Let's face it. This isn't about games anymore.

I'd just like to thank the ESRB for stepping up and saying what nobody else has the balls to say. Until we can learn to make unhackable code, it should be illegal to buy games.

If you've already heard me bitch about the GTA:Hot Coffee mod, feel free to skip the next paragraph. After that, I get into today's news.

See, there was a really great game that was full of violence and sexual innuendo. That game got a 'T' rating. Then, a hacker found a way to open up a sub-game, which allowed players to alter the game experience and make it more sexy. Somehow, killing is rated 'T' but sex is rated 'M', so even though the players had to deliberately choose to alter their games, the ESRB blamed the developer, and did incredible damage to their company by retroactively changing their rating.

Now, they're up to it again. The hugely successful MMORP Oblivion got hit today with a retroactive rating of 'M' when the ESRB found out that you could install a nude skin patch to the game. As we speak, Wal-Mart is pulling the games off the shelves, so that it can be a clean and family-friendly place to buy groceries, clothes, liquor and guns.

Again, the issue at fault is a third-party patch, and again we blame the developers. I can't imagine how sad and impotent those guys at the ESRB feel, that they have to keep striking at people just to prove their relevance.

You know, most studys show that parents don't even look at the ratings? Really, the only people who look at it are the big retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, and Best Buy. So that means the ESRB has only one power, which is to arbitrarily deny publishers from being sold in the largest venues.

How long will it be before we start seeing stories about how Blizzard paid the ESRB to kill Oblivion, or how EA is giving them huge money to look the other way?