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ESRB Changes Oblivion's Rating to 'Mature'
Posted by
Zonk
on Wed May 03, 2006 04:48 PM
from the country-governed-by-infants dept.
from the country-governed-by-infants dept.
kukyfrope writes "Perhaps reacting based on the debacle that was the 'Hot Coffee' scandal, the ESRB today changed the rating on The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion from Teen to Mature. From the article: 'The content causing the ESRB to change the rating involves 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,' said the ESRB in a release."
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So this out yet? (Score:5, Funny)
So is this out yet?.....
Re:So this out yet? (Score:5, Funny)
The change in rating is to prevent younger players getting scared by all those women with their heads missing.
Parent
mmmm (Score:4, Funny)
Re:mmmm (Score:5, Funny)
One may laugh, but [google.com]...
Parent
When I was your age (Score:5, Funny)
Any game? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Any game? (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
so all mod content... (Score:4, Insightful)
Basing the rating of a game upon the available third party content seems very stupid to me. I'm sure i'm in the majority of slashdotter who think that changing the rating of a game because of mods is stupid.
this does not bode well for the future of video game ratings.
Re:so all mod content... (Score:5, Informative)
The "art file or 'skin'" was already present in the game, locked out or otherwise.
The third party tool gave you access to what was already there... exactly like GTA & their hot coffee disaster.
What the ESRB is trying to tell game makers is that they need to stop including postentially sexual content on the game discs, even if it's "locked out".
Parent
Re:so all mod content... (Score:5, Insightful)
Now, my mod is simply taking stuff that's already on the disc and displaying it. It's just doing so in a way that the developers didn't intend. 18+ rating for everything!
There's got to be a line drawn, and it should be drawn by saying that if you can access the content without the use of third party tools/mods/whatever, then it should count for the rating. If you have to hack the system in order to modify the game in order to gain access to content, then it shouldn't count against the rating. Once you allow content unlocked by a third-party modification to the game to count for ratings purposes, you've started down a slippery slope.
Parent
Nudity is fine (Score:4, Funny)
Finally. (Score:5, Insightful)
Way too graphic.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go buy one of the last 'T'-labeled games, and sell it for a profit later on.
Re:Finally. (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh, there's nothing wrong with decomposing bodies, according to the ESRB. But look, one of them has the tits hanging out. And you can almost see the nipple! OMG! Think of the chiiildren!
Parent
Re:Finally. (Score:4, Interesting)
Parent
Re:Finally. (Score:4, Insightful)
I love the game, but there is no way it should ever have been Teen.
The necromancer and vampire lairs can be very graphic (If you've seen Memorial Cave, you know what I'm talking about.), way too graphic for a little kid.
Parent
Unfair distinctions (Score:5, Insightful)
And, since they have started this crusade, why hasn't the Sims 2 been pulled and modded Adults Only yet? That has far more explicit mods and in-your-face sexuality. Hell, the only way to get ahead in that game is to have sex, and that only gets a Teen rating still?
If the ESRB is going to keep pulling this, all game makers should just slap Adults Only labels on their games and let the parents figure out which ones are safe for their kids, like they are supposed to be doing in the first place.
Breasts! OMG! (Score:5, Funny)
Check out the nude patch in action! (Score:4, Informative)
3rd party modification? (Score:5, Funny)
False claims (Score:5, Funny)
If the nudity isn't available in the basic game but needs a third party hack, isn't it false advertising to claim "nudity" on the box? I'd expect a refund if I bought this and found no nudity included.
Re:False claims (Score:5, Insightful)
You just don't understand the new thinking, is all. See, we need to be "protected" not simply against what things are but also against what things can be made to do. And, frankly, it is the fault of godless monsters like Bethesda for putting tools into people's hands that are capable of creating nude images, and they should be labeled as the pornmongers they are.
Seriously, it won't be long until game makers lock down code so that modding is impossible. There will never be another Counter-Strike for fear that someone will make a whorehouse map.
Parent
Hot Mead? (Score:5, Funny)
This sick filth must stop! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:The difference between this and The Sims 2 is.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Most games handle clothing by making it directly part of the character model. Oblivion models character bodies and clothing seperately. Although this approach increases the complexity of the graphics, it allows more reuse of art assests. With this approach, you can mix and match body types and clothing without having to redo the artwork for the different combos. This patch simply removes the clothing layer.
Also, according to the mod author's comments, the topless women don't quite look right. The models were designed to look right wearing clothing, not bare.
Parent
Re:Oh man! Are you kidding me? (Score:5, Informative)
I think that the presence of nipples are the foremost concern for those who object to the "nudity" nipples are apparently the most offensive part of the mammary and must therefore never be shown to children of any age. But if we consider the role a nipple might play in the modelling of armor and clothing (although I will admit that I have no experience in this matter and will defer to the knowledge of anyone who does), such as providing a boundary for how far the neck of a peice of attire can go. The nipple play a part in determining where a seam might be placed on a blouse or an indentation on a tight fitting dress.
Unlike the Hot coffee mod, which was an intentional inclusion of graphic content, Oblivion's mesh and texture were created to make the game run more smoothly and quite possibly as a modder's resource. The "nipple" on the topless mesh is barely distinguishable from the rest of the breast, and Bethsoft goes to great lengths to make it's content appropriate for younger audiences. For example, in Daggerfall (and Arena?) the book series known as "The Real Barenziah" had very graphic sexual content, Which they removed from Morrowind (and Oblivion) and replaced with the phrase "this passage has been removed by order of the church" They also removed all nude daedra or provided more consevative versions of them for Morrowind. I don't think Bethsoft ever intended for the mesh and texture to be used for this purpose, and while Bethesda certainly expected nude content to become available, they should not be obliged to provide such content for ESRB screening purposes.
Parent