Don't you think that it may sometimes be the companies which are deliberately trying to have their games R-rated, because they know it will create publicity and get people interested? As far as I remember, the Doom games for example were particularly successful in those countries in which they were officially banned, so it might be similar for this game, actually.
One of the main target groups for computer games is teenagers, and very few teenagers seem to be interested in playing games that are rated OK for five-year-olds, so if you make your game appear too harmless, people won't buy it. If you manage to give it an air of containing questionable scenes or dealing with controversial issues, it'll give the gaming magazines something to write about. Just think about how Sierra exploited the "adult" theme of the Larry games. I know dozens of people who only played those games, because they had heard they were supposed to be "naughty", and they all have fond memories about trying to crack the "over 18" copy protection. But I don't think those games were seriously aimed at an adult audience...
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