Maiken

@SAKY: Well if you were running a multi billion dollar corporation, wouldn't you want a bigger piece of the pie? Heck, why not all of it right? Once console sales slow down, its all about the royalties you get from game sales. Thats why its important to have a large game libary (like the PS2) so it increases overall sales and royalties. If the Wii had M-rated games of GTA4's caliber, I think Nintendo would have had this generation completely won.

LeLoi

@LeLoi: I don't know if I agree, Nintendo really is expanding the market's size with the Ds and Wii. Time will tell I guess.

SAKY

@kommanderk: No......im trying to say that if you want to be successful you have to tap into all target audiences to maximize profits (And I think Nintendo as a corporation and their shareholders would agree). Its kind of how Sony managed to sell 120 million PS2's ya know?

LeLoi

The problem is that M rated games have never done poorly. 2006, if you noticed, was a down year across the board with the exception of E10, so the ratios haven't been helped much. Also, the E rating is boosted majorly by sports titles. I'd LOVE to see what the rating does if you take out Madden and NBA2K.

RawSteelUT

@LeLoi: and are you saying its more significant then the 5 billion from the other 3 categories? DURRRRRRR

kommanderk

@LeLoi: huh? No, I'm not saying that at all.........dur.

SAKY

also interesting that E for everyone is explanding faster than all the rest, I blame the Wii.

SAKY

its not that fact the games are rated m, its that they are good games and happen to be rated m.

in years past most m games have been rubbish

kommanderk

amazing that E for everyone is growing the fastest.

SAKY

@SAKY: LOL so you are saying that 1.4 BILLION dollars is insignificant? Durrr......

LeLoi

@LeLoi: you're right, instead they are tapping the the other two markets that are, individually, and significantly, larger....Teen and everyone. :P

SAKY

This is why Nintendo and the Wii will never reach the success levels of the PS1 and PS2; they have barely tapped that 1.4 billion in M-rated game sales.

LeLoi

@MasterOfPastures: weirdly, you can sell and advertise liquor, cigarettes and perscription drugs in north america that are 'adults only', you can have establishments like bars and strip clubs that are 'adults only' but try to make a form of media that is just as interactive for adults only and you get lynched.

games aren't just for kids anymore. they may have been able to say that 10 years ago, when they stopped being cool, but now the kids from ten years ago that bought nes's, snes's and sega's are now adults who still love games. jeez.

PGGB

Well, how many games came out with each rating? E-10's definitely the lowest saling because it's the rating that gets handed out least often.

But how many M-rated games came out and how many T-rated games?

RemyDuvalle

@DarkLuigi is 2 characters short on brawl!!: Long cat is looooong?

Thassodar

Between Halo 3, CoD 4, Mass Effect, and Bioshock (I think Bioshock was 2007 and not 2006? I can't remember, please correct me if I'm wrong) I'm not surprised that Mature games sold that much.

I wonder how well they'd sell if every company that sold rated M games actually checked ID.

I also wonder how that chart looks when you compare multiple years, not just a multi-platinum-title year with the previous one.

Saxboy

You are looking at the charts wrong.

See, adults can and do buy games that are rated for teen and kids.

So adults are allowed to buy every color on the chart, while kids do not.

Let's say your potential customers are just 2 people, a guy in his 30's and a kid age 14. If you make a teen rated game, you can sell to 100% of your customers. If you make an M rated one, you can sell to only 50%.

Making teen rated games means that I can sell to many more potential customers, which is attractive to a business exec. Just because M rated might take up 20% to 25% of some chart, that means nothing. Larger audience is more attractive to sales.

Tradewinds

Mature? Where are the Adults Only games? Unless changed, all games will be viewed as a key product to late adolecents, to matured kids.
Of course, an AO rating is usually issued to a game featuring a "scandalous" ammount of sex, and normally in the US.

MasterOfPastures

@Modus_Operandi: LOL and the earth is round.

DarkLuigi

So, it went from a bit under half of E and T (E10+ is a frankenstein's monster that nobody uses) to a bit over half of E and T. Not exactly a sea change.

@redgopher: Actually, they would make about the same. The ratios between the categories (as I said above) did not change all that much. It is also worth noting that M also boasts Halo in 2007, but nothing like it in 2006. This suggests that the small shift may regress in 2008.

But, hey, we're gamers. Numbers and studies exist merely to justify our pre-conceived notions.

Fnor

Not a surprise. But its that mature games that get more hype, is why little kids are able to get the game. Because its hyped and seen on TV, and the parents don't care.

Eh, maybe I'm reading too much into it. But heavy advertising on the M rated games causes some flak too.

GM08

In other relevant news water is wet.

Modus_Operandi

i like mature games it means more gore and blood and also a little profanity yeah thats what i like give me more GOD OF WAR AND NO MORE HEROES!!!!

DarkLuigi

The second graph should be in billions. Good article, I didn't know mature games sold so well :)

bird1988

m rated games are better because their not watered down like t or e rated games if you kill someone in a teen game chances are there isn't blood or not realistic wounds when your attacked or attack someone the m rated games are as real as games are allowed to get and i believe thats what makes them so popular and the fact that many of the m rated games kick ass

vicmasterinc

Most of that can probably go to halo 3 and cod4 alone.

droopy

very nice! although, im sure games like galaxy are making up the E for everyone.

mentalboy11

Sony needs to pay attention to this. They've made a shift to more Teen rated games just to make more sales -- this is why Logan's Shadow and the latest SOCOM were toned down. Instead they'll sell less.

MARKETING FTL

redgopher