When the ESRB was established to rate and label video games in 1994, many thought it was the start of something horrible, a censorship sticker slapped on the face of a burgeoning art form. But, as the catalyst for the whole mess - Mortal Kombat – found out, there was something to the sectioning off of games by age level. And it seemingly gave the giving companies free reign to do whatever they wanted in a game as long as they were okay with that MA rating. Of course the final say comes down to parents on whether or not the label matters, and generally it tends not to. The sales of MA games are still some of the highest in the industry and the violence level continuously increases. To this day, the only mainstream game labeled with the AO sticker was the hackable version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas containing the Hot Coffee sex scene. To which the game companies nod their heads, point noted – violence is okay, sex is not.

The Xbox became a haven for the best and most intense of the bloody genre itself, the shooter. In it’s short life span it produced some great Mature rated, bloody action, and now with the release of the Xbox 360 and the advent of new and amazing technology, the bloodshed is more realistic than ever. These five games are the way to go to get your money’s worth when going for the adult oriented gold.

Grand Theft Auto San Andreas – Released after it’s PS2 counterpart, the xbox edition of San Andreas was more or less the same, except for one small difference, the hot coffee glitch that clever hackers could activate containing a scene of supposed sexual interaction. The hoopla was stupid, but the game was still amazing and is now the only console game to ever get slapped with an AO rating.

Dead Rising – Run through a mall and kill zombies with whatever you can find. The premise is straight out of a George Romero film and it’s awesome. The execution is even better and the violence is perfect. The zombie genre has never been better captured than right here within the confines of this Xbox 360 piece of eye candy.

Ninja Gaiden – Ninja Gaiden looks pretty, very pretty. It always did, in all it’s many incarnations and what more it’s bloody as hell. As Ryu you can slice and dice your way through mercenaries, ninjas, and monsters as they become increasingly hard – borderline impossible – to kill. The deaths are bloody violent spectacles and go to show you just how much fun a ninja can have cutting off heads (and how satisfying the act can be when you’re being attacked by a dozen of the impossible fighters).

Doom 3 – Doom 3 was a long time coming – a really long time coming. So long I almost forgot it was coming until I played it, but then I remembered and I was in awe. The alien blasting fun returns as you take the nearest BFG you can find and kill everything in sight, the way alien shooters were meant to be played.

Gears of War – Gears of War is the first true masterpiece of the next generation and a damn good reason to own an Xbox 360. The massive massive worlds, awesome multiplayer, and endless assault of brilliantly rendered monsters is perfect and the act of killing them has never been more realistic. The MA market is still short on 360, but this is the one to own regardless.