Report, edit, etc...Posted by Golden-Fist on 2006-05-03 at 20:55:49
I found these on gamespot and decided to show everyone. The first one seems sort of not-needed and no one cares about. But the 2nd one is better:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6148897.html
All I have to say on this is "Duh?" playing Oblivion I was amazed it was rated Teen. You're cutting down innocent families (if you want to) and slashing the hell out of travelers on the road while silently killing people in a guild? How is that not rated M? Also the whole Oblivion Gates thing where there are heads on spears stuf in the ground.
Anyway:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6148896.html
YAY!
Good james bond games again!!! I liked Goldeneye (Not made by activision) and I sort of liked Nightfire, but it was still stale. THe rest of the games were just "pssh" I can't wait to see what Activision does with the liscene, now that EA relized it jsut wasn't working for them.
Any thoughts?
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6148897.html
QUOTE
Oblivion re-rated M for Mature
[UPDATE] ESRB bumps up game's rating from T for Teen, says Bethesda failed to properly report objectionable content in ratings submission.
By Brendan Sinclair, GameSpot
Posted May 3, 2006 1:44 pm PT
Take-Two Interactive may not have a follow-up for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas yet, but it appears the publisher does have a pseudo-sequel to that game's Hot Coffee scandal on its hands.
The Entertainment Software Ratings Board today issued a parental advisory that it has changed the rating of Take-Two subsidiary 2K Games' hit role-playing game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for the PC and the Xbox 360. (Inital reports indicated that only the PC version of the game had been re-rated.) Originally released with a rating of T for Teen, the game has now been rerated M for Mature, 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."
Before the game was rerated, Pete Hines of Oblivion developer Bethesda Softworks discussed the mod with GameSpot. "Obviously we have a pretty big, and active, mod community for the PC version, and there are some gamers who hacked into Oblivion's art archive files and modified them to create a nude upper female torso in the game," Hines said. "We can't control and don't condone the actions of anyone who alters the game so that it displays material that may be considered offensive. We haven't received any complaints on the issue from anyone."
The ESRB is adding a "nudity" content descriptor to the PC version of the game "until it can be re-mastered and released with the topless skin removed."
[UPDATE]: As for how Oblivion escaped the ratings process with an improper rating the first time around, the ESRB pointed the finger at Bethesda. When a company submits a game to be rated, it is required to provide the ESRB with a video tape "showing the most extreme content and an accurate representation of the context and product as a whole."
After discovering the issues in "post-release monitoring and play-testing," the ESRB initiated a review of the game's original ratings process. The board cross-examined the tape Bethesda submitted with video taken from the final release of the game, and ultimately determined that the developer understated the detail and intensity of the blood and gore in the game. In reference to the nude skin, which is inaccessible during normal play and so couldn't have been included in the taped submission, the ESRB said publishers are required "to disclose locked-out content during the rating process if it is pertinent to a rating," and that Bethesda failed to do so.
As a result, the ESRB said a number of corrective actions are being taken regarding the matter. Bethesda will notify retailers of the rating change, provide stores and distributors with M-rating stickers for all unsold copies of the game, and preparing new packaging with the proper rating and content descriptors for future copies of the game. Bethesda will also prepare a downloadable patch to modify the game's art archive and make the topless skin inaccessible, even on a modded PC version of the game.
Shortly after the ESRB parental advisory was issued, Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association president Hal Halpin sent out his own statement about the re-rating. Halpin called the resulting change in sales policy for the game "immediate," and said a number of major retailers had already changed their systems so cashiers would be prompted to ask for ID when copies of Oblivion were scanned.
"Of note in this matter is the speed at which retailers reacted and parents were empowered," Halpin said. "Ultimately that is what makes any ratings system effective in the end."
A Take-Two representative deferred GameSpot's questions regarding the matter to Bethesda, but did say that the company doesn't expect the re-rating to have a financial impact on its operations.
[UPDATE] ESRB bumps up game's rating from T for Teen, says Bethesda failed to properly report objectionable content in ratings submission.
By Brendan Sinclair, GameSpot
Posted May 3, 2006 1:44 pm PT
Take-Two Interactive may not have a follow-up for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas yet, but it appears the publisher does have a pseudo-sequel to that game's Hot Coffee scandal on its hands.
The Entertainment Software Ratings Board today issued a parental advisory that it has changed the rating of Take-Two subsidiary 2K Games' hit role-playing game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for the PC and the Xbox 360. (Inital reports indicated that only the PC version of the game had been re-rated.) Originally released with a rating of T for Teen, the game has now been rerated M for Mature, 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."
Before the game was rerated, Pete Hines of Oblivion developer Bethesda Softworks discussed the mod with GameSpot. "Obviously we have a pretty big, and active, mod community for the PC version, and there are some gamers who hacked into Oblivion's art archive files and modified them to create a nude upper female torso in the game," Hines said. "We can't control and don't condone the actions of anyone who alters the game so that it displays material that may be considered offensive. We haven't received any complaints on the issue from anyone."
The ESRB is adding a "nudity" content descriptor to the PC version of the game "until it can be re-mastered and released with the topless skin removed."
[UPDATE]: As for how Oblivion escaped the ratings process with an improper rating the first time around, the ESRB pointed the finger at Bethesda. When a company submits a game to be rated, it is required to provide the ESRB with a video tape "showing the most extreme content and an accurate representation of the context and product as a whole."
After discovering the issues in "post-release monitoring and play-testing," the ESRB initiated a review of the game's original ratings process. The board cross-examined the tape Bethesda submitted with video taken from the final release of the game, and ultimately determined that the developer understated the detail and intensity of the blood and gore in the game. In reference to the nude skin, which is inaccessible during normal play and so couldn't have been included in the taped submission, the ESRB said publishers are required "to disclose locked-out content during the rating process if it is pertinent to a rating," and that Bethesda failed to do so.
As a result, the ESRB said a number of corrective actions are being taken regarding the matter. Bethesda will notify retailers of the rating change, provide stores and distributors with M-rating stickers for all unsold copies of the game, and preparing new packaging with the proper rating and content descriptors for future copies of the game. Bethesda will also prepare a downloadable patch to modify the game's art archive and make the topless skin inaccessible, even on a modded PC version of the game.
Shortly after the ESRB parental advisory was issued, Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association president Hal Halpin sent out his own statement about the re-rating. Halpin called the resulting change in sales policy for the game "immediate," and said a number of major retailers had already changed their systems so cashiers would be prompted to ask for ID when copies of Oblivion were scanned.
"Of note in this matter is the speed at which retailers reacted and parents were empowered," Halpin said. "Ultimately that is what makes any ratings system effective in the end."
A Take-Two representative deferred GameSpot's questions regarding the matter to Bethesda, but did say that the company doesn't expect the re-rating to have a financial impact on its operations.
All I have to say on this is "Duh?" playing Oblivion I was amazed it was rated Teen. You're cutting down innocent families (if you want to) and slashing the hell out of travelers on the road while silently killing people in a guild? How is that not rated M? Also the whole Oblivion Gates thing where there are heads on spears stuf in the ground.
Anyway:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6148896.html
QUOTE
Activision acquires James Bond license
[UPDATE] Number-two publisher takes over spy-film-inspired game license after archrival Electronic Arts ends agreement; now holds PC, handheld, and console rights until 2014.
By Tor Thorsen, GameSpot
Posted May 3, 2006 1:12 pm PT
Since the late 1990s, Electronic Arts has held the license to publish games based on the James Bond film franchise. The results have been mixed on the current generation of consoles. One effort, 2004's James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing, garnered high praise and sold more than 1.3 million units in the US, according to the NPD group. However, EA's four other Bond games--James Bond 007 in Agent Under Fire (2002), James Bond 007: NightFire (2003), GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (2004), and From Russia With Love (2005)--have seen middling sales and reviews.
In 2003, Electronic Arts announced a deal with film distributor MGM to make James Bond-based games until 2009. The following year, MGM was bought by Sony, which now co-owns the James Bond license with the production company EON.
Now, three years later, EA no longer holds the once-coveted James Bond license. Today, Activision shocked the game industry by announcing that it had struck a deal with MGM and EON to publish James Bond games through 2014. "The James Bond franchise creates tremendous global expansion opportunities for Activision as it is one of the few video game licenses that appeals equally to domestic and international consumers," said Mike Griffith, president and CEO of Activision Publishing.
The deal is extensive and gives Activision "worldwide rights to create video games for all current- and next-generation consoles, PC and handheld platforms" based on the James Bond character. It includes both original games set in the Bond universe and games based on new films, such as the forthcoming Casino Royale. Royale will be the first film to feature Daniel Craig (Layer Cake, Munich) in the role of Agent 007.
[UPDATE] But while the deal is potentially lucrative, it does raise a number of questions. Namely, how did Activision get the license to publisher 007 titles? As it turns out, EA decided it didn't want to make them anymore. "EA has decided to conclude our agreement for the James Bond license," a rep told GameSpot. "The current contract was set to expire in 2009. This was a good relationship with MGM and it produced a lot of great games."
According to EA, the end of the 007 deal is part of the publisher's larger strategy to refocus on all-new games. "While movie games will always be in our portfolio, EA is moving away from licensed properties and committing our resources to wholly-owned IP, created in our own studios," said the rep. "Wholly owned properties allow better financial margins and more creative control to develop the type of games that consumers want."
Requests for comment sent to Activision were not returned as of press time.
[UPDATE] Number-two publisher takes over spy-film-inspired game license after archrival Electronic Arts ends agreement; now holds PC, handheld, and console rights until 2014.
By Tor Thorsen, GameSpot
Posted May 3, 2006 1:12 pm PT
Since the late 1990s, Electronic Arts has held the license to publish games based on the James Bond film franchise. The results have been mixed on the current generation of consoles. One effort, 2004's James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing, garnered high praise and sold more than 1.3 million units in the US, according to the NPD group. However, EA's four other Bond games--James Bond 007 in Agent Under Fire (2002), James Bond 007: NightFire (2003), GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (2004), and From Russia With Love (2005)--have seen middling sales and reviews.
In 2003, Electronic Arts announced a deal with film distributor MGM to make James Bond-based games until 2009. The following year, MGM was bought by Sony, which now co-owns the James Bond license with the production company EON.
Now, three years later, EA no longer holds the once-coveted James Bond license. Today, Activision shocked the game industry by announcing that it had struck a deal with MGM and EON to publish James Bond games through 2014. "The James Bond franchise creates tremendous global expansion opportunities for Activision as it is one of the few video game licenses that appeals equally to domestic and international consumers," said Mike Griffith, president and CEO of Activision Publishing.
The deal is extensive and gives Activision "worldwide rights to create video games for all current- and next-generation consoles, PC and handheld platforms" based on the James Bond character. It includes both original games set in the Bond universe and games based on new films, such as the forthcoming Casino Royale. Royale will be the first film to feature Daniel Craig (Layer Cake, Munich) in the role of Agent 007.
[UPDATE] But while the deal is potentially lucrative, it does raise a number of questions. Namely, how did Activision get the license to publisher 007 titles? As it turns out, EA decided it didn't want to make them anymore. "EA has decided to conclude our agreement for the James Bond license," a rep told GameSpot. "The current contract was set to expire in 2009. This was a good relationship with MGM and it produced a lot of great games."
According to EA, the end of the 007 deal is part of the publisher's larger strategy to refocus on all-new games. "While movie games will always be in our portfolio, EA is moving away from licensed properties and committing our resources to wholly-owned IP, created in our own studios," said the rep. "Wholly owned properties allow better financial margins and more creative control to develop the type of games that consumers want."
Requests for comment sent to Activision were not returned as of press time.
YAY!
Good james bond games again!!! I liked Goldeneye (Not made by activision) and I sort of liked Nightfire, but it was still stale. THe rest of the games were just "pssh" I can't wait to see what Activision does with the liscene, now that EA relized it jsut wasn't working for them.
Any thoughts?
Report, edit, etc...Posted by Voyager7456(MM) on 2006-05-04 at 06:39:23
I agree that the violence and gore may warrant an "M" rating, but rating it "M" just because there's some unused texture in an archive seems retarded. It's not part of the game, the only way it can be put in the game is via mods.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by KrAzY on 2006-05-04 at 09:57:59
This is why I hate ESRB, but at least they got StarCraft into Teen other than Mature. ESRB needs to follow through to see what's inside the game, not through modifications based on "Hot Coffee" nudity. Based on modifications, they are seperated from the game, and the game itself is entirely has no nudity involved.
Remember Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas had the nudity modification and went to a Adults Only ratings? How come they didn't do that to God of War that doesn't even have any mods at all and didn't even become Adults Only ratings.
And yeah, Voyager is right. Unused texture may cause games turn to rated mature and/or Adults Only based on how they look like and how they were used which wasn't really part of the game, which can be accessible through the modifications by modders of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for the PC, not the Xbox 360.
Why does the Xbox 360 version have to go rated mature? The Xbox 360 has a big chance that there is no mods because once you open up your Xbox 360 and install the chips in, it's already broken and destroyed by the modder's hands. Even though if they already went through, it doesn't actually mean that it would go everywhere to tell you the truth.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion doesn't deserve this type of rating, it should deserve a Teen.
Remember Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas had the nudity modification and went to a Adults Only ratings? How come they didn't do that to God of War that doesn't even have any mods at all and didn't even become Adults Only ratings.
And yeah, Voyager is right. Unused texture may cause games turn to rated mature and/or Adults Only based on how they look like and how they were used which wasn't really part of the game, which can be accessible through the modifications by modders of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for the PC, not the Xbox 360.
Why does the Xbox 360 version have to go rated mature? The Xbox 360 has a big chance that there is no mods because once you open up your Xbox 360 and install the chips in, it's already broken and destroyed by the modder's hands. Even though if they already went through, it doesn't actually mean that it would go everywhere to tell you the truth.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion doesn't deserve this type of rating, it should deserve a Teen.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by Golden-Fist on 2006-05-04 at 17:56:59
QUOTE(KrAzY @ May 4 2006, 08:57 AM)
TRemember Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas had the nudity modification and went to a Adults Only ratings? How come they didn't do that to God of War that doesn't even have any mods at all and didn't even become Adults Only ratings.
Because in god of war you don't see kratos' dick get rammed into the back of some little girl's throat.
QUOTE
[COLOR=red]Why does the Xbox 360 version have to go rated mature? The Xbox 360 has a big chance that there is no mods because once you open up your Xbox 360 and install the chips in, it's already broken and destroyed by the modder's hands. Even though if they already went through, it doesn't actually mean that it would go everywhere to tell you the truth.
It deserves it one hundred percent. Not for unused textures, but for the blood and gore in it. There's a man's freaking head on a spear!! How is that Teen friendly? It's not, the game should've been rated M in the first place. And starcraft was rated M before because of the graphics, for instance. At the time the original Tomb Raider had a Teen rating, now it's E. Because over time it's sort of ridiculos looking at it. It was only rated Teen due to the time that has passed on how techonology evoled.
No mentioning of james bond?
Report, edit, etc...Posted by RedNara on 2006-05-04 at 17:59:55
Yea they said it was blood and gore, but jezz they rated Teen in the first place. Also it was 3rd party programs, i dont believe Bethesda could of done anything about that. The game definatly is Teen. I mean 3rd party programs arent something that it comes with, its hacking.
I feel james bond is a little old now...
I feel james bond is a little old now...
Report, edit, etc...Posted by KrAzY on 2006-05-04 at 18:28:20
I'm pretty sure that there are plenty or few amount of games that are Teen with gore and blood violence.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by Golden-Fist on 2006-05-04 at 20:03:34
QUOTE(KrAzY @ May 4 2006, 05:27 PM)
I'm pretty sure that there are plenty or few amount of games that are Teen with gore and blood violence.[right][snapback]479532[/snapback][/right]
There's not.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by Killer_Kow(MM) on 2006-05-05 at 14:31:50
Ever play gladius? That has blood that'll make you laugh. But yeah, it probably does deserve the M rating, but not because of the mods.