DigitalBattle.com

While some people were huddling in the brisk Autumnl weather (or less brisk depending on where you live) waiting to get your hands on a copy of Fallout 3 the ESRB was issuing an order to Bethesda telling them that some of their trailers were in violation of the ESRB’s advertising guidelines. Bethesda had to contact various websites and tell them to take down the trailers for the game.

Not only does the ESRB issue the content ratings you see on the stickers so prominently displayed on game packaging, they also police the content of advertisements. There was some content in trailers that the ESRB found objectionable, most likely a slow-motion shot of an enemy’s head exploding in a spray of blood and gore.

This has happened in the past, but whether the trailer being pulled will affect sales so close to the game’s launch or if good reviews and word of mouth will take over the publicity burden is a question for history.