"In a preview of the game, I mentioned that for Oblivion to succeed on mobile, it would need to invoke the essence of the console/PC game. The final version, which I downloaded from Verizon last week on a VX8000, I believe does just that. It's not just including locations, classes, and monsters from the 360 game that does it (but it certainly helps), but it delivers the easy swordplay, familiar-looking menus, and a seemingly similar storyline."

Bethesda Softworks Response to the ESRB Rating Change for
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

May 3, 2006 (Rockville, MD) - 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.

We are proud to announce Oblivion Portals first mod review for our readers! This week we review ( test might be a more fitting word in this case ) Max Taels mod Natural Environments. As you could read above Natural Environemnts offer's a different weather system along with new water effects and gives you a different atmosphere compared to the original version of Oblivion. Natural Environments also includes new sky textures.

Let's get this going!

Now we'll take a look at some comparsion screenshots to really see the difference between the original version of Oblivion, and Oblivion with Natural Environments installed.

Here we can clearly see the difference! The sky has a darker tone and the world looks less bleak with NE installed. Also note the incredible water, with NE the water looks less plastic and the opacity of it is much more realistic.

What an improvement! Bad weater has never been this beautifull before! As you can see NE makes the world slightly darker during rainy days, but in return you get rid of the ugly grey tones. The view distance is also improved and you can clearly see the horizon.

And I who already thought that Skingrad was a bit too foggy and grey! In this case NE makes it even worse.

Stunningly beautiful! Tamriel feels much warmer and cozy with NE installed. Note that NE only replaces the sky textures, all the other textures are the original ones. It's the new and improved weather system that adds the more vibrant colours to the world.

The HDR doesn't seem to be that very intense with NE installed. The sky is a lot darker and the water reflections of the sun is not as impressive, but in return the water reflections with NE are far more realistic, less plastic!

What a difference! NE's sunsets are darker, and in this case more orange. Less fantasy and more realism in my opinion.

Definitely better. The greytones has been reduced and the horizon is much more visible. With NE the night's are dark instead of grey, wich is a big plus!

The forests are a bit darker, especially the green tones. Somehow this makes the forests feel a bit more dense and cozy!

I had a hard time rating this mod, the reason? Well, Natural Environments isn't really one mod, it's three mods! The thing that make's Natural Environments such an excellent mod is that the player can choose wich features he/she wants! Natural Environments has two ESP files, one for the new weather system, and one for the new water effects. You can also choose if you want to use the new sky textures by simply add, or not add them to your textures folder! I recommend this mod to everyone who want's to spice up Oblivion's atmosphere with something new and different!

Pros

+ Improved water effects, such as opacity and reflections.

+ The player can choose wich fatures he/she want's to use.

+ Better view distance during rainy weather and night-time by reducing the greytones in exterior cells.

+ Usage of  vibrant colours wich makes Tamriel a more warm and beautiful place!

+ Three mods in one! 

Cons

I think it's up to the readers to decide what's bad, because as I said, it's all about personal taste.

There we go! Oblivion Portal's first mod review/test! If you have any suggestions, opinions or questions email me or use the comment section.

If you have a candidate for the next weeks Mod of the Week, email me or use the comment section.

Graphics settings used:

Eveything where set to maximum exept for exterior shadows who where completely turned off. HDR was enabled. 

Other modifications used in this test:

Landscape LOD Texture Replacement by Shaja.

Note: Monitor settings such as gamma or brightness have a big impact on Natural Environments. A lot of people might not see a big difference between the original version of Oblivion, and Oblivion with Natural Environments installed and/or in the screenshots used in the review/test. The result totally depends on what kind of a monitor you have, and how it's configured.

Erik Deitrick
Programmer
"I worked on interface and mini-games, and I'm very happy with how the lock picking turned out. It's fun right out of the box, and even after 200 hours of playing, even though I'm very good at it, I still have to pay attention or I start breaking picks. Plus a lock pick in German is a "dietrich".

Orin Tresnjak
Programmer
"I joined the company very late in the development of Oblivion, just after E3; I did odd jobs at first, and soon ended up taking over the distant level of detail system - that's the system that allows us to store and render a simplified version of the world out to incredible distances. So that's definitely what I'm most proud of - although it's a fairly simple mechanism, it really adds a sense of scale to the game and contributes to its distinctive look. There's just something beautiful about seeing Bruma clinging to the mountainside from miles away, or seeing the spire of the Imperial City from the hills near Chorrol."

Bruce Nesmith
Designer
"I was responsible for a lot of the game balance in Oblivion, both for monsters and for the economy. In virtually every game in every genre, game balance is considered to be one of the trickiest things to do well. I succeeded beyond my hopes and expectations, particularly for a game of the enormous scope and complexity of Oblivion."

"Patch/Update
We are working on a patch/update for both the PC and Xbox 360. It will address a number of issues that we have found and ones that have been reported to us and confirmed. It is our plan to first release it as a beta patch for the PC when it has cleared our initial testing cycles internally. Since it’s a beta patch you should be aware that issues may come up that we haven’t found yet and we strongly recommend you backup save games and understand it may be necessary to reinstall the game when the final patch comes out.

We are also looking into the localization issues that have come up in Europe and are working to address some of those issues. A European Patch/Update will be available after the English versions.

We’re doing both of these things as fast as we can and will let everyone know as soon as they are available.

Downloadable Content
We have been working on downloadable content since we finished the game in February, and we continue to feel this is a great avenue for us to continue to add to the Oblivion experience.

We have already announced two of them:

The Orrery
The Orrery allows you to help the Mages Guild of Cyrodiil repair the Imperial Orrery, an ancient dwarven machine with mystical properties. Bandits have stolen a shipment of parts destined for the Arcane University; if you can return them, the Orrery will function once more.

Features

* A new, full-featured quest, including dialogue, journals, and rewards
* Access to the Imperial Orrery in the Arcane University, an incredible mechanical marvel
* New powers available for your character based on the phases of the moons

The Wizards Tower
Located high in the Jeral Mountains of Cyrodiil away from prying eyes, this Wizard's Tower, Frostcrag Spire, will become available. Packed with numerous useful enhancements, this structure will prove invaluable to magic-oriented characters.

Features

* A fully detailed tower for you to explore
* A breathtaking view of Cyrodiil from the highest point in the land
* Simple furnishings including a bed for leveling up
* An indoor botanical garden with over 130 specimens... including Oblivion-native herbs!
* Summon Atronach Familiars that obey your commands
* Instant teleports to every Mages Guild in Cyrodiil
* New Spell and Recharge vendor in the Imperial City
* Fully upgrade the furnishings in your lair to suit your needs
* Upgrade to a fully functional Enchanting and Spellmaking station with no need to join Mages Guild
* Upgrade to a laboratory that buffs your Alchemy skill

We hope to have The Orrery available for purchase next week. This plugin will cost 150pts on Xbox, and $1.89 on the PC. The Horse Armor Pack has been very popular, and exceeded what we thought it would sell. Despite that, we’re still trying to find the right spot, so we’re putting a much larger plugin out for less than the last one and we'll see what happens. Your feedback as we move forward in this is invaluable. Tell us what you want to see, how much of it, and what it might be worth to you. No, don’t say you want it free, because these plugins take a surprising amount of time to create, polish, and test (much more then Morrowind's).

Finally, thank you to everyone who has supported not just Oblivion, but Bethesda Softworks over the years. Oblivion has been a tremendous success for us, and we thank you all for making that happen. We hope we continue to earn your gaming time.

Pete (and Todd)"

The people over at GameBanshee has created an equipment database for Oblivion! With over 4000 items in their database you can be sure to find out everything you need about any item, be it weapons or potions!

GameBanshee is pleased to announce the release of their massive equipment database for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.  Spanning over 4200 items, the database is the perfect tool for finding the equipment you need before charging into Oblivion.

To aid you in finding the exact item you're looking for, the database allows you to search by:

- Item Category/Type

- Armor Rating

- Damage Rating

- Item Value

- Item Health

- ANY enchantment available in the game

 

Head on over there and check it out!