Alright, well, I'm an American, and I find our culture to be ridiculous. There, now someone from your own culture has confirmed that we are indeed backwards.

Racism is a facet of culture, does that mean that nobody outside of a racist group should criticize or question them, because that's their culture? NOTHING, especially culture, is beyond criticism and questioning.

How are the beheadings gory at all. There's not even blood.

And watching a game where you hack people up is escapism, but nudity can make you want to behave in a sixual way.

I'm fine with not having nudity in the game.

Did these cultures have AIDS, syphilis and viral hepatitus? No.
Aren't decisiveness in the face of enemy and hatred for enemies considered strongly positive qualities in our cultures? Yes they are.

America allows nudity in games with no problems (God of War, Dantes inferno, etc), yet just because their culture doesn't allow pervasive or overly sixualized nudity makes them backwards and ridiculous? Interesting. (yes, I know America is more lenient towards violence, but I'm still not seeing the huge contradiction. Just because one thing is allowed means everything should be allowed? I don't follow that mindset.)


Lets get serious here though. I think the cultural crusaders can find a better cause to get outraged about than Americans not liking vast quantities of nudity in their video games.

This

Considering the puzzles are made for five year olds and the game almost have no real dialogue I'm surprised it even needs a rating.

Oblivion was originally rated M,then moved down to T(13), Skyrim is rated M (17).

I still don't understand the stigma of nudity and sixuality here in America. It is natural,we are supposed to be attracted to it, it is in our make up. I believe it is because this country was founded Christian and the values of Christians stuck.

Because game ratings are stupid. Companies should ignore them.

Why exclude nudity, and not violence? That's the point. It's silly to assert that virtually killing someone is better than seeing a virtual naked body. Nudity != six, or sixuality. Stop making that leap.
Nobody is saying everything should be allowed, just that things not be excluded based on absurd moral grounds.

Btw, who ever said that America is backwards and ridiculous ONLY for these reasons? That's another huge leap you're making.

Way back, 30 or so years, when Page 3 was the only general exception to the official UK prudishness and movies such as Driller Killer and Texas Chainsaw Massacre were outright banned, I remember seeing decapitations and hangings on TV! Historical drama; Henry the 8th, French Revolution, even just general period pieces - I remember one about Casanova, ooh la la - were allowed a certain leeway. It makes sense, a society which censors history is built on a very slippery slope. So, decapitations, especially when officially sanctioned executions, have a historical precedence. I see no reason for alarm.

Gratuitous violence, especially stylistically gratuitous violence and especially when rendered in slow motion is a different matter. When there are a dozen different ways to maim a person, or a sufficiently realistic rendition there of, all animated in intricate detail then one must question if the violence itself is pormographic - it exists to satisfy the lust for blood. While some do find such a level of violence objectionable I do not think it is generally harmful, this is a video game after all and no one in their right mind or of sufficient maturity is going to realise darker aspects of such in real life. The same comment can of course be applied to sixual pormography and it's interesting to see how standards have changed over the brief history of video games and how game developers have adjusted their products to comply.

Ted Peterson, lead designer of Daggerfall made this comment:


Daggerfall: one of the top ten worst corrupter's of children. I don't remember seeing that on the box art and this was only 16 years ago. Okay, a life time for some of you but trust me, not all that ancient really.

So, how has the series changed in response to that damming indictment? Well, the levels of graphical fidelity and violence have gone through the roof. No more 'tink, tink, tink, argh' - that was Dagerfall combat for anyone who missed it - we have visceral, slow-mo, disembowelment replete with blood splatter on the invisible sheet of glass that apparently sits over the player characters face. And nudity? I think the progression of Bioware romance best sums up the typical attitude of western developers towards nudity and six in video games: http://www.i2net.me.uk/files/Pics/EvolutionBiowareRomance.png

tl;dr
Look at the pic at least, one of my favourites and took me some time to hunt down

That's because ratings are a joke - What kid didn't play Mortal Kombat in their adolescence?

Seriously - Violence isn't worth an M-rating.



People are hardwired toward violence from an early age - As we get older, we become more intolerant of violence.

Decapitation was probably included just to earn the M rating. I'm sure it sells more games.

For OP

Its rated M for mature by ESRB which is 17+ last allowed rating till it cannot be sold on the open market at least in the US. PEGI usually rates games better in a way Skyrim is in no position to take a M rating but it did more realistic artistic style shouldn't have an effect for a game. Blood and gore and few subjective terms are the only "mature" content in the game.

As for the Oblivion rating for US, it changed because ESRB found pictures of the dead guy from the DB that was murdered hanging from the ceiling. Both contained blood and gore, when ESRB was investigating such they found a complete nvde texture on the disk not from mods but on the disk itself (each disk) which ensured it to be a rated M game.


Actually it doesn't only thing that sells games is promotion nothing more nothing less. Ratings means as much as GOTY these days absolutely nothing unless you want it to.

That never gets old. It's funny because it's true, and the bottom panel is absolutely adorable

Well, it's rated M (17+) here in the US, which is a high as you can get without being rated AO.

The game is rated M for Mature and was made for and marketed to kids who want to be UBER LEET WARRIORS. How is this news?

or maybe that every thing needs to be desensitized so children will be used to the things they will see when they grow up.
lets agree to disagree

Im american and i love nudity lol

Yes, but M means 17 I think in America. If you are Offended by a game then you should obviously not be playing it. Games have ratings just for legal reasons. Parents might not want to have their kids go watch a rated R movie so movie theaters will respect their wishes and not let them in. Same with a video game. But since when has a rating stopped people from watching or playing or purchasing. Long time.

Cheers. Post milestone.

If ratings were regional the West Coast and Northeast wouldn't be rated "M". Its the flyover states that get all wound up over a little blood or boobs.

in the united states its rated M because of blood and violence.

I'm pretty sure only games with explicit sixual content(i.e. boobs) get an M rating.

Since when has a pair of boobs been considered explicit sixual content!? That is ridiculous in the extreme.

Killing all the annoyingly arrogant little kids is the first thing I'll do when I get my hands on the CK.