The game just got bumped from an M up to an AO. Some schmuck created a mod that allowed the player to unlock a graphic sex scene. And now most stores are scrambling to pull the game off the shelf.
The game just got bumped from an M up to an AO. Some schmuck created a mod that allowed the player to unlock a graphic sex scene. And now most stores are scrambling to pull the game off the shelf.
Meh, it’s already sold millions anyway… And with all the publicity I’m sure it will still be able to be found even in this Adult Only version… But Rockstar (or whoever created) is also going to put out a new version that does not include the left over sexual content which will then have a Mature rating since any mod that adds it will not just have to unlock things but add to it which of course is not the responsibility of the developer anymore.
I agree that technically the developer has some responsibility since the so called Hot Coffee mod simply unlocked content that was already there but I don’t think such a fuss should have been made about it since even even though the content was on the disc, it is inaccessible unless the owner really wants to have it…
Btw it was also unlocked on the PS2 version using Gameshark or whatever…
Also I see some people say that now mods will be compromised with developers trying to avoid such content from being created… I think that’s a load of you-know-what since, again, the deal with GTA:SA is that it was pre-existing content crreated by the developers and shipped with the game. Companies have nothing to fear about normal mods which ADD content. It would be like saying that comics should be banned because some dude drew over the characters having them show genitals and what not…
By the way The Sims 2 is now also accused as some pedo-heaven since a hack makes the pixellation/fog/whatever it uses disappear… Even though the models don’t have “details” modelled or skinned on some politician schmuck that wants some publicity and got jealous of the GTA:SA guy claims that since the fog is there on first place then they know that those parts should not be shown even though they are not really modelled…
Anyway, I think that despite being developer created content in this case as well, what I said about mods above applies to it more than the GTA: SA thing…
Anyway I assume we’ll see more of these things in the future with every politician wanting some publicity paying some people to find him games that can be accused so that he can get elected by saying he’ll ban such practices etc…
Then things will cool off again. And games won’t really be affected that much. Thank god.
You can thank Hillary and Lieberman and their annual “Videogames Cause Violence” parade which got old back around '95.
-N
The only possible backlash would result from the fact that your average parent, politician, non-gamer, etc cannot tell the difference between what happened with GTA and the Hot Coffee ordeal, and mods. “What?! My little Johnny can download a version of Half-Life 2 that features nekkid alien womenz?! Oh noes!” Give them an inch, as they say.
The real question which just boggles my mind is:
If they locked the content, why did they leave it in the game?
It seems to me that they where asking for trouble with that one.
Besides, all forms of media will get stick nowadays. Governments aren’t really going to do much about it. Whine and little here, say it’s corupting us all there, but hey, when they no one cares beacuse they’re constantly going on about it, it’ll blow over.
It could simply be content that was scrapped @ the last minute and was locked instead of being completely removed… Maybe they left it there on purpose for modders to find as well, not thinking the story would turn out like this (why would they think that after all)…
I guess techically since the content was in the disc even tho inaccessible then the game should be Adult rated… but going further than that to the likes of The Sims 2 is just, well, silly… What’s next, ban a comic book or something just because some guy painted over the characters and drew their, uh, “features”?
A Gamespy editor recently wrote a rather nice parody article which was basicaly raising this question:
How can all the bloody violence and killings, murders, drugs, and every other extreme showcased in GTA be simply “mature” and yet a natural and not at all forbidden act like sex gets rated with “adult only” and cause all this outrage from politicians…
In the same way we allow for the news to show acts of violence, but the entire nation gets in an uproar when Janet Jackson shows half a nipple =\
Al3xand3r hit the nail on the head. My guess is that the Hot Coffee scene was built, but at the last minute the producers lost their nerve and had it removed. But to completely remove all the content would likely introduce new bugs, so they disabled the flags that active the scene, and voila.
However, that doesn’t disclude the possibility that they did it full knowing that someone would find a way to access it later, and give them a little free PR boost. I think that’s where the issue is. A game company can play innocent, but in the end, the ESRB has to draw a hard line somewhere. “Anything that’s on the disk is liable” is a fair line, to be honest.
But, where does that line end? For example, if hackers find a way to extrapolate the skin texture across the entire character model in, say, Tomb Raider to make her look nude, does that count as adult content? Or how about manipulating otherwise innocent animations to make it look like characters are simulating sex?
It’s a slippery slope, my friends.
There’s already a precedant for this anyway.
President of United States embarks on illegal war on country based on weak case showing unlawful development of WMD - No punishment
President of United States cheats on his wife - Threatened impeachment.
That picture sums the matter up quite nicely. Alternatively, there’s this: thebestpageintheuniverse.net … et_to_hell
Hah. Quoting a news article:
“Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” is a game that is already infamous for allowing players to beat prostitutes and kill cops. That’s made it a hit with hardcore gamers.
So parents are fine with buying a game for their kids (And for them to get the game and not be ready for that sort of thing anyway, the parent was probably the one to buy it for them) about beating prostitutes and kill cops, but the instant sex is visible, it’s an uproar.
Reminds me a South Park episode called “Good Times with Weapons” where the boys get ninja weapons, and this of course leads to someone losing an eye. In their crazy little fantasy, Cartman pretends to go invisible to sneak past a crowd, naked. And in the following town meeting, all the violence is forgotten in the wake of something related to sex.
What I find really odd is that sex is in no way illegal, yet theres a fuss about it and anyone who’s old enough to be playing the game should know plenty about sex.
