And this wasn't controversial... why?

[lacktheknack]

So, I've gotten REEEEALLY into Daggerfall... the best Elder Scrolls game by a mile, thus far.

But I had a bit of a shock when I made a female wood elf, and in-game I put on a new top I'd found. "Eh, I don't like it, I'll just put it back in the inventory and put on the ol- uhmm, wha- ZOMGWTFBBQ!"

So there she was, standing there, breasts lovingly recreated pixel by pixel. I get that this game is rated M, but it still wasn't expected. It gives the role-playing a new option, though... (INNUENDOS HERE WILL BE SHOT.)

And even further along, I walk into the temple of Time, I think, and I walk into the secondary chamber, and HOLY COW WHY ARE THERE NAKED WOMEN EVERYWHERE!?

Even better, I walk into the Temple of Dibella (Goddess of Beauty) and wouldn't you know it, EVER GIRL... AND GUY... WAS NAKED. All the girls permanently had their back to me, but every time they looked back at me and winked, their breasts did physically impossible things...

I could go on, with the stripping women in the tavern bedrooms, the random magician chicks in homes with half a shirt, the two-strip armors of the female bandits...

Now, while I understand that the pixels are large enough that they couldn't (or just didn't try to) define male or female genitalia, did I miss some controversy? I mean, they basically depicted STRIPPING CHURCHES. They just let that slide?

And for discussion, any material in a game you played that you can't believe was ignored by the media?

 

[SovietSecrets]

Reminds me of just one giant nudist colony, so doesn't seem that bad to me.

 

[lacktheknack]

Reminds me of just one giant nudist colony, so doesn't seem that bad to me.

This was 1996... Doesn't seem like the most forgiving decade for this kind of thing.

 

[godofallu]

It was ignored because it's just titties. They are in basically every rated r movie anyways.

Hell when I was a kid our elementary school let us read National Geographic and that even had titties.

 

[Meggiepants]

Hell, the whole Leisure Suit Larry series was pretty much ignored by the media when those came out, and the goal of the games was to get laid. And they also had nudity. Of course, at that time, nudity consisted of a few pixels, but they had it.

I can't say I was surprised they ignored it. I am surprised they care about it now. With as much nudity and violence you can see on T.V. and in the movies, why the hell do they care about video game side boob? I mean, PG-13 allows topless women, albeit only for a few seconds, and no one gives a shit. Why does it matter if a game has side boob?

 

[Archemetis]

Tits have appeared on page three of my newspaper since long before I know...
In fact I'm fairly certain they've been appearing in my newspaper since before I was born.

Tits are more or less just a feature now days, they're not controversial.

 

[lacktheknack]

It was ignored because it's just titties. They are in basically every rated r movie anyways.

Hell when I was a kid our elementary school let us read National Geographic and that even had titties.

Imagine the ruckus, though, if Oblivion pulled this. Even if it was just breasts, the media wouldn't shut up about it for weeks.

Oh, wait.

 

[lacktheknack]

Hell, the whole Leisure Suit Larry series was pretty much ignored by the media when those came out, and the goal of the games was to get laid. And they also had nudity. Of course, at that time, nudity consisted of a few pixels, but they had it.

I can't say I was surprised they ignored it. I am surprised they care about it now. With as much nudity and violence you can see on T.V. and in the movies, why the hell do they care about video game side boob? I mean, PG-13 allows topless women, albeit only for a few seconds, and no one gives a shit. Why does it matter if a game has side boob?

They aren't side boobs. Your character can run through the entire game with their nipples and clitoris exposed, if she so desires. And if you don't, about 5000 NPCs will.

THAT'S why I'm surprised it wasn't villainized.

 

[lacktheknack]

As for your last question, I've never played the game personally but: Rapelay.

I wouldn't say that it was "ignored", per se.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

Hell, the whole Leisure Suit Larry series was pretty much ignored by the media when those came out, and the goal of the games was to get laid. And they also had nudity. Of course, at that time, nudity consisted of a few pixels, but they had it.

I can't say I was surprised they ignored it. I am surprised they care about it now. With as much nudity and violence you can see on T.V. and in the movies, why the hell do they care about video game side boob? I mean, PG-13 allows topless women, albeit only for a few seconds, and no one gives a shit. Why does it matter if a game has side boob?

They aren't side boobs. Your character can run through the entire game with their nipples and clitoris exposed, if she so desires. And if you don't, about 5000 NPCs will.

THAT'S why I'm surprised it wasn't villainized.

I'd suspect the reason was simply that the wrong sort of people didn't know about it.

 

[Meggiepants]

Hell, the whole Leisure Suit Larry series was pretty much ignored by the media when those came out, and the goal of the games was to get laid. And they also had nudity. Of course, at that time, nudity consisted of a few pixels, but they had it.

I can't say I was surprised they ignored it. I am surprised they care about it now. With as much nudity and violence you can see on T.V. and in the movies, why the hell do they care about video game side boob? I mean, PG-13 allows topless women, albeit only for a few seconds, and no one gives a shit. Why does it matter if a game has side boob?

They aren't side boobs. Your character can run through the entire game with their nipples and clitoris exposed, if she so desires. And if you don't, about 5000 NPCs will.

THAT'S why I'm surprised it wasn't villainized.

I should clarify, when I say the media was scandalized by side boob, I'm referring to Mass Effect, not the Elder Scrolls game you mention.

And I hate to say this, but it seems to me that when the 24 hour news cycle became popular, so did this "Video games are scandalous!" kind of story. I have a feeling that if 24 hour news were around when these games came out, we'd have a similar problem. When you have 24 hours to fill, you always need some kind of stupid scandal.

 

[PrototypeC]

You guys don't seem to be taking the question seriously; since when would the anti-gaming media say, "it's only tits, I've been seeing those for years"? Mass Effect had less nudity than a box of Lucky Charms, but that didn't stop them from tearing it a new a-hole.

I think the only reason that one got through was that nobody had heard of it. Well, the anti-gaming media anyway. Lemme try to think of a controversial game that got under the radar.

 

[lacktheknack]

Well, if I remember correctly that whole stink with the blood in Mortal Kombat on the Sega Genesis took place before 1996. Remember, the SNES version had no blood and the Gen version did.

1996 is when the N64 came out so I am guessing all that stuff was happening in 1994 or 1995, during the 16 bit era. That's also when the ESRB was created.

So yeah, they were on that "video games are bad for kids" kick well before 1996. Probably didn't affect PC games though.

Yeah, but... why?

 

[lacktheknack]

Well, if I remember correctly that whole stink with the blood in Mortal Kombat on the Sega Genesis took place before 1996. Remember, the SNES version had no blood and the Gen version did.

1996 is when the N64 came out so I am guessing all that stuff was happening in 1994 or 1995, during the 16 bit era. That's also when the ESRB was created.

So yeah, they were on that "video games are bad for kids" kick well before 1996. Probably didn't affect PC games though.

Yeah, but... why?

I dunno, ask the ESRB.

I meant "Why didn't it affect PC games".

 

[Eumersian]

Compare it to pre-code Hollywood. Gaming back then was like that.