TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – I hate censorship. I hate it in all forms. The No. 1 reason this country is great is because of freedom of speech and press.

And that’s why I find it so repulsive when an organization like the Entertainment Software Rating Board, which is responsible for content ratings for video games, participate in de facto censorship through their ratings systems.

With the ESRB, things are a little different: Their strictest rating is the Adults Only rating, which has only been applied to 23 games so far, not counting the brief snafu with “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” or “The Punisher,” both of which were modified to receive an M rating. None of those 23 was a console game, and none was a mainstream game. Furthermore, Nintendo, Microsoft (creator of the Xbox consoles) and Sony (creator of the PlayStation console and its derivatives) have standing policies that state they will not license AO-rated games for sale on their consoles. Also, no major retailer will carry an AO-rated game.

Why am I talking about this? Because last week Rockstar Games’ “Manhunt II” was banned in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and the ESRB promptly slapped the game with the AO rating.

Subsequently, the game’s publisher, Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. has pulled the game from its planned release date in July. The games had been designed for Nintendo’s Wii and Sony’s PlayStation 2 and PSP. The only way Rockstar could have the game published in its current state is to port it to the PC. But, the game would still be purchasable at smaller game stores and online, and the game would still be illegal to play in the UK.

This whole situation is just ludicrous. The best response to this game from Rockstar after the UK banning:

“We respect those who have different opinions about the horror genre and video games as a whole, but we hope they will also consider the opinions of the adult gamers for whom this product is intended. We believe all products should be rated to allow the public to make informed choices about the media and art they wish to consume. The stories in modern video games are as diverse as the stories in books, film and television. The adult consumers who would play this game fully understand that it is fictional interactive entertainment and nothing more.” While the above was a response to the outright ban overseas and was written before the game was rated by the ESRB, it also applies to the situation here, because de facto censorship is still censorship. That “Manhunt II” is only the 24th game in the 13 years the ESRB has existed to receive this rating should be enough evidence to understand this.

Also, because of the situation with the consoles and retailers, the AO rating can only be used to censor a game and should therefore never be used.

What’s worse is that some are celebrating this event as a victory “for parents and children.” According to the National Institute on Media and the Family, “Because of the their thoughtful decision to give Manhunt 2 its strongest rating, Adults Only, the ESRB has sent a strong message to Take-Two and other game makers that they no longer can push the envelope on gratuitous violence in video games.”

The NIMF, in that statement, is outright advocating censorship. What’s wrong with their interpretation, though, is that the ESRB already has the M rating in place to attempt to keep children from playing games with adult content, and with that rating, adults can still play the games. And the only difference between the two ratings is that AO has an age restriction of 18, whereas the M is only 17.

It doesn’t matter that some retailers still sell M-rated games to young teens and kids, just like it doesn’t matter that the same thing happens with R-rated movies, because that isn’t the ESRB’s job, just as censorship isn’t.

It’s ironic that NIMF states on their Web site they don’t advocate censorship.

The only solution I can see is a state-sponsored ratings board. It would have a ratings system similar to the ESRB’s but would have the ability to force retailers to not sell adult-oriented games like “Manhunt II” to kids, like the government does with cigarettes and alcohol. That would be the only way to quiet the “family advocates” like NIMF and avoid rating stigmas.

It’s just a shame that we’re currently too childish to handle this on our own.