t3h w31rd: June 17th, 2007
Ladies and gents, your weekly reminder that the gaming industry is FUBAR has returned. And boy do we have a segment lined up for you all! From Oblivion getting a ratings change, to the London Police hoping Second Life aids in the search for a missing child, these are the stories that you may not have heard about.
Ladies and gents, this is “t3h w31rd”.
ESRB Re-Rates Oblivion “M” — Because of Fan-Made Content
There has always been a bit of a debate going on regarding the use of the games rating system in regards to games that can easily incorporate fan-made content. This debate was sparked, intentionally or not, when a European hacker discovered some discarded code inside Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas that allowed the main character to engage in sexual acts with an assortment of girlfriends throughout the game. This became the “Hot Coffee” mod, and the backlash from it is still felt by the gaming industry to this day.
Back in May of 2006, Bethesda was forced to recall and re-label all copies of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion because of a fan-made modification that rendered all the females in the game to be topless. Here is where the shady area is: Unlike Hot Coffee, which just activated code within the game, this modification for Oblivion was completely fan-made. Bethesda had nothing to do with this.
This raises quite the interesting question: Where does the ESRB’s authority end? Should they be allowed to force a recall on a game because of the optional content regular people make for it? If this was the case, many, many other games would have to be M-Rated. I’ve seen more nude mods for Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force than I ever have for Oblivion.
Where do you think the industry should draw the line, is all I’m askin’.
Hunt for Missing Child Reaches Second Life
British Police, completely baffled by the disappearance of a young girl in Portugal some six weeks ago, have turned to Second Life in hopes of finding her.
A UK-based child protection law enforcement organization has said that they have begun posting wanted posters with the child’s name on them, in hopes that one of the many frequenters of the game world has seen the child.
This reach for help is only the latest in a series of moves by the child’s family as they go on a multi-national tour in hopes of finding their child. They’ve traveled through Morocco, Spain, Portugal and Amsterdam as they try to publicize their daughter’s disappearance, and even have gone so far as to speak with the Pope.
We here at X360R can only wish the best for this family.
Billy Mitchell Gets Owned By a 13 Year-Old
Anyone who has ever met Billy Mitchell in person can attest to the fact that he, Billy Mitchell, seems to come off as a bit of a pompous douche bag. In all his interviews, in all the sit-down specials… he just doesn’t seem very likable. So I report this with a shit-eatin’ grin on my face.
Billy Mitchell got his “1st Ever Perfect Game” ass kicked by a kid not old enough to watch an R-rated movie. After the first round, the thirteen year old, James Rodgers, was in 2nd place while Mitchell, arguably the world’s greatest Pac-Man player, was in a distant 7th, nearly 120,000 points behind. By the end of the competition, James, the 13 year-old, finished Sixth while Mitchell finished 8th.
Sure, there is no point to this, but… I don’t like Billy Mitchell. He’s an overrated relic of arcade days gone by, and his hot sauce sucks.
And finally…
The People’s Mario!
Here you go, ladies and gentlemen — an untra-bloody Soviet take on Super Mario. It’s a blend of Anime, Gaming Nostalga, and Communism. Enjoy.
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