Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Rated Adult Only

[Ian]

I don't know if anyone has been following the whole "hot coffee" mod thing, but politicians have been making a big stink about it. RockStar finally gave in and changed the rating from "Mature" to "Adult Only". You know, they'll probably sell even more copies now.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/fun.games/ ... index.html

You know the US is a bunch of twisted prudes when a little sex is worse than graphic killing and stealing.

[LoneWolf]

Honestly Ian, I thought this game should have been rated AO from the start. I think the "sex is worse than violence" thing should be a moot point, but I think that so many people have been ignorant so long that it took the sex to raise their antennae, they didn't even realize the violence was there.

I wouldn't let my kid (if I had one) play a game that involved the kind of violence or sex GTA:SA has. That's BEFORE the mod. Too much playing of this kind of game makes the violence or sexual activities in seem mainstream and normal, even if the graphics aren't that realistic. Same for Chronicles of Riddick for violence, and in both cases the language isn't all that hot either (ironically, you can turn off the gore in Riddick, but you can't turn off the profanity).

And yet I'd let a child of mine (past a certain age) play Doom 3, or Half-Life 2. I think there's quite a difference between the styles of these that allow someone to differentiate between real and pretend violence better, and they don't have the language issues.

I now think the ESRB is covering their butts so the government doesn't step in...but I think they should have done a better job first-time rating this game. I think Rockstar lied, but in their defense you have to not only unlock the minigame, but add nude skins to take the game all the way.

[Ian]

I totally agree. Ideally, the mature rating should prevent kids from buying it, but a lot of parents dont' care or don't know what they play.

[hoxlund]

i loaded up the hot mod as soon as it came out

and i agree with ian, violence is way worse in a game then sex

[Ian]

I guess people like Hillary Clinton need to get reelected soon. Crap l ike this usually gets them bonus points with the religious fanatics and various other nutball groups.

Go find fucking Bin Ladin or impeach Bush if you're looking for something to do!

[dolphinius_rex]

I wonder what will happen if someone releases nude patches for other games in the future. If people will start saying that the ratings system should anticipate the potential for more adult oriented content?

[LoneWolf]

I wonder what will happen if someone releases nude patches for other games in the future. If people will start saying that the ratings system should anticipate the potential for more adult oriented content?

This has already happened in the past. Best example I can think of is "Nude Raider" the patch to the original Tomb Raider. I think a similar patch was made to TR:2.

The difference in this case is that the patch unlocks content already existing in the game. Tomb Raider had to be more heavily modified; there was no preexisting sexual content (unless you count Lara Croft's clothed polygonal body, I suppose). In the case of GTA:SA, there are two pieces to the unlock (as I understand it, haven't felt the need to try it out). The unlock opens up content already in the game. If you just use this, the sex scenes will be there but with fully clothed characters. A second patch adds nude skins on top of the game.

It's a tough call, because at some point, someone like Rockstar could add Adult Only content to a new game but lock it away to get an M+ rating, and then leak to someone that the game has an easter egg. This might drive sales of a game up further, because of the content and because the game is easy to find. Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Circuit City and other big box stores won't carry games with AO ratings, and if the game is AO, sales would suffer. What Rockstar has done could allow them in the future to cheat and lie to the ESRB by releasing a game they managed to get an M rating for, only to turn around and defy the rating by allowing end-users to unlock what would be Adult Only content.

Don't get me wrong, I don't like the tack Hillary Clinton is taking in all of this. But, I think Rockstar is on a slippery slope, and they're hurting the general public's perception of video games with what they've done. They're also increasing the chance of government intervention in the video games industry, which will hurt both them and everyone else. The content never should have stayed in the game (even hidden) and I think GTA:SA should have had an Adult Only rating anyway. While under my roof, I wouldn't want any kid of mine playing games involving sex with virtual girlfriends or hookers, or violence against cops.

[Ian]

So the nude skins aren't even in the game?

[dolphinius_rex]

So the nude skins aren't even in the game?

I'm pretty sure the nude skins were added later.

[Ian]

So this really isn't much worse than the Tomb Raider thing? Without the skins, the hot coffee mod would be nothing more than a hump fest.

[hoxlund]

ok the steps to do this is download hot coffee mod v2.1

http://www.gamershell.com/download_9684.shtml

follow the instructions

but its super easy to install, run the game, alt+tab out to windows and run the patcher hit Y key for yes patch, then back into the game

you only do it once and it stays until you uninstall and reinstall the game

at the end of the date, girlfriend will ask you if you want to come in for some coffee you say yes and the magic happens

but theres also naked patch for girlfriend all the time, weather your on a date or not

[Ian]

Here's a great article on all this. It has interviews from a lot of big game developers.

http://www.gamecloud.com/article.php?article_id=771

[Alektron]

Now that there is some more graphic nûdity and/or s£x in it, I'll probably buy the game soon for the fun of it. I don't approve a kid playing a violent game; but for adults, it's up to them. If some content is secretly embedded in the game, it should be rated assuming that it will be cracked open. Just release two versions. One for teens without the "obscene" material (violence and/or you-know-what) and one for adults!!

[hoxlund]

pretty good views on this subject:

http://www.neoseeker.com/news/story/4797/

best one of all

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net ... et_to_hell

[dolphinius_rex]

pretty good views on this subject:

http://www.neoseeker.com/news/story/4797/

best one of all

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net ... et_to_hell

Generally I hate "thebestpageintheuniverse.net" .... but this time I think his comments were pretty bang on. I especially like the end part regarding the difference between rated M and rated AO games

[Ian]

wtf is wrong with this country? Now the FTC is doing an investigation:

http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/tech/ro ... &cm_ite=NA

Talk about a waste of tax payer money.

[Boba_Fett]

wtf is wrong with this country? Now the FTC is doing an investigation:

http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/tech/ro ... &cm_ite=NA

Talk about a waste of tax payer money.

Just don't blame the republicans this time :p Remember, Senator Joe Liberman and Queen Bitch Hillary Clinton are the main opponents of videogame shinanigans.

I personally think this whole thing is shit. Rockstar shouldn't be in any trouble at all. Since they made it IMPOSSIBLE for the Hot Coffie thing to happen in the game without mods or cheat devices, they were completely in the right. So what if the flamin' code was in there? They could have been waiting to release a "Super-Duper-Uncut" version like all those lame DVD movies are doing nowadays.

Never ceases to amaze me how people in the US could get more upset over simulated sex with virtually no nudity than a bunch of black "nigga"-spoutin' gang-bangers doing drive by's on cops flingin' 50 F-bombs a second...

[Ian]

Check this out. Some old biddy bought the game for her 14 year old grandson and now she's sueing because it has an AO rating:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/fun.games/ ... index.html

Dumb ass.. even with an M rating you shouldn't buy it for a 14 year old kid.

[dolphinius_rex]

I hope her suit is laughed out of court. That's so stupid!

[dodecahedron]

sounds just as stupid as that person who had sued McDonalds for getting burned by spilled hot coffee (no pun intended!) when holding the coffee cup between the legs not with the hands!
what's more, that person won!!!
(like the Australian saying goes - ONLY IN AMERICA!)

[VEFF]

1) Overall comment:
I think violence is worse than sex; however, for young people, I don't think either one is appropriate - sex in a game may lead to other issues when people who are too young play it.

It is unfortunate that many parents don't check the ratings and /or simply don't spend enough time raising their kids properly and monitoring their activities a bit better - I am not suggesting going overboard and infringing on their freedom since that could have even worse effects down the road, but it would be nice if they at least had some idea as to what their kids were up to.


2) Interesting link hoxlund; I thought this was a great line, and I quote:
<< BEGIN QUOTE:
The creator of the game, Rockstar Games, has stated that it will offer a downloadable patch to fix the sex issue in the PC versions, and is working on a new version of the game that will prevent this content from being unlocked in the future.

Thank God. I'll be the first person to download and patch my PC version of "Grand Theft Auto." I want to shoot people in the face, bang prostitutes, traffic drugs, steal cars, and terrorize police officers without this filthy smut in my game
END QUOTE>>