News Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion gets rating changed to Mature

[WilHarris]

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2006/05...hanged_mature/

[Glider]

Ah, who looks at the rating anyways? Some teens are more mature then some matures...

[ElThomsono]

Asinine

Seriously, if people want nudity the GIS is a lot quicker and easier; quite frankly you could mod solitaire to have the same "mature" content

[Matkubicki]

They best start marking Windows XP as mature or adult only then because it won't take me 10 seconds to put a naked woman on the desktop. What a stupid ruling, even worse than the also stupid Hot Coffee ruling last year.

[BioSniper]

Its already rated "15" here in the Uk anyway.
If the government/random parents in the states feel so strongly that games are to blame for violence/thier kids shouldnt be playing violent games/games with nudity I dont understand why a system similar to that in effect here in the UK isnt enforced where the age rating is the minimum required to PURCAHSE the game.

[Muunsyr]

Originally Posted by Matkubicki

They best start marking Windows XP as mature or adult only then because it won't take me 10 seconds to put a naked woman on the desktop. What a stupid ruling, even worse than the also stupid Hot Coffee ruling last year.

Spot on.

[ContingenctPlan]

Agreeing with what's already been said, why should 3rd party mods affect the game's rating? Should just have the same "online play/modifications can vary from rating" warning.

[specofdust]

Is it just me that thinks maybe they didn't spend much time on this, thinking it unimportant, then it was a huuuuuuuuuge hit, they played it some more, and realised things like the Dark Brotherhood quests and some of the caves are really not all that suitable for young people? I mean, I don't profess to agreeing with censorship by the state(that's the job of parents), but I think much more likely is the nekid thing is just an excuse, the DB quests were really, very twisted, and I think that's far more likely to be the real reason.

[Cobalt]

The US system is complete bull IMO. If it is not even age limiting and takes account of content that was not in the un-modified game (ie the one released to the general public) then what is the point? Guidance can't be the reason as they know full well people are just going to ignore it and parents seem to over-react without getting all the facts for themselves. On the one hand they complian how inaccurate reporting is, on the other they will follow mediea scare mongering like sheep.

Adopting a system more like the european one where ratings actually mean something would help for a start.

[Bladestorm]

Um,

“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."

Bzzzt, incorrect, the file was already in the game, all the "hackers" (ah so its people who program quickly behind it ? ) did was basically disable the bra so the existing mesh+textures were revealed.

It is a third party change, just not an addition per se. (no code or other in-game method would have unveiled it)

[specofdust]

Yeah, but the "breasts"(I'm lead to believe they're malformed lumps) were just there so that the bra could be removed, otherwise the bra would have been part of the base skin texture. They wanted to be able to remove the bra so that things like the chainmail with the plunging neck line could not have a bra in the middle of it. What they did makes sense.

[kosch]

Thats like saying "oh no my 1.6L car I bought is now 2.0 litre's after I changed the engine! now I have to change my insurance type!"

Personally I think its all a bit stupid.

[Bladestorm]

Originally Posted by specofdust

Yeah, but the "breasts"(I'm lead to believe they're malformed lumps) were just there so that the bra could be removed, otherwise the bra would have been part of the base skin texture. They wanted to be able to remove the bra so that things like the chainmail with the plunging neck line could not have a bra in the middle of it. What they did makes sense.

They're certainly not the worlds most perfect breasts, but they are pretty much anatomically correct (I've read the nipples are a few centimetres off, but otherwise they're about right)

I'm not saying I agree with topless mods and such (tacky imho), Nor that I care about the rating change, mostly what I hate is companies that lie and try to shift blame off of themselves falsely, which they appear to be trying to do.

I believe all of the game's original clothes and armour are designed such that the bra doesn't need to be removed, its just players that wanted more freedom (the first modder allowed that, it was a second that latched on, made and publicized a second mod which took the first one and went to the extent of making every female topless)

[boggsi]

Originally Posted by kosch

Thats like saying "oh no my 1.6L car I bought is now 2.0 litre's after I changed the engine! now I have to change my insurance type!"

Personally I think its all a bit stupid.

Im not sure if you were sarcastic dude, but u do have to change your insurance type if you change your engine... lol

[davanata]

So does this mean the ESRB should change The Sims from Teen to Mature since it has a nude mod. God forbid teens should see naked sims sitting on the toilet.

[speedfreek]

Originally Posted by Matkubicki

They best start marking Windows XP as mature or adult only then because it won't take me 10 seconds to put a naked woman on the desktop. What a stupid ruling, even worse than the also stupid Hot Coffee ruling last year.

I already have one for my desktop.

You could make a nude model for almost any game. And oblivion dosent even have decent looking blood in it, it dosent deserve a m rating.

[TrinomialTheory]

You gotta look at who first brought this up and why. First off, like many people have said, the game DID NOT SHIP WITH NUDITY! You can talk about coding of the game not having bras and what not but stop trying to find a reason to back up this ESRB rating change. The modders are responsible for this nudity part and not the violence. The game is a sword/magic FIGHTING combat hack and slash game... I certainly don't want to wield a sunflower and "wish" people beat to a pulp. Come on, you can't "Re-nig" on this kinda stuff.

This game had violence written on the cover. The Morrowind series is known for it's mods and ease of making your own mods is included with the game(not oblivion, have to download the construction set). This game was meant to be modded and some people have abused it. I don't remember any "nude" mods ever being made for ES3... There will always be the occasional person that thinks he/she is releasing a cool mod that exploits the graphics and game engine(HL2 nude alex mod anyone?) for purposes other than just fun.

It's not the game developers fault, nor is it their responsibility to think about what mods you "might" be able to make let alone how you use the game once it's in your hands. I don't think they expected anyone to strip off the graphics from the females so they can see FAKE VIDEO GAME BOOBS! It's kinda childish and well just lame. Look at what it's done to Oblivions image. Like someone else stated, now all the bible thumpers that believe their little Billy is going to bring a ******* sword to school and start chopping people with it, have pushed to yet again put another bad name on a great game...

[Firehed]

Originally Posted by Bladestorm

Um,



Bzzzt, incorrect, the file was already in the game, all the "hackers" (ah so its people who program quickly behind it ? ) did was basically disable the bra so the existing mesh+textures were revealed.

It is a third party change, just not an addition per se. (no code or other in-game method would have unveiled it)

Exactly, it's a third party change. It's something you have to willingly and intentionally do. On top of that, you only ever see the chest of a character (of either sex) when you're in the menu screen, as you're always facing their back or in first person mode when actually playing.

The violence in the game is laughable. Diablo II with it's original 640x480 graphics had considerably more blood. I've had a vaguely red-tinted sword, and that's about the limit of it.

[Rav]

Originally Posted by Firehed

On top of that, you only ever see the chest of a character (of either sex) when you're in the menu screen, as you're always facing their back or in first person mode when actually playing.

Not true, hold middle mouse button and rotate, and you can get 360­° view.

Gotta add my 'i agree' to the rest of the discussion though, and i really like the pr0n desktop analogy

[woodshop]

The darn "nude" mod sucks anyway.. I tried it and quiclk undid it as lets fact it.. it looks utterly evil.. If this WAS ment to be possable in the game then they wouldn't have looked so horrid