Howcome games with nudity are no longer rated AO

Wasnt it always the rule that games with nudity were rated AO. But then lost and damned came out with the penis fiasco and I never heard anything about it and it was only rated M. I know there was another game recently with nudity I just cant remember. Anyone know what the rule on that is?

Ratings and censorship boundaries in general are pushed on a regular basis.  Back in 1992, a movie like Saw would've been NC-17.  The same applies to gaming.  Eventually, the medium has to decide what is and is not viable as an AO compared to an M. 
 
I will, though, that ratings nowadays are...in my eyes...way too lenient.

I can't even remember a time when nudity was an automatic AO. Can anyone else remember a case like this? 
I'm trying to think of the earliest game with nudity I can remember. It doesn't go back all that far. God of War is the first that comes to mind.

It was never that M-rated games couldn't have nudity per se, and more that most games that had nudity before the recent future were obviously sex games.  But games are starting to push how far you can go content-wise without crossing the line, and the ratings are a reflection of that.

" It was never that M-rated games couldn't have nudity per se, and more that most games that had nudity before the recent future were obviously sex games.  But games are starting to push how far you can go content-wise without crossing the line, and the ratings are a reflection of that. "

Hmm, what was Custer's Revenge rated again?
 
Just kidding.
 
Just as with movies, as the medium matures, the ratings will become more lenient. I still think the Adults Only rating is ridiculous. Don't see much point in having a rating that isn't allowed on game consoles, or to be sold in most stores. Is there really that much of a difference between 17 and 18 years of age?

" I still think the Adults Only rating is ridiculous. Don't see much point in having a rating that isn't allowed on game consoles, or to be sold in most stores. Is there really that much of a difference between 17 and 18 years of age? "

" @iAmJohn: It's more of a conundrum where the ratings boards are a self-implemented system by the video game industry to cover their own asses. "

"Is there really that much of a difference between 17 and 18 years of age? "

depends on the way it is presented.  
a game like bmx xxx will always be totally AO.

" depends on the way it is presented.  a game like bmx xxx will always be totally AO. "

A game to get an AO nowadays has to be extremely violent or have extreme sexual content like intercourse.

Go rent Midnight Cowboy.  Tell me if you see anything in it that you'd associate with an "X" rating.  Times change and the standards that people use to judge the appropriateness of content changes.  And, each nation has their own separate set of guidelines.  That's why Australia won't allow Left for Dead 2 and why it took 2 years for an unedited version of the Witcher to be widely available in the U.S.

After Rapelay, everything seemed pretty tame in comparison.

 Really, I think we just need to adopt the British system: 3+, 7+, 12+, 16+, and 18+, with the latter not being solely reserved for pornography.  It's not like that shit is ever rated anyway. "

Boobs are fine, Vajayjay is another story

Man unit should always be rated AO. It ruins the game for me.

" Man unit should always be rated AO. It ruins the game for me. "

Let's not forget "The Guy Game" which was also rated M rather than AO. And the upcoming "Heavy Rain" will likely be rated M and it features nudity as well. I suppose, like films, its more graphic sexual content (like the "Hot Coffee" mini-game) rather than mere nudity. Which makes sense.

"Really, I think we just need to adopt the British system: 3+, 7+, 12+, 16+, and 18+, with the latter not being solely reserved for pornography "

" @iAmJohn said:

"Really, I think we just need to adopt the British system: 3+, 7+, 12+, 16+, and 18+, with the latter not being solely reserved for pornography "

That's actually the European system. The BBFC uses U (Universal), PG (Parental Guidance), 12, 15 and 18. Although all UK releases of games now have to use the PEGI ratings anyway, so it probably doesn't matter much. Just two pennies' worth from a British citizen who doesn't like to consider himself European... "

" @dankempster said:

" @iAmJohn said:

"Really, I think we just need to adopt the British system: 3+, 7+, 12+, 16+, and 18+, with the latter not being solely reserved for pornography "

That's actually the European system. The BBFC uses U (Universal), PG (Parental Guidance), 12, 15 and 18. Although all UK releases of games now have to use the PEGI ratings anyway, so it probably doesn't matter much. Just two pennies' worth from a British citizen who doesn't like to consider himself European... "

Now I know!  And knowing is half the battle! "

It's never been just nudity. It's about pornography.
 
Plus AO is a death sentence, like RC.

" After Rapelay, everything seemed pretty tame in comparison. "

I thinks its hilarious how insecure we are about nudity, a natural thing. In the same games we have people murdering people. GTA IV has killing left and right but as soon as you put a penis in it it sudedenly deserves an AO rating. WTF

" Wasnt it always the rule that games with nudity were rated AO. But then lost and damned came out with the penis fiasco and I never heard anything about it and it was only rated M. I know there was another game recently with nudity I just cant remember. Anyone know what the rule on that is? "

Because everybody realized that the AO rating is complete bullshit. When do you ever see it? When is it useful? How would consumers know about it at all? Why can't it just be M? It's just a useless level of the rating system that firebrand politicians urge M-rated games into so that they can be famous for a few days or whatever.

I asked Todd Hollensehead back before DOOM 3 came out if they were worried about an AO rating because the game was to have nudity and extreme violence and he said AO ratings only applied to games with shown intercourse and rape.  Just titties, not so much.

" @CitizenKane: Haha... call it insecurity if you like. I am not insecure about admitting that I don't like seeing janglies. It's not comfortable for me. "

" A game to get an AO nowadays has to be extremely violent or have extreme sexual content like intercourse. "

That's absolutely not the case nudity no more makes a title AO than it makes a movie NC-17.
 
And making it M or R is still fairly stupid, anyway. Maybe when we start rating books and refusing to let people read certain books because of their age, we'll start to get concerned and do something about all of this nerfing of every sharp corner in the world.

" @CitizenKane: Haha... call it insecurity if you like. I am not insecure about admitting that I don't like seeing janglies. It's not comfortable for me. "

" That's absolutely not the case nudity no more makes a title AO than it makes a movie NC-17.  And making it M or R is still fairly stupid, anyway. Maybe when we start rating books and refusing to let people read certain books because of their age, we'll start to get concerned and do something about all of this nerfing of every sharp corner in the world. "

It's because it wasn't applied in a sexual way. This happened in 'The Simpsons Movie'  but that got a PG or something like that.

The higest limit should be 14+ but on the box have a disclaimer.

I think the line drawn by the ESRB is that nudity will get an automatic M rating, but if you show any characters having sex on screen with their naughty parts in full view then it's an AO.  Mass Effect got away with the sex scene because because the camera cut awau much like you would see on a primetime tv show.