The rating Adult Only love it or hate it, it's had a everlasting effect on video game culture, its become under attack whether on not it should exist. So let's take a look back at the many faces of the AO rating.
Early days: AO was feared by parents everywhere. With the new creation of video game ratings, they were much more strict in ratings and the ratings were usually one step down from where they are today (M would have been AO, E 10+ would have been M). AO was used rarely, but mainly untouched by buyers. The first AO rated game without a recall was Manhunt 2 made by Rockstar on the 29th of October, 2007. The slaes were verall very poor, but started to pickup, as AO entered its middle stage.
Middle Stage;After the early days where it would look like blasphemy for a child to play or own an AO game, it began to become cool and "bad" to own AO games. It became like a way to separate boys from men in the school playgrounds. Much like M today. Game developers began to cherish the idea of getting the AO rating, because it would increase sales.
Now: AO has become archaic for gamers and it's almost as unused as EC (early childhood). People have even forgotten about it. Mainly, because if a game gets the rating now, then it is pretty much like getting the plague. It's also not ;or teenagers, the main game buyer demographic. So it has become a no-win situation for everyone, both the makers and the buyers.
So, the verdict: will it stay or will it go? Well in the words of the Clash: "if I go there will be trouble, if I stay there will be double". In other words, if AO ends up in the history books, gamers will protest the loss of a former icon, but if it stays, video game activists will just bring it up again and we could be in the same position not to far in the future. In the end however, it will probably stay, because if it stays it most likely won't be used again, therefore it will stay just to provide
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