gamepolitics: ESRB Re-rates Best-selling Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Game Politics (

gamepolitics) wrote,
@ 2006-05-03 17:26:00

Entry tags:

elder scrolls iv oblivion, esrb, ratings, take-two

ESRB Re-rates Best-selling Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

A Take-Two Interactive game re-rated by the ESRB for naughty content...

Sound familiar?

This time, however, the game is top-selling RPG Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion, which was released last month by publisher Take-Two Interactive. The ESRB announced today that it was revising its original rating for Oblivion from "T" (13 and older) to "M" (17 and older). The sudden change was based on what the game industry's content rating body describes as "more detailed depictions of blood and gore than were considered in the original rating, as well as the presence of a locked-out art file or 'skin' that, if accessed through a third party modification to the PC version of the game, allows the user to play with topless versions of female characters."

A patch to disable access to the topless characters will be made available shortly. The Xbox 360 version is not affected.

"Parents across the country depend on ESRB ratings every day to make sensible choices about the games they bring home for their families," said Patricia Vance in an ESRB press release. "Rating changes are extraordinarily rare, but if ever one does occur, ESRB recognizes that parents must be made aware of the change as quickly as possible so they are certain to have the most current and accurate information."

The ESRB also alerted parents to the increasing availability of mods for PC titles.

UPDATES: Although the ESRB press release doesn't mention it, GameSpot is reporting that the ratings change will pertain to the Xbox 360 version as well.

Meanwhile, retailers were quick to react to the change. IEMA president Hal Halpin issued a statement saying, "The pace at which the IEMA retailers reacted to the change in the ESRB rating for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion today stands as testament to the effectiveness and commitment to the industry's self-regulatory efforts... When we were notified of the game's ratings change today, we alerted our member company representatives who communicated to their stores the change in the game's rating..."

Want to talk about it? You can discuss this story via the "comments" feature (click below), or in the new GamePolitics Forums...

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(Post a new comment)

semperar
2006-05-03 09:49 pm UTC (link)

I don't have the higher-math education to count the number of involved parties that are being stupid, so I'll jump on the obvious ones.

ESRB? Grow a pair. Stop bending over backwards for the NIMF when you know damn well you aren't responsible for third-party mods.

Take Two? What the hell is wrong with you? Didn't you learn your lesson? And now you're releasing a patch that will patch users' ability to patch their unpatched game with another patch that you don't want them patching. DON'T OFFER TO PATCH A PROBLEM THAT ISN'T THERE.

David Walsh, as much credit as I give him for being anti-censorship, is going to leap all over this for joy and I'm going to hate him for it.

(Reply to this)

	l33tn1ckz0r 2006-05-03 09:49 pm UTC (link)
	Dear me! Argonian breasts! :O (Reply to this) (Thread)

	jesdk 2006-05-04 04:31 am UTC (link)
	Indeed. We can't have this filthy stuff on our pc's. No, we must patch! PATCH I say! :O (Reply to this) (Parent)

	jakethejuggalo 2006-05-03 09:50 pm UTC (link)
	this (and hot coffee) is just like me filming a remake of something like Shrek where everyone is naked and releasing it on the internet, and then have the MPAA re-rate Shrek to R. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	brucenstein 2006-05-03 10:23 pm UTC (link)
	No, it's like putting it on the Shrek DVD and saying you can only access it with a code that you get off the internet. Ostensibly, the ends are the same, but there's a big difference. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

(no subject) -

jakethejuggalo, 2006-05-03 11:28 pm UTC

(no subject) -

mrwaffle, 2006-05-04 01:01 am UTC

(no subject) -

jesdk, 2006-05-04 04:32 am UTC

	aresef 2006-05-03 09:50 pm UTC (link)
	Jack jumps over this in 3...2...1... And it would be a shame if T2 got burnt over this, because they didn't make this game, they merely distributed it. (Reply to this)

	ianc14 2006-05-03 09:53 pm UTC (link)
	Oh great. Someone will jump on this... sigh I thought 3rd party mods couldn't raise the age rating.. (Reply to this) (Thread)

bustermanzero
2006-05-04 02:37 am UTC (link)

It isn't just mods. Occasionally in any game that actually includes naughty parts for characters, there can be slips where the clothing fails to cover properly briefly, even though it was programmed to do so. The mod just makes it even worse. I mean, for games with the details already included, it isn't terribly hard to mod anyhow.

However, I should point out if any kid with a concerned parent is desperate enough to get the mod for it, he really needs to have a talk with his dad about the facts of life.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

(no subject) -

cactusjack1999, 2006-05-04 03:37 am UTC

	thaddeusrrboyd 2006-05-03 09:56 pm UTC (link)
	Because the best way to demonstrate the strength of the ESRB ratings system is to repeatedly change ratings after they're assigned. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	synabetic 2006-05-03 09:59 pm UTC (link)
	Exactly what I was going to say. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	kangy 2006-05-03 09:59 pm UTC (link)
	Woah, woah, woah! People can change files on a computer? ALERT THE POLICE! (Reply to this)

exaggeration17a
2006-05-03 10:02 pm UTC (link)

What's funny to me is, I posted a little something on the GP forums a few days ago comparing what players do in GTA to what they can get away with in the Elder Scrolls series. If a gamer puts their mind to it, they can do all kinds of fun, evil things that are occasionally a cut above the immorality of GTA. In that post, I said I found it strange that Oblivion was only rated T for teens.
I guess the ESRB was listening... sorry, guys.

(Reply to this)

	caster13 2006-05-03 10:05 pm UTC (link)
	I'm waiting for the Sim games to be slapped with an M rating. even though any nudity in that game is mosaic-ed out, it's pretty obvious the 3D character models are nude under that video effect. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	scazza 2006-05-03 11:26 pm UTC (link)
	What happens in The Sims is IDENTICLE to the situation here. The base character model is textured naked, a mod comes along and exploits that. Same with the nude sims mod... why isn't The Sims 2 being slapped with M? Heck, why isnt 1000s of PC games being hit with the same thing. (Reply to this) (Parent)

(no subject) -

dr_iwata, 2006-05-05 07:56 pm UTC

	While we're at it... kharne83 2006-05-03 10:15 pm UTC (link)
	...lets re-rate lion king R for that sfx/sex prank. (Reply to this)

	bigman_k 2006-05-03 10:16 pm UTC (link)
	This is retarded. But in today's society in which moronic asshole politicans cough Leland Yee, Lieberman, Clinton cough and censormongers cough Walsh Thompson cough* are looking through our games with a fine-toothed-comb for anything that might damn the video game industry as a tool of the Devil, i guess it has to be. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	pope_guilty 2006-05-03 10:23 pm UTC (link)
	Speaking as a liberal, I despise Lieberman and Clinton and won't vote for either. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

Lieberman not much of a liberal anyways... -

bigman_k, 2006-05-04 12:33 am UTC

	jargon_john 2006-05-03 10:19 pm UTC (link)
	BOOBIES!! are soo bad... (Reply to this) (Thread)

	slyfoxx 2006-05-04 05:07 am UTC (link)
	Yes... boobies are the worst thing we can show to our children... even though kids probably spend more time seeing breasts during the breast-feeding stages of infancy than they do as teens. Really now you censors get over it already! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	deronimo 2006-05-03 10:20 pm UTC (link)
	This is so dumb. Morrowind and Oblivion are so easily modded you can mod them to do ANYTHING. This is so freaking dumb. (Reply to this)

Where is the line, really?

esaint
2006-05-03 10:34 pm UTC (link)

Quite frankly, regarding the dressing aspect, Oblivion isn't more morally corrupt than your average barbie game (not considering any poor self-image or stereotypical values such a game might impose).

The texture might have been on the original disc, but there is a huge difference in creating an entire interactive sex-scene and replacing the cloth-color in a texture with skin-color. The nude-patch would most certainly have been created whether the image had been on the disc or not.

In other words, how far does the responsibility of the publisher/developer stretch? if they had applied a blur filter above the intimate areas instead of using underwear and the patch removed this, would it have been as bad? if the texture was blank and all that had to be done was to add nipples? if they used a completely other texture from the same game and it just happened to look like a naked bosom?

I can see why ESRB feels that it needs to stay ahead of the media; seeing as this would obviously catch the attention of some senator in moral panic, they want to show that they have already acted when it happens. But I agree with semperar, the ESRB, nay, the game industry as a whole must show that it can not be expected to accept responsibility for user-made patches more than Disney can be held responsible for all those fanmade disney porn images floating around.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: Where is the line, really? nedlum 2006-05-04 04:24 am UTC (link)
	Yes. Because in your average Barbie game, you can kill everyone in the world. (Reply to this) (Parent)

Re: Where is the line, really? -

jesdk, 2006-05-04 04:36 am UTC

Pointless and stupid

yukimurasanada
2006-05-03 10:41 pm UTC (link)

To be honest, this is kinda pointless. Oblivion by it's nature is no where near as bloody as most games out today. but the patch thing? Please. Lemme ask this. When a movie maker makes a movie, what if someone goes in and then replaces all the charecters with nude versions. Do you re rate the movie cause someone other then the make changed it? No! So why is the ESRB doing it for games?

See, this is why I started to advocate a legal assualt state of mind. I got tired of the industry being pussies.

(Reply to this)

	urutapu 2006-05-03 10:51 pm UTC (link)
	I was under the impression the ESRB is supposed to rate the original game?... (Reply to this) (Thread)

jabrwock
2006-05-03 11:02 pm UTC (link)

I was under the impression the ESRB is supposed to rate the original game?..

Yes, but the nude skin WAS present in the original game, just inaccessible. And they didn't show it to the ESRB, even though since Hot Coffee the ESRB has reminded developers that inaccessible content must still be disclosed during the rating process.

Obviously not as serious as Hot Coffee (no softpr0n here), but still, enough to warrant a rating change (and the addition of the "nudity" descriptor).

When the game is re-released (just like GTA:SA was), it will lose the "Nudity" descriptor, although I doubt they'll tone down the gore to avoid the "M" rating.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

Back of the Box -

lost_watcher, 2006-05-03 11:57 pm UTC

Re: Back of the Box -

jabrwock, 2006-05-04 03:03 am UTC

	Thank you Mr. Modder aceofwilds 2006-05-03 11:02 pm UTC (link)
	For teh bewbs. Mmmm, bewwwbs :D (Reply to this)

	evilrockstu 2006-05-03 11:14 pm UTC (link)
	Well, that's the final nail in the coffin for the ESRB for me... I no longer deem them fit to advise me as a concerned parent of what is suitable and what is not for my son. This is so incredibly pointless that it drains my faith in... well... just about everything. I will not put my faith or my trust in any organisation that bends over for any asshat politician or media muppet. (Reply to this)

Bewbs.

jbourrie
2006-05-03 11:25 pm UTC (link)

I don't care about the breasts, it doesn't concern me in the slightest.

On the other hand, I didn't know the game was rated T until a week ago, and when I discovered that I lost a little bit of faith in the ESRB. I have always stuck up for their ratings system as being fair, but lets look at what Oblivion contains:

- Realistic violence against humans and animals
- Human remains with torn-off limbs hanging on the walls and on sacrificial altars
- Bloody heads on pikes
- Some fairly humorous penis jokes (yes, this one doesn't bother me in the slightest)

This game should have been M in the first place. It just took some idiot developer who couldn't cull out the "taboo bewbiez" data to make the ESRB give it a proper rating.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

Re: Bewbs.

dutch_gamer
2006-05-03 11:53 pm UTC (link)

Yes, but isn't so that WoW contains the exact same things as you just mentioned, but is still rated T?

WoW has torn-off body parts in the game as well (Undercity for example). It also has heads on pikes as far as I can remember. And it might not have a penis joke, but surely has a joke with a reference to drugs. Of course, the game is cartoony but it doesn't make it less realistic.

I do think that ESRB is making a joke out of themselves by changing a rating. This truly doesn't help them in the battle against the anti-gamers. I just think it is really silly that a rating is based on textures that aren't being used in the game.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

Re: Bewbs. -

bigman_k, 2006-05-04 12:40 am UTC

Re: Bewbs. -

elricbrother3, 2006-05-04 01:23 am UTC

Re: Bewbs. -

juffles, 2006-05-04 04:27 am UTC

	Hate to be the post... revotruthinary 2006-05-04 12:30 am UTC (link)
	...to bring up Jack Thompson (seems like he's brought up in every new story at some point). This seems like the type of story he gets his kicks off of. I havn't been on in a while and don't know if he's been permabanned yet or has he sunk back under different aliases. Note: I am not liveordie! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: Hate to be the post... pixelante_ninja 2006-05-04 02:36 am UTC (link)
	comments are now screened, so his posts won't so up anymore. Yep this is exactly the stuff he wants to happen. Some person thinks that a mod is enough proof to rerate a game and then soon everything that can be changed in anyway is made inaccessible to minors, eventually the business collapses and the world implodes... or something like that. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	nozomu 2006-05-04 12:42 am UTC (link)
	You know how games you can play online carry a notice that gameplay experience may change during online play? I think all games should start carrying a warning that says "Gameplay experience may change if unathorized third-party modifications are applied." Seems like common sense, but we, as a nation, seem to be lacking it. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	ianc14 2006-05-04 09:09 am UTC (link)
	I think all games should start carrying a warning that says "Gameplay experience may change if unathorized third-party modifications are applied." I agree with that. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	the main problem is this evirustheslaye 2006-05-04 12:45 am UTC (link)
	the mammery glands. what the heck are people so afraid of, this may be a shocker but FEMALES HAVE THEM... get over it people. they are used to feed babies, the only thing you gain from covering them is provoke a response such as this, where they are seen as preverted or sexual. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: the main problem is this acroamatis 2006-05-09 01:58 pm UTC (link)
	Hehehe... "I think you're a prevert. I think you and the general were up to your preversions." "The purity and vitality of our natural bodily fluids." Seriously, I hate being a nitpicker, but use livejournal's built-in spellcheck! Perverted, mammary. (And, as an aside, "the only thing you gain from covering them is to provoke a response such as this..") (Reply to this) (Parent)

	Who wants to bet $100.00... bigman_k 2006-05-04 12:46 am UTC (link)
	.... that Leland Yee will have some sort of Press Conference or Response claiming that this proves the ESRB isn't working and we need government regulation to control the thoughts and minds of children, Opps i mean, protect the children from harmful content. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Don't take that bet... gamepolitics 2006-05-04 01:31 am UTC (link)
	...sources tell me Dr. Yee is already forumulating a response. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

Re: Don't take that bet... -

bigman_k, 2006-05-04 01:43 am UTC

Re: Don't take that bet... -

gamepolitics, 2006-05-04 01:46 am UTC

Re: Don't take that bet... -

ianc14, 2006-05-04 09:11 am UTC

Re: Don't take that bet... -

gamepolitics, 2006-05-04 09:43 am UTC

Bull S*it

grimm24
2006-05-04 12:57 am UTC (link)

The entire goddamn world is beccoming a police state.

Free Speech is on its last leg, after all the crap that games have gotten for Hot Coffee and especially because of those ridiculous riots about cartoons with Muhamad in them.

Now the ESRB is going to rate games because of Mods?!?! Are you freakin' kidding me!?!?

Jeese, its crap like this that makes you think no wonder people are so afraid to stand up to countries like Iran, if they cant even stand up for their right to play a game the way they want to.

(Reply to this)

	Why didn't they ctch the M-rated content to begin wtih? dustin1986 2006-05-04 01:51 am UTC (link)
	I know that it is a huge gaem, but the violence isn't that hard to find. I thinkj that when Jack realizes that he has no way to contact us and gloat about this, his head will explode. I'm guessing that it's full of candy and a lot of crazy. (Reply to this) (Thread)

Re: Why didn't they ctch the M-rated content to begin wtih?

kabobking
2006-05-04 02:46 am UTC (link)

The ESRB doesn't really play the games that they review. The watch recorded footage, review dialog samples, and ask the developer to provide anything else that may be pertinent to their rating decision (anything that may bump the rating higher really).

The ESRB is very much understaffed, the ratings guidelines are often obscure (for developers...more so than customers), and the rating can change based seemingly on who reviews it at the ESRB. While I don't think that the ESRB is completely broken it does need some work.

Why people get so excited about a pair of polygonal virtual knockers is beyond me...

(Reply to this) (Parent)

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