The Entertainment Software Rating Board has reversed gears and given The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion a new rating.
The game has gone from a Teen 13+ rating to a Mature 17+ due to “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.”
The new rating, no doubt, isn’t good news for Bethesda, but isn’t terribly surprising. In a time when America’s puritanical views are wide out in the open, the ESRB finds itself scrambling to prove the industry can police itself. Singled out by legislators trying to make it illegal for stores to sell M titles to minors, the gaming industry is finding itself under the gun. No doubt mods and other hidden surprises in some titles are making it difficult to show the industry can pull off the policing job.
Parents across the country depend on ESRB ratings every day to make sensible choices about the games they bring home for their families," said ESRB president Patricia Vance. "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."
ESRB Media Release
Personally, I’m an adamant opponent of restrictions on entertainment. The rights of censorship belong in the hands of viewers and players, and in the case of minors, their parents, not the government.
However, industry-created ratings systems, although quite flawed, do give parents a guideline to work from. In this case, the ESRB seems to have had no choice but do exactly what it did.
The official word from the ESRB is that the title will retain its current content descriptors, but the PC version of the game will pick up a “Nudity” tag until the game’s been re-mastered to remove the topless skin. This skin is not accessible on the Xbox 360 version.
A patch will soon be made available for the PC version of the game that will disable access to the file with the topless skin. Parents can find it by clicking here.
Related:
Oblivion Nude Mod Already Available
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Mod Stinks, Gamers Say
Oblivion Addiction Is Widespread
Video Game Nude Mods Listed
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