@ZacD: I was thinking more in terms of web games and downloadable games from places like Steam, Desura, or straight from developer's own web sites, etc... rather than mainstream console titles. I think such a move would certainly have a negative impact on gamejams. Imagine putting up a non-rated game for people to try out…
You two are absolutely correct, self regulation is obviously better than a government review system (which wouldn't be legal in the united states anyway). The ESRB is pretty much exactly like the film rating system, you can draw parallels from consoles being like movie theatres being like consoles, most theatres (besides…