Common sense applied Liberally

With regards to the esrbs rating systems and methodology of choosing their ratings, supposedly all content is to be passed by the esrb before ratings are chosen. The current "scandal" is Bethesda softwares Oblivion nude mod. It is the main rationale for the esrb bumping the rate up from a t to an m. I believe that the developer did release all information that they had available. I cannot comprehend that something as simple as a method for creating characters that involves nude modeling would have been something that would have required the esrbs notification.

In view of the mod, if there were something that would have been lude, or something of an adult nature of content, then there would have been more of a reason to make it known to the current ratings standard. As it is, the mod appears to be applicable to the upper torso of the female skin. Should Bethesda software be subjected to this negative publicity when the actual content was altered by an individual outside the company? Is there a reason why Bethesda is not seeking out the individual responsible and pressing charges?

Much attention is going to be drawn to this topic and more only fueling the fire between public responsibility and manufacturer responsibility. The true topic that I feel is going to be overlooked is the very fact that most will alter any type of code that they have access to. This is a form of political and societal protestation. There is no way to prevent a game from being altered, no lock that cannot be picked. We are already seeing examples of the xbox 360 being hacked already with less than a years shelf time.

Another example is the Battlefield 2 patch/mod made by terrorist organization. As much as it pains the general populace to see these things going on, and as much as we want these items to cease existing, there will never be a way to stop these hackers. When do we state that the developers responsibility stops here and the action taken is solely the responsibility of an individual that is outside of the corporate sphere of responsibiliy?

There will more than likely be more items of this nature to come in the future before we see less. As much as those that do these acts view themselves as anti-heroes or speaking out politically through their modifications to someone elses work, its done for one reason and one reason alone, attention. It is not the individuals that will be forced to pay the price for their transgressions, but the corporations that have made the very platforms that these actions take place on.

I find it amusing personally that the violence that these games have contained in them were not the reason for the advancement in the games software rating, but rather the biological human physique that did it. Those in power seem to find it easier to accept violent motifes rather than physical structure yet the crimes that take place that are usually attributed to violence within video games rather than physical attributes of the human body. Are we focusing on the wrong field within the gaming community? Are language and nudity more of a reason to penalize rather than violence? If it is than Id like to hear an arguement against mine supporting this. Ive emailed a copy of this letter to the esrb and am waiting a notification though Im not holding my breath.