Wikipedia:Today's featured article/March 5, 2008

In 2006, the North American Entertainment Software Rating Board changed the rating of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion from Teen (13+) to Mature (17+), citing "more detailed depictions of blood and gore" than had been previously considered, and "the presence in the PC version of the game of a locked-out art file that, if accessed by using an apparently unauthorized third party tool,"—the Oblivion Topless Mod—"allows the user to play the game with topless versions of female characters." In response to the new content, the ESRB conducted a new review of the video game Oblivion, showing to its reviewers the content originally submitted by the game's publisher along with the newly disclosed content. The new review resulted in an M rating. The ESRB reported that Bethesda Softworks, the game's developer and publisher, would promptly notify all retailers of the change, issue stickers for retailers and distributors to affix on the product, display the new rating in all following product shipments and marketing, and create a patch for download rendering the topless skin inaccessible. Bethesda complied with the request, but issued a press release declaring their disagreement with the ESRB's rationale. Although certain retailers began to check for ID before selling Oblivion as a result of the change, and the change elicited criticism for the ESRB, the events passed by with little notice from the public at large. Other commentators remarked on the injustice of punishing a company for the actions of independent modders, and one called the event a "pseudo-sequel" to the Hot Coffee minigame controversy. (more...)

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