What do we see?

The video games industry is huge, even bigger than the film industry, so naturally, we have rules and regulations about what we can and can't see in video games. We have the rating system and with Australia moving even closer to an R18+ rating, we should have the same access to the content as the rest of the world. However, there are some problems. What do we really see in video games and do we really want people to see this? In games like Mario or little big planet, there is almost nothing that any parent could consider wrong for a child or anyone else to view. Games like Super Smash Bros may be violent, but not in a way that encourages or glamourises real fighting. It's not realistic and overall it feels a bit like a game show. But there are some games which have explicit content. 

The Batman games stirred up controversy for the liberal use of the word "bitch" and other adult themes like drugs and torture. Now, these games are rated M, but I know plenty of kids under 10 who have their hands on content these games. Batman is great, so kids will naturally want to copy what they see on the screen. They're not stupid enough to try and expose themselves to radioactive waste to get super powers, but hearing the word bitch used so often may desensitise them to it's intended effect. Adults know the effect that the word has, so they won't go around calling girls after female dogs, but kids may just think it as an insult to use freely. I'm not calling this a certainty, but it is indeed possible. 

Games like Heavy Rain have drug use, violence and torture, but then again, so do movies. Some movies that have these elements wouldn't be the same without them, so you can't really ban drugs, so what's the difference for games. Games require your own input to shoot that person, or stab that enemy. So do we really want to put this stuff in our games? In a COD game, you torture someone by forcing glass down their throat. That's a cutscene, but there's another instance which makes you strangle someone to death by using the joysticks? Do we really put these things in games? Is it alright? The rating system helps, but at the same time...how many kids play COD? A lot. So is what we see in video games alright for anyone to see?