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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
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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May 3 2006, 21:49:05 UTC 6 years ago
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.
May 3 2006, 21:49:33 UTC 6 years ago
May 4 2006, 04:31:22 UTC 6 years ago
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May 3 2006, 21:50:58 UTC 6 years ago
And it would be a shame if T2 got burnt over this, because they didn't make this game, they merely distributed it.
May 3 2006, 21:53:38 UTC 6 years ago
I thought 3rd party mods couldn't raise the age rating..
May 4 2006, 02:37:52 UTC 6 years ago
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.
6 years ago
May 3 2006, 21:56:10 UTC 6 years ago
May 3 2006, 21:59:21 UTC 6 years ago
May 3 2006, 21:59:22 UTC 6 years ago
People can change files on a computer?
ALERT THE POLICE!
May 3 2006, 22:02:44 UTC 6 years ago
I guess the ESRB was listening... sorry, guys.
May 3 2006, 22:05:22 UTC 6 years ago
May 3 2006, 23:26:23 UTC 6 years ago
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May 3 2006, 22:15:11 UTC 6 years ago
While we're at it...
...lets re-rate lion king R for that sfx/sex prank.May 3 2006, 22:16:27 UTC 6 years ago
May 3 2006, 22:23:58 UTC 6 years ago
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May 4 2006, 05:07:11 UTC 6 years ago
May 3 2006, 22:20:41 UTC 6 years ago
May 3 2006, 22:34:23 UTC 6 years ago
Where is the line, really?
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.
May 4 2006, 04:24:12 UTC 6 years ago
Re: Where is the line, really?
Yes.Because in your average Barbie game, you can kill everyone in the world.
6 years ago
May 3 2006, 22:41:02 UTC 6 years ago
Pointless and stupid
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.
May 3 2006, 22:51:21 UTC 6 years ago
May 3 2006, 23:02:54 UTC 6 years ago
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.
6 years ago
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May 3 2006, 23:02:04 UTC 6 years ago
Thank you Mr. Modder
For teh bewbs. Mmmm, bewwwbs :DMay 3 2006, 23:14:17 UTC 6 years ago
I will not put my faith or my trust in any organisation that bends over for any asshat politician or media muppet.
May 3 2006, 23:25:35 UTC 6 years ago
Bewbs.
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.
May 3 2006, 23:53:21 UTC 6 years ago
Re: Bewbs.
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.
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May 4 2006, 00:30:36 UTC 6 years ago
Hate to be the post...
...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!
May 4 2006, 02:36:53 UTC 6 years ago
Re: Hate to be the post...
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.May 4 2006, 00:42:59 UTC 6 years ago
Seems like common sense, but we, as a nation, seem to be lacking it.
May 4 2006, 09:09:32 UTC 6 years ago
I agree with that.
May 4 2006, 00:45:10 UTC 6 years ago
the main problem is this
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.May 9 2006, 13:58:56 UTC 6 years ago
Re: the main problem is this
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..")
May 4 2006, 00:46:27 UTC 6 years ago
Who wants to bet $100.00...
.... 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.May 4 2006, 01:31:11 UTC 6 years ago
Don't take that bet...
...sources tell me Dr. Yee is already forumulating a response.6 years ago
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May 4 2006, 00:57:23 UTC 6 years ago
Bull S*it
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.
May 4 2006, 01:51:13 UTC 6 years ago
Why didn't they ctch the M-rated content to begin wtih?
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.
May 4 2006, 02:46:22 UTC 6 years ago
Re: Why didn't they ctch the M-rated content to begin wtih?
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...
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