Hi folks, Cooper Hawkes with an oh-so-quick rundown of some news items before Sherveen comes home and cranks out his super list:
Item One: Activision aquires James Bond license.
Item Two: DS Lite Hits US Next Month
Item Three: Oblivion re-rated an M, Bethesda replies.
Check the jump for info and rant comments.
UPDATE: DS Price is actually CHEAPER than reported!
Item One: GameSpot: Activision acquires James Bond license.
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.
Considering the supposed "eh" sales of these titles, one has to wonder if EA "lost" the James Bond license, or in fact just gave it up. I'm actually surprised that since MGM is now owned by Sony that they didn't keep the license for in-house exclusives, but hey, if I knew anything about the gaming business, I wouldn't be writing about it on a gaming blog.
EA's Bond games were ok, but Activision hasn't really made me stand up and beg when it comes to games, so I hope they have someone with a love of things Bond, and a better idea than what's been done.
Item Two: GameSpot: DS Lite Hits US Next Month
The DS Lite will make its debut in North America on June 11. [UPDATE] The unit will be priced at $129.99, the same price as the current DS, not $149 as previously reported. (GameSpot regrets the error.) Though the DS Lite has been released in white and two shades of blue in Japan, the handheld will only be available in "Polar White" for the US launch. This doesn't necessarily mean it will be long until DS Lite owners get the blues--Japan's DS Lite launch was also restricted to one color, with the blue hues following one week later.
This is kind of a good-news/bad-news thing in my house. See I want this device more than I want Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream, more than I want the unaltered Star Wars trilogy on DVD. (Which I hear is actually happening now, freaky.) So I'm happy that it's coming, and that it's not that expensive, but the bad news is, I CAN'T AFFORD IT!
That being said, looking forward to it, can't wait to get my hands on it, those who get it before I do all suck.
Just kidding, or maybe not.
And finally:
Item Three: GameSpot: Oblivion re-rated an M, Bethesda replies.
Earlier today, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board announced that it had re-rated The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for the PC and Xbox 360 as M for Mature. The ESRB said the game's developer, Bethesda Softworks, had failed to properly report the game's objectionable content when it submitted the game for rating.
Oh God where to start with this one. No wait, tell you what, let's read Bethesda’s reply first before I lose my head on this one:
The ESRB has revoked their Teen rating for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for the PC and the Xbox 360 and has assigned the game a new rating of Mature. The ESRB reports that this is due to content in the game that was not fully disclosed when rating the game initially. Bethesda, not its co-publisher, developed the game, handled the ratings application before the ESRB, and stands behind it.
Bethesda will promptly implement the ratings change that the ESRB has ordered for Oblivion. We will not contest the ESRB's decision to re-rate the game as Mature, nor will we change the game's content to keep a Teen rating. We believe that this critically acclaimed game is not typical of Mature rated titles, and does not present the central themes of violence that are common to those products.
Bethesda will work with its co-publisher to place new "M" rating stickers on Oblivion packaging now at retail and in warehouses, and will reflect the change in rating on newly manufactured product. No product recall is being directed.
In light of the public comments that are being made about this matter, and to respond to questions we are being asked, we are releasing this statement to be on record about the circumstances giving rise to Oblivion's change in rating.
Bethesda Softworks made what it believes was a full, accurate, and comprehensive submission on Oblivion to the ESRB months before the game's release. Bethesda used the ESRB's application forms and believes it adhered closely to their requirements. Nothing was hidden from the ratings agency. No effort was made by Bethesda to lobby or influence the agency for any particular rating.
The ESRB has concluded that the game deserves a rating of Mature because: 1) partial nudity in the PC version of the game can be created by modders; and 2) the game contains excessive blood and gore that go beyond a Teen rating. The facts are as follows:
There is no nudity in Oblivion without a third party modification. In the PC version of the game only - this doesn't apply to the Xbox 360 version - 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.
With regard to violence, Bethesda advised the ESRB during the ratings process that violence and blood effects were "frequent" in the game - checking the box on the form that is the maximum warning. We further advised that the game contained occasional torture, vulgar acts, and gore. We gave accurate answers and descriptions about the type and frequency of violence that appears in the game. We submitted a 60-page document listing the explicit language, acts, and scenes in the game. Oblivion packaging already contains warnings for "Violence" and "Blood and Gore."
We value the role of the ESRB and believe the rating agency plays a valuable role in regulating our industry. As always, we will continue work in good faith to comply fully with the ESRB's standards and policies.
We remain enormously proud of Oblivion and the standard of excellence in game development it represents. Oblivion is one of the highest rated games of all time and one of the most popular games available on the Xbox 360 and the PC. We greatly appreciate the understanding and support of our fans.
See now we're in a he said-she said situation when it comes to the level of violence in the game. ESRB says "We were misled!" Bethesda says: "No, you screwed up, not us." This is a fight that can't be won online or what have you, so I'll chalk that part of the situation up to "We both screwed up." and move on.
Now then, I have two problems with this, let's start with the obvious:
Re-rating a game because some horny asshat from East Jabib Okla-Tex-Cali-Jersey decides he wants to see digital boobies,is as stupid as saying "sorry" to a dead person after you accidentally shoot them in the face. When you're dealing with PC based games, there are people with sicker imaginations with higher levels of programming genius out there than you can shake a stick at. To try and program a game, not only to give it a great game experience, but also to prevent any level of tampering, is going to cause the development to increase, increasing development time, means longer periods between games and rising development costs, this in turn will make game prices increase, and frankly, it'll never work anyway, because the more you tell someone no, the more they will try to break it. So then all that development you did on trying to make your program completely mod proof was useless.
And, to top all that off, the ESRB decides it's STILL the developers fault for the sick twisted twits out there?
F*$@ you ESRB!! In the hands of any twisted sister with programming skills, a PC game can be made into nearly any type of M or AO rated game. You can't penalize a game developer for it. I can almost understand penalizing Rockstar for GTA: San Andreas, cause it was code that was created BY the developer, (And, BTW, I still think that situation sucked as well.) but this is just out of hand.
The second part is a bit more disturbing to me and not so obvious.
With political eyes watching the gaming industry closer than a buzzard watching a dying man in the desert, this is not the time to suddenly start coming up with "Whoops! Dropped the ball on that one!" It's an opening to allow all the political idiots (who think that the fall of civilization rests squarely on the shoulders of video games) to suddenly start screaming: "See! They can't do the job, only your government can!"
So again, F*$@ you ESRB! Now you're just making it easier for power hungry morons to try and "Save you" for this terrible mess up you just did by rating Oblivion T for teen, when you admit it must have been an M.
Get your s&$# together ESRB, or someone's going to come along and make you get it together.
And that's today's news.
Semper Fi!
This shit about the ESRB re-rating Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion because some idiot asshole decided to code in digital boobies is neither Bethesda or Take Two Interactives' fault. This time it was a third-party modder who did it, not the companies themselves. You shouldn't blame either the ESRB or Bethesda or even Take Two for this. And have any of you noticed a rather odd coincidence here? This game is published by Take Two Interactive just as the notorious Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. 2K Games, who publish Oblivion, are a division of Take Two in case you didn't know. But anyways, there seems to be a pattern of the government and ESRB watching anything published by Take Two like a hawk for supposedly adult content. Is it just me? If this pattern repeats itself then we could, god only knows, see people eyeballing Max Payne 3, Duke Nukem Forever, and Prey. Call me crazy if you will!
This Oblivion stuff is just plain retarded, and it's actually pissing me off just thinking about it. I mean I just have a hard time believing that these people at the ESRB are this stupid. The god damn game was perfectly fine and was only determined to be fit for an M rating after someone MODIFIED the game in a way that was never intended. The people behind this decision should be fired.
Damn straight asd! The ESRB is an organization that has been around for over a decade and they can't recognize what a damn mod is? The blood and gore comment I can understand, but the nudity was not in there to begin with. That is not Take Two or Bethesdas' fault this time around. This actually was a third-party modifiers fault this time. Leland Yee is already saying that Take Two doesn't learn. It wasn't their fault! The Hot Coffee mess was Take Twos' fault because Rockstar Games is the development division owned by them and thus they should have taken some responsibility for it, which they had a bad time doing. That was partially their fault. But Bethesda isn't owned by Take Two and as a result Take Two doesn't tell them how to make the game, so even if the nudity was put in there, Take Two can't be held responsible for it, Bethesda is. Correct me if I'm wrong. So with that Take Two are off the list of the blame game here. Bethesda is hopefully telling the truth when they say they didn't put the nudity in there to begin with.
I'm just sick and tired of politicians and TV news acting like as if they are the almighty fountains of knowledge and talking like as if the Hot Coffee mini-game was easily accessible by some cheat code you type or press in, when they have their heads stuck where the sun doesn't shine in regards to what a mod is and to what version of the game it was discovered in. The PC version is where Hot Coffee came out into the open, not the PS2 or XBX versions. The news made it look like you could easily access it in the console versions as if it was an easy 1-2-3 process. If you don't believe me, look at how Jack Thompson through various news outlets was stating that it was easily accessed through the XBX and PS2 versions, where in all reality they are the hardest to modify, and left out the fact that the PC version is where it was discovered. Then I saw, I shit you not, a bunch of different celebrities on a show on VH1, I think a show that gives weekly news, giving commentary about this shocking development, some of which were talking about it like as if they're experts and I could easily see the flaws in their statements. People who don't know any better have been talking about this despite a lot of them not having much knowledge over even the most basic understanding of how electronic data is constructed or accessed in different ways nor knowing what game company owns who and as a result who is responsible. I'm sorry, but I am sick and damn tired of people who don't know much about games or anything electronic opening their fat mouths and acting like they know everything. Why do we even listen to these stupid people? They help nothing!
The whole nudity in Oblivion thing is no different a case as in the know-nothing bozos or know-very-little bozos who try to comment on it. I can understand Hot Coffee, Take Two owns Rockstar Games, and should have handled it better. But in the case of Oblivion and Bethesda, the same rule does not apply. I don't understand all the playa hatin', so to speak, against Take Two. It seems like everybody is too quick to jump the gun and get on their bash the corrupt-our-children games and the evil, sadistic, demon spawned companies Take Two and Rockstar Games :(
Sorry if this sounded like a flame, but dammit I had to say something!
All the modder did was "unglue" the underwear from the models. Everybody is going on how Bethesda shouldn't be held repsonsible for content added by modders, but BETHESDA PUT THE NUDITY IN THE ART RESOURCES. The modder did not add any art work to the game.
That in and of itself is not a reason to rerate the game, since it was locked out from the factory. But people also need to realize that there is a second reason it got rerated and that one is a perfectly reasonable one.
Good point TwistedFate, but I'm more concerned about the specific hatred going towards Take Two. You know fully well that Take Two is taking the most heat for sexual content in games. Meanwhile Eidos Interactive, the publishers of the infamous Tomb Raider games, and the new developers, Crystal Dynamics, does the same shit with Tomb Raider Legend and gets off scott free. Did you hear about that one?
Apparently a couple of days after Eidos released TRL in Europe, some European gamers apparently found a nude female skin within the games files, more specifically the PC version. It didn't show in-game though. In a location in the game, more specifically Japan, there are some exotic dancers you get to see in the backgrounds and apparently in order to get the most realistic effect and as easily on the dancers as possible CD, first drew them as naked and draped clothes on them afterwards and they were never meant to be seen nude. Same exact shit but a different company. Eidos Interactive is OK in publishing something like this apparently, but evil, satanic Take Two isn't because they publish the unholy Grand Theft Auto games. My comment about Leland Yees' response to the Oblivion nudity kind of proves this unfair, biased blacklisting of Take Two.
BTW, people tried telling Eidos to halt production of the game until they can remove the nude texture and Eidos refused. Chances are it was because it was already in production for a North American release by the time it was found out and it was a tad too late to do anything. A patch to remove the nude skin is now being offered by Eidos for the PC version while the console versions will remain untouched due to the difficulty in trying to modify them.
So Bethesda put the content in there, not the modders. Thanks for informing me of that. But my point about who to blame for this still stands. Bethesda isn't Take Twos' bitch, so to speak, and couldn't be told what to put into their game, Take Two is just the vessel through which the game starts hit shelves. Take Two is their, underline this now, CO-PUBLISHER and not their producer. It says so in the Bethesda press release in response to the ESRB rating change on their website.
As for the game being re-rated because of the violence levels, that is quite understandable and I was going to include that in my last post but forgot to. However, I do think that the mentioning of the nudity might have been used on the part of politicians to pander to middle-aged Americas' fear and also by the ESRB to blast Take Two a second time for their own publicity, as if to show how great they are. The ESRB for some reason acts like as if it can do no wrong.
BTW, let me as a quick question. Now be honest with me. What is it with people considering nudity in video games or magazines an abomination while in painting and sculptures from centuries past it's considered art? The Statue of David by 15th century artist Donatello is considered art even though it's a naked man with his naughty parts flapping in the breeze and totally uncovered, while a VG or magazine does the same and everybody wants to censor this innappropriate depiction of nudity. It may sound stupid of me to ask, but why? Any suggestions or comments? I just don't get it.
You see, I don't see anybody slamming Take Two at all for this one. Everything I've read says Bethesda did this, and Bethesda did that. Take Two may get mentioned because they are associated with the game, but reputable sources are not saying it's Take Two's problem.
As for TRL, it may a case of it doesn't have a real reason to raise a stink over it. If the ESRP rerated Oblivion and said nothing about the modder, there wouldn't be this big of a stink about it. There would be a few naysayers, but nowhere near what we have now. To me that part played less in the decision than people are making it to be. Kind of like "You know, as long as we are rerating it, let's say this was part of it". It may be to take attention away from the fact that they messed up when they rated it. It is easier to play off this kind of reaction as "people don't understand what we are trying to do" then it is to deal with "the ESRB can't do what they are supposed to be doing".
As for your question, there are people who think David IS pornographic. To make things worse there are factions who believe Donatello's David to depict him younger than 18, making it kiddie porn. The problem is who gets to decide what is art and what is porn. Different people draw the line at different points. Strict regulation is not the answer. I don't want some uptight prude telling me, an adult, what I can and cannot see. Having some guidelines, however, is perfectly fine. I don't have problems with the ESRB reating the games the way they do. It gives consumers a baseline. I don't consider it censorship, just a warning.
True TwistedFate that you may not be slamming Take Two for this, but California Assemblyman Leland Yee is. No joke! He doesn't understand the situation fully and I fear he might misinform others. People aren't that smart. Politicians have power and if you ask me are manipulative. That's my concern in regards to
Also, what you're saying is that the ESRB was using the excuse that a modder put that stuff in as a form of ass-covering for their own lack of ability to do their damn job and analyze the game closer? They don't want to put forth any extra effort (laziness) and then when a mistake happens in regard that lack of effort they pin the blame on someone else? I agree. Totally irresponsible!
I also agree on your point that people draw different lines at different points. I just find it puzzling how many people aren't against nudity in classical art but are against it modern art. It's a bit baffling. I also happen to be of the opinion that strict regulation and censorship is not the answer. A few guidelines wouldn't hurt so that either side of an issue doesn't get out of control, gain too much power or gets' misinformed, but the censorship itself isn't the answer in regards to regulation. Discussion panels of different kinds, university studies or classes in video game content and its' significance, more positive PR from game developers, etc. is the answer. Censorship doesn't make us any better because it keeps us from learning. We can't learn if the material isn't there to learn from. This is why I distrust a fair share our nations' politicians, because I think they want to keep us stupid so that we're easy prey to their schemes to get votes and they try for censorship to leave us in the dark over certain issues. Am I wrong? Am I being a bit paranoid? I mean Hitler had massive book burning piles to help keep people stupid and in line with what he considered appropriate, now didn't he?
As I've said here before "knowledge will set you free and ignorance will leave you in your own little world of misinformation".
Unfinished last sentence of the first paragraph. It should say "That's my concern in regards to Take Two". Sorry about that!
I almost agree completely. The part I have a problem with is I think the ESRB, in general, does a good job. They just made a mistake. Was it their fault or Bethesdas? Who knows. What you call lazy I call "too much to do and not enough people" They cannot play every game all the way through before they get released to see everything that is included. They have to rely on the information they get from the developers. Essentially that information goes through 2 filters before it gets rated. The developers impression of what they have in it and the ESRB reviewers impression of what the developer said. THe ESRB rarely actually plays the game. They have video of gameplay to judge it on. They also don't have an official committee of reviewers. They use a 2-3 person "focus group" type of comittee of real people. These people view the movies and read what the developers send in and decide what the rating should be. Not the best system IMHO, but with everything they have to look at I can't come up with up something better.
If we force the ESRB to play every game then games will get shorter as the publishers won't want to keep games sitting around waiting for the play test to get rated. We get buggy games all the time because publishers push developers to release quickly, it would happen here too.
You're right. I wasn't necessarily taking into consideration the staffing level of the ESRB being a factor in how well they can rate games based on the content. There are thousands of games that get made each year and only so many people at the ESRB to look them over. They're very descriptive in regards to specific content descriptors that get printed on the game box so it's a very reliable system, but there are too many games to rate that they can't always get everything right. A good solution is that they need more staff at the ESRB and not to limit it to just 2 or 3 people. With a group that small, there's no doubt a possibility of commiting a mistake in evaluation of content. Maybe a group of a dozen or so people, some with at least some basical technical knowledge of how games are thrown together to avoid another "Coffegate". The ESRB is an informative organization but is still relatively inefficient and could be used for much more than it is now.
I also would not want games to get shorter than they already are because the ESRB people who rate them can't play them all due to time constraints. Hell, Tomb Raider Legend is only supposed to be ten hours long as it is!
And yes, buggy games do ruin the experience for me too. I got more than enough of those!
"Everybody is going on how Bethesda shouldn't be held repsonsible for content added by modders, but BETHESDA PUT THE NUDITY IN THE ART RESOURCES. The modder did not add any art work to the game."
I'm sorry twistedfate, but what you just said was retarded. I don't care what Bethesda put in the game, this is not their fault and they shouldn't be put to blame. Again, the ONLY way to access this is to break into the game and change stuff... Bethesda NEVER had a way for a model to become naked through normal means of playing the game, therefore, this should not be held against them.
Maybe you should learn to read the whole post before you start quoting out of context.
"That in and of itself is not a reason to rerate the game, since it was locked out from the factory. But people also need to realize that there is a second reason it got rerated and that one is a perfectly reasonable one."
But let's see what "retarded" things you've had to say on the topic.
"The god damn game was perfectly fine and was only determined to be fit for an M rating after someone MODIFIED the game in a way that was never intended."
The game was rerated after it was determined that blood and gore beyond that of a Teen rating were present in the game. The games are identical in content and if the 360 version gets re-rated for that, then it applies to the PC version as well. So aside from this mod it needed to be re-rated. Take the mod out of the picture and it still gets re-rated. Now, if you bothered to actually read what was being said in the later exchanges, you would know my feelings on the matter and why it is such an issue.
I commented on the first reason and that only because the second (too much blood argument) I believe is complete bs. Seems funny to me how the minute the game's modified to have topless women its also found to have more blood and gore than a teen game should.
So if you ask me, it was re-rated because of the mod and that's not Bethesda's fault at all.
Of course the mod isn't Bethesdas fault. No one is arguing that. People are saying that the mod added the artwork, and that is just not true. The game shipped with the artwork. That's my point.
As for the blood being a BS reason, then why isn't TRL being rerated? It has the same flaw as Oblivion with the nude characters. The mod is the BS reason to me. Just a way for the ESRB to shift the blame that they dropped the ball on this one. ESRB comes under a lot of fire for somethings and this one is one they could redirect that fire because they know people would react the way you did and ignore the fact that a mistake was made in the original rating.
Now that TwistedFate has mentioned it, why hasn't TRL been re-rated as result of hidden nude textures but Oblivion which suffers from the same has? My best guess is because Eidos Interactive, publishers of the TR series, aren't as much in the media spotlight as public enemy #1, the evil Take Two and Rockstar Games are, so the media pundits and politicians will go after the one that is more controversial, more talked about, and more popular because it gives themselves more attention. Just think of it from the average non-gamers standpoint, which is usually their target audience. Ask the average non-gamer who Crystal Dynamics is and I'll be willing to bet they'll go blank and say "Who?" not knowing who they are but if you ask them who Rockstar Games is they'll instantly say "Grand Theft Auto" or "Max Payne". The fact is that in the eyes of the mass audience Rockstar Games is more of a recognized name while Crystal Dynamics is lesser known. Not a bad company by any means, just lesser known.
So when a politician, parent, news anchor, or anything else wants to find the most popular whipping boy, in regards to video games they choose the company that's better known. I mean seriously, if a game by Eidos or CD is made and its' found they put dirty game content in there the majority of people, I'm still talking about the non-gamers, wouldn't give two shits about it since they probably don't know what games they make as versus to Rockstar Games where they think instantaneously of Grand Theft Auto or Max Payne. This is why TRL isn't being re-rated is because the developer and/or publisher behind isn't as well known as that of GTA or Oblivion. T2 and R* is target number one, not Eidos and CD.
I know that you're probably going to say Eidos' 25 to Life, but I think the only reason why that game became controversial is because it was an obviously cheap, watered-down game in the same caliber as GTA, which is the bigger target. I mean come on. 25 to Life, just like GTA:SA, has a ghetto gangsta as the main character, you shoot massive lines of police officers, you jack cars, has assloads of hip hop music, and yada yada yada (yes I watch Seinfeld lol). If 25 to Life was a game that was about violence in medieval dungeons it probably wouldn't have been as well known as it was. It was just shocking because of the controversial aftermath of violent urban ghetto themed games that GTA help get started for every cheap clone that would follow.
Your comments make the huge assumption that the ESRB is in bed with these politicians. This makes no sense, whatsoever. If they were trying to help these anti-gaming politicians then they would be working towards eliminating their jobs.
What does the ESRB have to gain from targeting Take Two. Yee is one man. He is the only one blaming Take Two for the Bethesda incident. If the ESRB was part of it they would be targeting Take Two as well.
No offense, but I think you are stretching this political conspiracy thing a wee bit thin.
I'm not necessarily trying to say that the ESRB and the government are working that close to one another. I'm just saying that they tend to have one thing in common, the bashing of Take Two. They both make it look like as if T2 wants to corrupt our children and is trying to misinform people, which might not be entirely untrue, but at the same time I wouldn't necessarily say they are on the same side, despite sharing a general dislike for the poor PR of T2. Sorry it was a poor arrangement of sentences and paragraphs on my part and I should have made it more clear. That was my fault. I'm not that good when it comes to writing a clear comment.
As for what the ESRB could gain from this, I think it's for good PR. As it is, it seems like almost everyone in the game industry has to deal with a bad image problem to the general public. EA and it's overtaking of other developing companies and their games, T2 with Hot Coffee and financial woes, game violence inspiring school shootings, game sex offending parents, need I go on? I think the ESRB, although being funded by the game industry itself, may be trying to steer clear of the anti-game fire by saying how much they're trying to help inform parents of what's going on with game content and trying to show they're good people, which I'm sure they are, but the positive publicity wouldn't hurt them, now would it? It would suck to be seen as one of the bad parts of the supposedly evil game industry.
The government happens to be doing the same thing only it seems like these politicians do it for favor from eligible voters and the general public by showing how much for the American people they are, which I wouldn't doubt either. Neither the government (most of it that is)and the ESRB are bad people, they do have good intentions I think, but I can't help but think that there is a little something in it for them off to the side. I'm talking about a good image for themselves, not some sort of conspiracy theory of money, bribes, and other underhanded things.
As for Yee, he may be the only one targeting Take Two, but remember this. He, along with JBT and Senators Clinton and Lieberman were the main people behind the mess known as Hot Coffee. He was one of the people who introduced it to the non-gaming community. My concern is that with him being biased against T2 as a result (kinda obvious) coupled with his lack of knowledge over the fact that T2 ISN'T to blame he could possibly misinform people who listen to him.
After Coffeegate, it goes without saying that T2 is being watched for sexual content in their games by just about everyone and that if this problem with Oblivion nudity gets out to the news organizations or anyone else, then we could start seeing another Hot Coffee because there are more than enough of those against T2 already. I don't think Yee is a bad man, just a tad misguided. He's making a big mistake in his information and I fear that mistake might become bigger. If it doesn't then I will retract some of my previous statements.
I'm sorry if I think everybody is targeting T2 over this incident specifically at the moment, because I know that they're aren't. I just have a hunch that T2 may or may not take some heat for this considering their already bad rep. T2, it seems to me, now has a lot more dislike geared towards them and how they do things than even EA does and that is saying something!
BTW, how did you come upon me talking about some conspiracy? I know I may distrust the government and politicians and have a little bit of distrust for the ESRB, but if you ask me you went a little bit too much on the extreme of what I was trying to point out. I mean no offense to you either. Good vibes, man, good vibes is what I want!
Also, did EA really lose the James Bond license to Activision? I didn't know that!
Okay, that sounds reasonable to me.
As for the conspiracy thing, just a little hyperbole on my part.
Well damn, everybody makes mistakes. I make more than enough of my own. It's all good! :)
Haha, Hawkes, I need to crank out a roundup pretty soon. Haven't done one in a while. You should've done more that night. :-P
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