I've known for years that the ESRB's rating system was flawed in a lot of ways, but all the recent controversy and outrage over Manhunt 2 has brought it to mind again. (Now, the whole Manhunt 2 thing isn't really the ESRB's fault--it's the console makers' fault, for not allowing us to play AO rated games. But I digress.) And so, I have decided how I would redo the ESRB's rating scheme if I was in charge. (And now that I think about it, from what I know of it's pretty similar to the way they do things in the U.K.)

First of all, switch the letters to numbers. Yes, there's no excuse for any parent with kids who game not knowing what the various ratings mean, but having the main focus be something like 18+ rather than something like M or AO is much easier to understand.

Second, completely revamp the ratings.

E: I'll let you have the letter for this one because there's no good number to represent it. This is where the games currently rated E and EC go. Basically, suitable for all ages--if you can hold the controller, you can play it.

10+: Games currently rated T.

15+: Games currently rated M.

18+: Some of the games currently rated AO, and probably some of the more adult M titles as well. You'd have to show ID and prove you were over 18 to buy any of these. Games like Manhunt 2 would go here.

X: The porn game category. The only games that would get rated X are those in which the entire purpose of the game revolves around some kind of explicit sexual content. Obviously, you'd have to show ID and be over 18 to get these. Stores might refuse to carry them like they do AO titles now, or they could simply have them behind the counter. But even if they were hard to get, the console companies would still let you play them, conflabbit.

..And there you have it. My idea of the perfect game rating scheme. Hey, maybe the ESRB will come see it and steal my idea!