Game News Oblivion Matures

[Balor]

Hey, I'm quite sure that it's not b00bs that made ESRB rerate the game, but Oblivion plane.

I mean, all those burning, mutilated bodies hanging from ropes and impaled on stuff (heads on pikes included) - I definetely think it deserves M rating... no wonder Tood forbid everyone to enter Oblivion before the game shipped, he-he-he.
And no matter how I like mature themes, I think it's kind of silly "Hellization' of Oblivion plane.

 

[kingcomrade]

@dongle- Likely excuse.

 

[dongle]

Seems the ESRB issued a retort to our pal Pete:
http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=12627
Whatever we think, their rules appear to be clearly in favor of the “if it’s on the disc, it counts” view.

IMO it was a mistake of Pete to cloud over the issue of how the nude content came to be by pointing fingers at modders. The content is clearly on the disc. The rules seem pretty cut and dry with respect to that, he must know that.

Anyway:

Another reader, Jason, wrote in: "How can the ESRB base a rating off of a third party modification of a game? This seems completely illogical since any game, given enough time, can be modded into showing nude models, more gore, sexual themes, etc. I bet if given enough time and some motivation, experienced modders could turn Dora the Explorer for the PC into a M rated game... I am very disappointed with the ESRB."

Who’s with me on the Dora the Exploited mod? :twisted:

 

[LlamaGod]

The way I see it, it's not so much people modding the game to put in bad stuff, its that the bad stuff came with the game and not from an out side source.

People just made ways to enable that content that came with it, not actually supplying it.

 

[Zomg]

From the same link:

] It was only a matter of time before politicians and anti-game activists used the re-rating of Oblivion to once again criticize the ESRB and the video game industry as a whole. Today California Assemblyman Leland Yee, whose violent video games bill was blocked by a California Judge, took the opportunity to slam co-publisher Take-Two Interactive and the ESRB.

"Take Two Interactive just doesn't learn," Yee said in a statement. "It was only ten months ago that this same publisher deceived parents by first putting hidden sex scenes into their already ultra-violent video game and then lying about the fact that they allowed the content to be included."

Moving on to the ESRB he said, "Unlike the movie industry's rating board which reviews the entire content of a film, the ESRB rates games based on very limited viewing of the game and rely almost entirely on information provided to them by the game manufacturer."

"While the retailers may have been made aware of the re-ratings, how many parents are still unaware that these games include such graphic content?" continued Yee. "In both instances, thousands of children had already purchase the game as well as many parents who bought the game thinking it may be appropriate for their child. Take Two Interactive continued to receive all profits and was not penalized in any way."

"The ESRB again has failed our parents and clearly has shown they can not police themselves. Plain and simply, the current rating system is drastically flawed and here is yet another reason why we need legislation to assist parents and protect children," he concluded.

It'll be big fun if Bethesda's ESRB fraud (I'm not going to be charitable - they'd release the video they sent in for review to the media if it would exonerate them) ends up giving a politician a horse to ride into video game censorship.

 

[Data4]

I'm definitely going to side with the ESRB here, and it's not out of some vindictive hate for Bethesda. The way I see it, the ratings are supposed to inform parents so they can make a decision on whether or not a game is appropriate for their child.

Latent anarchists see it as censorship, but I disagree. If a parent wants to get their kid an AO game, that's their choice, and in my 33 year old fogie's opinion, if a kid is living at home and depending on his parents for shelter, food, and clothing, he's subject the parents' rules.

I could see all the hoopla if people like Jack Thompson wanted risque games banned, but this is just about the ratings. I also agree that it deserves an M based on the dark themes and imagery in the Dark Brotherhood questline. If I had kids, I'd probably wait until they were around 13 or 14 before letting them play the game. My choice of course, and as long as parents and not the government keep ownership of that choice, everything's fine. Ratings are simply a tool to be used in making a decision.

-D4

 

[Balor]

Yea, I'm quite sure that they should have went for M rating all along... that also includes not catering for ADHD retards and consoles, too.

 

[Balor]

BTW!
I remember there was some sort of alternative rating that didn't do 'Teen, mature or something', but instead stated if game features sexuality, profanity, violence (and something else, cannot recall), and degree which those features are manifest itself.
I think it's the best possible way - it does not decide for parent if his child is 'ready' for the game or not, but if the game has 'sexual themes and nudity' and 'violence, blood & gore" - I guess it's safe to suggest that this game is not really fit for your 10-year old kid.

 

[dongle]

So apparently there is a form letter the ESRB is sending to anyone that writes them on the Oblivion re-rating:
http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p ... stcount=88

Couple quotes:

ESRB rules require that publishers disclose locked-out content during the rating process if it is pertinent to a rating. Accordingly, all skins included in the code on the final Oblivion game disc are considered pertinent to the rating, whether accessible through normal game play or not. The topless female skin was not disclosed to ESRB during the rating process.

So, their rules clearly consider anything on the disc, whether locked or not. No matter what we think of the rules Bethesda knew them beforehand, and did not properly disclose the fact that a locked-out topless mesh would ship with the game.

This review confirmed that the company’s submission for Oblivion understated content with respect to the blood and gore found in the game. Specifically, the depictions of blood and gore were found to exceed the detail and intensity of those included in the publisher’s videotape submission, and to be inconsistent with a Teen rating.

Apparently to get a game rated you submit a video and fill out a form. The ESRB doesn't actually play the game before release, although they seem to after release. That kinda makes some sense. In a perfect world they would play it before rating it. In reality it's much harder to play enough to uncover all the content then, say, watch a two hour movie and look for tits. Anyway it seems the form and video didn't match the shipped game.

--

Edit:

In light of this new info I'll state again, for Bethesda to say this:

There is no nudity in Oblivion without a third party modification. In the PC version of the game only . . . some modders have used a third party tool to hack into and modify an art archive file to make it possible to create a mesh for a partially nude (topless) female that they add into the game.

is pretty shitty, in my humble opinion. Saying a modder hacked into Oblivion, modified an art file, created a mesh, and added it to the game is a tad strong for renaming a single file. Even so, they knew from the outset that this would affect the rating.

 

[Eron]

How about teaching kids about sex at a early age..

AS to prevent boobie awe struck teenies, and the like..

We are sooooooooooo behind europe..

 

[Data4]

In light of this new info I'll state again, for Bethesda to say this:

There is no nudity in Oblivion without a third party modification. In the PC version of the game only . . . some modders have used a third party tool to hack into and modify an art archive file to make it possible to create a mesh for a partially nude (topless) female that they add into the game.

is pretty shitty, in my humble opinion. Saying a modder hacked into Oblivion, modified an art file, created a mesh, and added it to the game is a tad strong for renaming a single file. Even so, they knew from the outset that this would affect the rating.

That's HUGELY fucked up. Bethesda's blaming their oversight on the modders who they, and I quote, "depend on". I say those who got the torso mesh to work ought to email the ESRB explaining exactly how it was done, and that Bethesda's full of shit with their doublespeak.

-D4

 

[dongle]

They know:

The ESRB also verified that the code in the PC version of the game contained a locked-out topless female character model that, though programmed to be inaccessible, could be unlocked through the use of a third party tool. The skin associated with this content was found to exist in a fully rendered form on the game disc, and to require only a minor modification to a filename in the code of the PC version to access.

 

[Araanor]

How about teaching kids about sex at a early age..

AS to prevent boobie awe struck teenies, and the like..

We are sooooooooooo behind europe..

Yeah, just look at what became of Todd "boobies" Howard.

 

[Micmu]

Anyway it seems the form and video didn't match the shipped game.

Sounds familiar, no!?

Looks like they can perfectly lie to authorities just as they did to fans.

 

[Claw]

I got a question to the people supporting the "part of the normal gaming experience" argument. Are there any here?

What if there is hardcore porn on the disc. Not as part of the game code, accessible or inaccessible. Just some pictures or video in a seprate folder.
Would that be ok? It wouldn't be part of the game in any way, after all.
What I am saying is, the publisher sells the disk with the entire content, license issues notwithstanding, and needs to take responsibiltiy for everything on it, no matter what shape or form.

And can you believe this gamedaily pseudo-journalism site? They keep repeating this bullshit of a third-party modification "adding" something when it's been established that the questionable content is on the bloody disk.

 

[Drakron]

Oh you mean like B 17 that shipped with a lot of porn links in the disk?

Still rated Teen.

 

[Goliath]

How about teaching kids about sex at a early age..

AS to prevent boobie awe struck teenies, and the like..

We are sooooooooooo behind europe..

You teach 6 year olds that homosexuality is just lovely. I guess they cannot learn that early enough..
http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=20922

.. should they manage to survive to the ripe age of 14 you teach them how to fist their same-sex partner:
http://www.massnews.com/past_issues/200 ... istrep.htm

 

[Naked_Lunch]

Argh, why does New England have to suck so much

 

[SanguinePenguin]

I thought this was kind of funny in the first article:

The cases, Johnson said, are "spreading gradually like mushrooms across the country."

A man name Johnson uses phallic imagery in railing against the "gay agenda." LOL?


[/u]

 

[Volourn]

The ESRB is for scums only. Pieces of shit are the only ones who kiss their ass.

 

[Justin Cray]

You teach 6 year olds that homosexuality is just lovely. I guess they cannot learn that early enough..
http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=20922

Erm, homosexuality is just lovely.

Kids are homosexual, too. Of course they need to know nothing is wrong with them. Ostracizing them = bad.

.. should they manage to survive to the ripe age of 14 you teach them how to fist their same-sex partner:
http://www.massnews.com/past_issues/200 ... istrep.htm

Fist them correctly. We don't want them to get hurt, do we? Also fisting isn't homosexual, anybody can do it.

 

[Data4]

Erm, homosexuality is just lovely.

Kids are homosexual, too. Of course they need to know nothing is wrong with them. Ostracizing them = bad.

IYHO, of course.

-D4

 

[Excrément]

I'm definitely going to side with the ESRB here, and it's not out of some vindictive hate for Bethesda. The way I see it, the ratings are supposed to inform parents so they can make a decision on whether or not a game is appropriate for their child.

Latent anarchists see it as censorship, but I disagree. If a parent wants to get their kid an AO game, that's their choice, and in my 33 year old fogie's opinion, if a kid is living at home and depending on his parents for shelter, food, and clothing, he's subject the parents' rules.

I could see all the hoopla if people like Jack Thompson wanted risque games banned, but this is just about the ratings. I also agree that it deserves an M based on the dark themes and imagery in the Dark Brotherhood questline. If I had kids, I'd probably wait until they were around 13 or 14 before letting them play the game. My choice of course, and as long as parents and not the government keep ownership of that choice, everything's fine. Ratings are simply a tool to be used in making a decision.

-D4

yes but thier decision to rate the game M is not because of the darkbrotherhood questline but because of nudity and that's stupid.

 

[Micmu]

yes but thier decision to rate the game M is not because of the darkbrotherhood questline but because of nudity and that's stupid.

This review confirmed that the company’s submission for Oblivion understated content with respect to the blood and gore found in the game. Specifically, the depictions of blood and gore were found to exceed the detail and intensity of those included in the publisher’s videotape submission, and to be inconsistent with a Teen rating.

 

[HardCode]

"It's the end of Bethesda as we know it."
"It's the end of Bethesda as we know it."
"It's the end of Bethesda as we know it."
"And I feel fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine."