Oblivion Re-Rated by ESRB
by Jay Barnson · in General Discussion · 05/06/2006 (12:07 am) · 40 replies
So if you are gonna get Wal*Mart to sell your game, you are going to HAVE to get an ESRB rating. A very costly endeavor, in terms of both time and money. (Unfortunately, one of my local congressmen here in Utah is drafting legislation that would force all of us indies to get an ESRB rating even if we only sell online... I am NOT happy about that!)
So if you DO have to do this, please be sure and remove ANY excess content from your game and make sure that you check for it as part of your QA process. You don't wanna end up like Oblivion.
For those unfamiliar with the Oblivion re-rating from "Teen" to "Mature" (or those who just want a laugh), I've done a translation of the "highlights" of this event thus far into layman's English (or my irreverant interpretation thereof) here:
http://www.rampantgames.com/blog/2006/05/oblivion-re-rating-translated-into.html
I am glad to know that the ESRB at least acknowledges that there's no way they can deal with third-party mods. But I do worry that we're starting down a slippery slope - first with "Hot Coffee", and now with a much lesser offense.
So if you DO have to do this, please be sure and remove ANY excess content from your game and make sure that you check for it as part of your QA process. You don't wanna end up like Oblivion.
For those unfamiliar with the Oblivion re-rating from "Teen" to "Mature" (or those who just want a laugh), I've done a translation of the "highlights" of this event thus far into layman's English (or my irreverant interpretation thereof) here:
http://www.rampantgames.com/blog/2006/05/oblivion-re-rating-translated-into.html
I am glad to know that the ESRB at least acknowledges that there's no way they can deal with third-party mods. But I do worry that we're starting down a slippery slope - first with "Hot Coffee", and now with a much lesser offense.
About the author
Jay has been a mainstream and indie game developer for a... uh, long time. His professional start came in 1994 developing titles for the then-unknown and upcoming Sony Playstation. He runs Rampant Games and blogs at Tales of the Rampant Coyote.
#2
05/06/2006 (3:13 am)
Well it is a stupid hysterics move. From what I understand, Bethesda simply uses male torso skin for both female and male models. In case of female models, they`re covered with bra. So some tinkerer removes bra and suddenly We Have A Situation Here, OMG!!!11 
#3
What?! Immature? What's that?
05/06/2006 (4:51 pm)
ZOMG!!! BRESTSSS!!! CALL TEH UBER PREZIDENT HTIS NAOHTEA!!!!What?! Immature? What's that?
#4
05/06/2006 (5:31 pm)
This video game censorship bandwaggon is going too far, hopefully someone will put an end to this idiocy.
#5
05/06/2006 (7:48 pm)
Only in America...
#6
05/06/2006 (7:59 pm)
It is kind of amusing though because Oblivion totally _should_ have an M rating based on it's standard content, that of course, the ESRB would never see from playing the game for five minutes.
#7
Thats not quite how the rating system goes.
from ESRB FAQ
05/06/2006 (10:20 pm)
Paul,Thats not quite how the rating system goes.
from ESRB FAQ
Quote:
How are the games rated?
To get a game certified with an ESRB rating, publishers fill out a detailed questionnaire explaining exactly what's in the game, and submit it to ESRB along with actual videotaped footage of the game, showing the most extreme content and an accurate representation of the context and product as a whole.
#8
05/06/2006 (10:30 pm)
So can I just send them a videotape of porn and a brief document containing all the obscene language I can think of, just to get a rating of M and then no longer worry about what kind of content is in my game? What does the ESRB charge a developer to rate their game anyway?
#9
05/06/2006 (10:55 pm)
I think ESRB is just a scam to get free games:Quote:When the game is ready for release to the public, publishers send copies of the final product to the ESRB. The game packaging is reviewed to make sure the ratings are displayed in accordance with ESRB standards. Additionally, ESRB's in-house game experts randomly play the final games to verify that all the information provided during the rating process was accurate and complete.
#10
05/07/2006 (6:22 am)
Midhir - If you were shooting for a M rating that would not be the way to go because it would most likely get you a AO (Adults Only) rating.
#11
BTW, i honestly thought Oblivion was originally rated M, i dont see how it ever got thru with a T.....i mean, ANY amount of gore will generally land a game in M :P
05/07/2006 (3:10 pm)
The thing is, they are now cracking down on any alleged attempts by anyone to do that, if u have content in ur game that they think is unsuitable for it's rating....u'll get a LOT of shit for it. Maybe before u coulda gotten away with having crap that wasn't supposed to be in the game, but after all that 'hot coffee' was spilled.....well, something was bound to set SOMEONE off eventually, it was only a matter of time before they found that something.BTW, i honestly thought Oblivion was originally rated M, i dont see how it ever got thru with a T.....i mean, ANY amount of gore will generally land a game in M :P
#12
05/07/2006 (3:48 pm)
Does anybody have information about the actual cost of getting an ESRB rating for your game? This is a big concern for me, I don't have alot of money to be throwing away on this kind of nonsense. I'm happy going with AO, as long as I will never again have to concern myself with putting limits on my content. People who are offended by nipples and a realistic depiction of what happens when you shoot someone when you're playing a game involving shooting people don't need to talk to me anyway.
#13
05/07/2006 (4:40 pm)
ESRB ratings are non-compulsary, I don't think the cost anyhting but I can't check unless I register a phisching publishers account on their site.
#14
:)
Jaded and a little fatigued I guess, and trying to inject some humor into a hotspot. I've been dealing with some local political issues where Utah tried to get videogame violence added to the "pornography" law. And I've come away feeling disgusted by the behavior of several politicians.
I think with the ESRB's mandate now to rate not only the presentation of the game itself, but effectively to judge the use (or misuse) of everything that's contained in the game's distribution is a VERY slippery slope that we're heading down. I don't really fault Bethesda OR the ESRB too much at this point - I'm mainly very frustrated at the current political climate our hobby and industry finds itself in here in the U.S. This is what I would have considered ten years ago to be an incredibly *minor* event (Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall had topless women in the game too, in all their pixellated glory, back before PC games had ESRB ratings). But now this is potentially costing a company possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars, could cost some people their job, and is already being used by politicians as a weak point to attack our industry.
Kinda amazing how overblown things can get in a few short years.
05/07/2006 (7:22 pm)
@Anthony: Bitter, moi?:)
Jaded and a little fatigued I guess, and trying to inject some humor into a hotspot. I've been dealing with some local political issues where Utah tried to get videogame violence added to the "pornography" law. And I've come away feeling disgusted by the behavior of several politicians.
I think with the ESRB's mandate now to rate not only the presentation of the game itself, but effectively to judge the use (or misuse) of everything that's contained in the game's distribution is a VERY slippery slope that we're heading down. I don't really fault Bethesda OR the ESRB too much at this point - I'm mainly very frustrated at the current political climate our hobby and industry finds itself in here in the U.S. This is what I would have considered ten years ago to be an incredibly *minor* event (Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall had topless women in the game too, in all their pixellated glory, back before PC games had ESRB ratings). But now this is potentially costing a company possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars, could cost some people their job, and is already being used by politicians as a weak point to attack our industry.
Kinda amazing how overblown things can get in a few short years.
#15
Or at least a Goon politician.
05/07/2006 (8:12 pm)
There has to be a politician game developer somewhere on these forums.Or at least a Goon politician.
#16
05/08/2006 (12:45 am)
If parents want their kids to stay away from those games, they should probably, ya know, parent their children and not let them play. However, parents have gotten used to computers and televisions babysitting for them and don't really know how to raise kids anymore... IMO
#17
The older Need for speed had a car editors...
Nothing stops me from making a car the shape of a boob.
There goes their rating!
Videos in Warcraft are made with Blink, right? So take a porn movie, compress/encode with bink and replace the movie file... Cheers Teen Rating!
This bat file, launches the game with the -nointro command, but wait... Lets add some bad language, open a porn site and then launch the game.... Oh sh1t... there goes all the ratings ever.
Pffft... Polititians have way to much time to think about crap, rather than addressing the real problems at hand.
05/08/2006 (3:59 am)
Every game can be changed into something porn by 3rd Party tools... The older Need for speed had a car editors...
Nothing stops me from making a car the shape of a boob.
There goes their rating!
Videos in Warcraft are made with Blink, right? So take a porn movie, compress/encode with bink and replace the movie file... Cheers Teen Rating!
This bat file, launches the game with the -nointro command, but wait... Lets add some bad language, open a porn site and then launch the game.... Oh sh1t... there goes all the ratings ever.
Pffft... Polititians have way to much time to think about crap, rather than addressing the real problems at hand.
#18
"Wacky Jacky" Thompson is now pimping himself on the talk-show circuit trying to drum up some business for himself in the form of a class-action lawsuit (and criminal prosecution of Take Two's CEO):
http://gamesfirst.com/?id=1280
05/08/2006 (10:07 am)
And so it begins..."Wacky Jacky" Thompson is now pimping himself on the talk-show circuit trying to drum up some business for himself in the form of a class-action lawsuit (and criminal prosecution of Take Two's CEO):
http://gamesfirst.com/?id=1280
#19
05/08/2006 (10:25 am)
ESRB charges $2500 per rating.
#20
Now I know I'll never get a game ESRB rated.
@Jay - I'd definatly like to know his answers to the questions in the article, and I'd also like to see him demonstrating first-hand exactly what is wrong with portraying reality in a virtual medium.
But unlike Jack T. we all have more important things to do than rant on about why butts and breasts make Jesus cry.
05/08/2006 (11:07 pm)
Thanks Will.Now I know I'll never get a game ESRB rated.
@Jay - I'd definatly like to know his answers to the questions in the article, and I'd also like to see him demonstrating first-hand exactly what is wrong with portraying reality in a virtual medium.
But unlike Jack T. we all have more important things to do than rant on about why butts and breasts make Jesus cry.
Torque Owner Anthony Fullmer