GameTrailers Editors Rail On ESRB Over Fallout 3 Fallout

Of all the smacktalk that goes on in the video game industry, we didn't expect these two parties to have a go at each other. Between developers, studio heads and console manufacturers — and occasionally community director versus producer — there's plenty of fodder for mudslinging fun. The most recent episode of GameTrailers' "Invisible Walls" podcast, however, is just kind of a bum out. It touches on a recent request from the ESRB to various media outlets, including GameTrailers, that they pull any and all Fallout 3 trailers. In GameTrailers case, that means even stuff the MTV-owned media outlet creates, not just the stuff Bethesda Softworks provides.GameTrailers editor-in-chief Shane Satterfield, perhaps still a bit sore over the unusual request, likens the ESRB to "the frickin' Mafia," saying on the video podcast the ratings board's actions are part of a "power trip." His partner in podcasting "Grumpy" is a little less diplomatic (and far more wordy), saying "They are a body made up of unqualified nincompoops. Unfortunately, they're taking the nanny state to the nth degree. They make the FCC look like a bunch of broad-minded, non-censorship individuals." The only reasoning provided by the ratings board was that the Fallout 3 content should be pulled “in connection with ESRB's advertising guidelines." Print ads for Fallout 3 were pulled earlier in the year amid concerns that seeing Washington DC destroyed by a nuclear disaster were, you know, scary. No confirmation from the ESRB if the potential for bed-wetting nightmares was at the cause of this particular media whitewashing. Invisible Walls - Episode 31 [GameTrailers] GameTrailers Editors Go OFF on ESRB over Fallout 3 Trailer Removal [Gamepolitics]