Oblivion rerated to "M"

[Rob]

I do not really see this as being too objectionalable as a game. In fact it is not something I even thought about, but apparently ESRB has a new hair up their butt and needed a deep scratch.

Linkage (http://www.gamespot.com/news/6148897.html)

[Mara]

I haven't played Oblivion so what do y'all think? Should it be rated M?

[Jagndeke]

Seems to be more of a molehill than a mountain. No skin off my nose in the long run (or short run for that matter) but I guess the game gets a little added PR thanks to the ESRB. Not that the game's sales need a little more PR but they got it anyway.

Gotta wonder though, Morrowind has the same kind of moddable content as Oblivion and was rated "T" but the ESRB never re-rated it after the fact. So what bug got up the ESRB's ass about Oblivion? Not enough payola from the ESIV team??? Maybe the team forgot to account for inflationary impacts on payola comparing ESIII and ESIV editions???

[RangerRick]

Gotta wonder though, Morrowind has the same kind of moddable content as Oblivion and was rated "T" but the ESRB never re-rated it after the fact.

Yep, and there was nudity from the getgo with it too. Didn't need 'no stinkin mod'!
:brows: :rolleyes:

[Rob]

I agree with Jagndeke and that ESRB is stretching quite a bit over this. It still astounds me that you can lie, murder, steal, litterally eat someone's heart, find severed heads and so forth and everything is fine.

See a nipple and all of a sudden those lieing, stealing, murdering SOB's over at Bethesda hid content that provided a more accurate rating. Quick, emergency situation, save the children and ship out those stickers!

[Chylde Roland]

Yeah, there was a pretty gruesome severed head in Kvatch, I took a ascreen of it, because I was suprised to see osmething so blatently vicious.

This crap about topless females... all I can say is sheesh. :rolleyes:

It's a mod, for crying out loud! I remember when someone made a mod fo the orginal Tomb Raider, and called it Nude Raider (yep, there's some cleverness for ya :wink:) but we didn't see a huge outcry back then, did we?

[Sleepy_Sentry]

I think it's very stupid. If the ESRB gives a game a rating, they need to stick to it.

Someone needs to give the ESRB a good kick in the $%@.

[bmn]

:rolleyes:

[Rafal Dudek]

WTF, so now every game can technically be M rated because some folks mod the art files to include nudity? How come Sims series didnt get the M rating then? =O

[Kalbrecht]

Yeah, there was a pretty gruesome severed head in Kvatch, I took a ascreen of it, because I was suprised to see osmething so blatently vicious.

This crap about topless females... all I can say is sheesh. :rolleyes:

It's a mod, for crying out loud! I remember when someone made a mod fo the orginal Tomb Raider, and called it Nude Raider (yep, there's some cleverness for ya :wink:) but we didn't see a huge outcry back then, did we?

Well, in all fairness, back then the ESRB didn't think video game modifications actually existed, and that video games were the stuff of freaky basement bound perverts. The whole "not in my backyard" thinking.

And what Zedd said - technically EVERYTHING should now be at least M due to the fact that any mod can be nuded up.

[Ojnod]

I think they just need to come out with a disclaimer regarding third party mods just like they did with online games and "Your game experience may change online" or whatever.

[Kalbrecht]

I re-read the thing, and I'm can understand the rating now.

The nipples were on the texture files on the original disc. They shouldn't have been and it was remiss of Bethesda to let that through, especially after the Hot Coffee debacle.

Granted that the ESRB get their panties in a bunch over the slightest chance of a new Hot Coffee situation, but they should have taken that into consideration, promoting modding the way that they did.

While Bethesda never encouraged people to unlock the art file, or let them know of its existence, they are held accountable in this day and age.

This kind of thing should be on the final checklist of any game that can easily be modded, and any game that includes changeable clothing, and flesh textures.

[Jagndeke]

The nipples were on the texture files on the original disc. They shouldn't have been and it was remiss of Bethesda to let that through, especially after the Hot Coffee debacle.

The "nipples" were on the texture files so an M rating is slapped on the game?? The European's must be laughing themselves silly at North America.

As noted above in other posts, the game has blood, guts, beheadings and other assorted violence and gore but it's a pair of "nipples" that garner an M rating. Something is wrong with this picture of morality. Nipples set off the morality bells but violence doesn't? I'd sooner have my kids exposed to a pair of digitally generated nipples than digitally generated blood and guts. I just can't take the ESRB seriously anymore. Not that I gave them a lot of credit to begin with. But I'll rely on my parental sense of duty to determine what my kids can and cannot play and not what some independant group of mis-guided morality cops put on a game box.

[Rob]

Granted that the ESRB get their panties in a bunch over the slightest chance of a new Hot Coffee situation, but they should have taken that into consideration, promoting modding the way that they did.

I hardly see the difference between an art file left in but never used in the game until someone modded it back into the game and someone simply making their own art file and modding it into the game. The point is, without a mod, you will not see the file.

Anyone remember the nipple episode in Seinfeld? Hardly an uproar.

And ultimately, we have to look at the content already in the game. Both Oblivion and GTA: San Andreas are violent with all sorts of morally questionable content. Adding a nipple or unlocking a simulated sex scene in the context of the game is hardly groundbreaking. If my young daughter was playing Sesame Street teaches ABC's and all of a sudden with a little button mashing Big Bird started spanking Elmo in some erotic scene with the Count in the background counting each one, then I could understand an uproar.

[Mr. Natural]

Once again the rest of the world laughs at the U.S. and their censorship rules.

I was actually surprised when I came across a number of characters cussing in the game. I think it adds some realizism to the game. It doesn't deserve an M rating, but probably a teen rating. At least as far as the screwy rating system is here in the U.S. Anybody can create a Mod to a game to show "boobies". It isn't the deveolpers fault for that. Now excuse me while I go look for that mod.....
:lol:

[Egret]

Pretty soon they'll give National Geographic an "M" rating, as well. It's nipplerific! It's other-things-rific, too. It's like biologist's porno in those mags! I have to cover my eyes every time I read one. :wtf:

[Mr. Natural]

An excerpt from Bethesda's official response:

There is no nudity in Oblivion without a third party modification. In the PC version of the game only - this doesn't apply to the Xbox 360 version - 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. Bethesda didn't create a game with nudity and does not intend that nudity appear in Oblivion. There is no nude female character in a section of the game that can be "unlocked." Bethesda can not control tampering with Oblivion by third parties. Bethesda is taking steps to ensure that modders can not continue to hack into Oblivion's art archives to create partially nude figures.

My guess is this will probably delay the patch which was supposed to be released in beta this week to be followed up in a couple weeks with the official patch.

[IdiotSpatula]

Well ESRB has been getting a lot of ****...

They're just trying to keep old Hillary from having another rant and havin a heart attack... not like that would hurt anyone, but then who would tell Bill when to breathe in, then out, then in, then out.....

But really, all this talk about "video games cause immorality"...
I think if they did, which in fact they don't, it wouldn't be some pixelated nipples. So many people blame video game violence as a free ride out of sending their kids to 20/20 for a year or 2, so how come the M rating is for nudity?!?!?
:eek:

[bmn]

Och, hate to bring this thread to the top, but regular readers of slashdot will know why I'm posting this...

Lies! (http://gamesfirst.com/?id=1280)
In the linked press release, Thompson proves that he is an incompetent idiot who doesn't even know the names of the games he's trying to ban!
Excerpts:

"VIDEO GAMES TARGETED BY JACK THOMPSON:

All the Grand Theft Auto games
The Warriors
Halo 2
Blitz: The League (Jack was on Anderson Cooper 360 about this game)
Brothers in Arms
Earned in Blood 50 Cent (sic)
Bulletproof True Crime (sic)
New York City Bully (sic) (not yet out)
25 to Life (not yet out [WTF?])"

"This is not a modification or "mod" of the game by gamers. It is an unlocking of content that was put there by Take-Two with the unlocking code provided by the developer!"

Ah, scare journalism at its finest. Laugh and pity this uninformed and wildly incompetent imbecile. :rolleyes:

[Kalbrecht]

I'm just amazed he called them "games" and not "murder simulations"...

[Kalbrecht]

I hardly see the difference between an art file left in but never used in the game until someone modded it back into the game and someone simply making their own art file and modding it into the game. The point is, without a mod, you will not see the file.

And ultimately, we have to look at the content already in the game. Both Oblivion and GTA: San Andreas are violent with all sorts of morally questionable content. Adding a nipple or unlocking a simulated sex scene in the context of the game is hardly groundbreaking. If my young daughter was playing Sesame Street teaches ABC's and all of a sudden with a little button mashing Big Bird started spanking Elmo in some erotic scene with the Count in the background counting each one, then I could understand an uproar.

While that is true, the ESRB works on the idea that you are responsible for the material you put into the public domain for consumption. While you are not responsible for someone adding a nipple to your files, you are responsible for putting one in there in the first place that CAN be viewed with a little tweaking (pun not intended). The nipple cannot be viewed on the 360 without some major changes, unlike the PC mod.

An extreme example would be putting a XXX video into an obscure folder on a Microsoft Office CD. While it's completely unlikely that any user will find it, the person who put it on is still responsible because the consumer accessing the CD can still find it with a bit of curiosity and a fairly low level of haxxor skillz.

Why WOULD someone put a XXX video on an MS Office CD? Of course they wouldn't - there's no need to. Similarly, there wasn't a need to keep the nipples on there if they were never intended to be viewed. They should have recoloured them, or taken them off before going gold.

So while completely outdated and quite silly, I can see their reasoning.

As for violence vs nipples? Well, heck that's just the nature of our society. Silly, eh?

[Rob]

I think it is time I sue my parents for a few million dollars. When I was created she threw in a very sneaky mod without telling anyone. You see, with a few magical codes, if I remove my shirt I too can see nipples. What is worse is that everyone created has this evil mod built right in. I am quite sure if no one knew about these mods, we would all be much safer and well off.

you are responsible for putting one in there in the first place that CAN be viewed with a little tweaking

And here is the deal Kalbrecht, even if MS Office did have unlockable nipples, the fact you would have to enter a code (such as in the Hot Coffee) means you are taking it upon yourself to specifically view that material. This isn't like the nudie book from Secret of Mana which randomly showed itself in a specific room. This isn't forced on anyone. When a person has to do something special with a code to access it, then the responsability falls on the user.

And I can't help but point out that we are talking about a damn nipple! You know, something you see plenty of on a family vacation to the beach. Shall we close the beaches or just make it manditory for all guys to wear shirts while at the beach?