Grand Theft Auto now adult only

[Madame Butterfly 0]

'Grand Theft Auto' now officially adults-only

Video game's rating changed as creator admits sex scenes built-in

 

 

 

Updated: 8:15 p.m. ET July 20, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO - The video game industry on Wednesday changed to adults-only the rating of “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas,” a best-selling game in which explicit sexual content can be unlocked with an Internet download.

 

The decision followed intense pressure from politicians and media watch groups, and retailers reacted swiftly — Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. and Best Buy Co. said they would immediately pull all copies from their store shelves nationwide.

 

The game’s producer, Rockstar Games, said it stopped making the current version and would provide new labels to any retailer willing to keep selling the games, which had been rated “M” for mature. The company also will offer a downloadable patch to fix the sex issue in PC versions, and is working on a new, more secure version, to be rated “M.”

 

 

Rockstar’s parent company, New York-based Take Two Interactive Software Inc., also admitted for the first time that the sex scenes had been built into the retail version of that game — not just the PC version but also those written for Xbox and PlayStation2 consoles.

Company officials had previously suggested that a modification created by outsiders added the scenes.

 

Take-Two spokesman Jim Ankner acknowledged in an Associated Press interview that the questioned scenes were created by Rockstar programmers. “The editing and finalization of any game is a complicated task and it’s not uncommon for unused and unfinished content to remain on the disc,” he said.

 

In a statement, the president of the Entertainment Software Rating Board said the sex scenes were programmed by Rockstar “to be inaccessible to the player.”

 

But ESRB chief Patricia Vance also acknowledged that the “credibility and utility” of the industry-run board’s initial “M” rating had been “seriously undermined.”

 

Many retailers sell “M” rated games, which “may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older,” according to the Entertainment Software Rating Board, but won’t sell “AO”-labeled games at all.

 

“Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” was last year’s top console game, selling more than 5.1 million copies in the U.S. after its October release, according to market analyst NPD Group. Xbox and PC versions were released last month.

 

Take-Two said net sales could drop by more than $50 million this quarter, and lowered its financial expectations for the year to set aside funds for returns of the games. Guidance was reduced to $1.05 to $1.12 per share on $1.26 billion to $1.31 billion in sales from a prior estimate of $1.40 to $1.47 per share and sales of $1.3 billion to $1.35 billion.

 

The rating change is vindication for Patrick Wildenbourg, the Dutch programmer who developed the “hot coffee” modification and made downloads freely available on the Internet. Wildenbourg had told the AP that his “mod” merely allowed the user to gain access to pre-existing content in game.

 

Such “mods” are wildly popular among the hardcore gaming community, and have been shown to extend the retail longevity of games like “Half-Life,” which is still sold years after its first release because of a popular “Counter-Strike” mod that allows for detailed counter-terrorist shoot’em-up action.

 

 

Take-Two president Paul Eibeler said in a statement that “the decision to re-rate a game based on an unauthorized third party modification presents a new challenge for parents, the interactive entertainment industry and anyone who distributes or consumes digital content.”

 

The developments did little to appease Sen. Hilary Rodham Clinton, D-New York, who applauded the ESRB investigation but remained disturbed that the sex content appeared on store shelves in the first place.

 

“Apparently the sexual material was embedded in the game. The company admitted that,” Clinton said. “But the fact remains that the company gamed the ratings system.”

 

Clinton has asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate, and said the ESRB must do more to police content.

 

“I think that the rating board has to be vigilant and really make sure that it’s as thorough as it can be and not just take the game makers’ word as to what’s on there,” Clinton said.

 

Best Buy echoed that, saying it hopes its decision to stop selling the game will “send a strong message to game developers encouraging full cooperation with the ESRB.”

 

The Parents Television Council, one of several media watchdogs that have criticized Rockstar and the ESRB, called on the game publisher to voluntarily recall the game and offer refunds to purchasers. Instead, Rockstar has agreed to exchange unsold inventory with new, “M” rated versions that “have the hidden content removed,” the ESRB said.

 

“I tip my cap to that first step of showing responsibility,” said Tim Winter, the council’s executive director. “Phase two needs to be absolutely getting to the bottom of this coding issue. How did it get into that game? How did it get past the ratings board?”

[Itchygomba69 0]

Hello This is only onna make it sell more, People who make a big dead out stuff, make the hype so much bigger and then the Demand so much higher, god no wonder some day an alien race is gonna take over earth

 

:oops:

Edited July 21, 2005 by dragonwrangler95

[MrPsychic 1]

oh boy...I can just see my job now of telling people we no longer carry San Andreas...

[HRH The KING 0]

It might take a village to raise a child. But it only takes one player to build a crime empire in San Andreas.

 

All this will accomplish is increased sales for GTA:SA and RockStar Games (who make GTA).

 

Besides, it's been out for a long time now, so most of us would already own it and indeed would have completed it ages ago.

 

Some years back they placed warning labels on music and those stickered albums saw increased sales. If you tell people that they CAN'T have something, more people will simply want to buy it.

 

Hillary Clinton will realise to her horror how much she has helped RockStar Games when the NEXT Grand Theft Auto is released and the sales are astronomical.

 

:lol:

[gul_nodrog 2]

Hillary Clinton will realise to her horror how much she has helped RockStar Games when the NEXT Grand Theft Auto is released and the sales are astronomical.

 

    :lol:

342464[/snapback]

 

Hil and Bill did more to contribute to the general deterioration of our (U.S.) society than any video game! Somebody should have slapped a rating on Bill's butt before they put him in the Oval Office.

 

But I guess progress dictates that elementary-school aged students needed to be exposed to graphic sexual information courtesy of our President. Now those children have taken that info and ran with it ... my teacher husband confiscates daily those stupid beads off the wrists of these pint-size nymphomaniacs advertising what they will or won't do sexually through the use of various colored beads.

 

Personally, I'd rather that my son was playing Grand Theft Auto than hanging around with the sluts in training at his local elementary school or even surfing the web. One is not real and the other is all too real and dangerous. A little fantasy never hurt anyone.

 

I think I'll go out and buy that game right now!

[KIMIMELA 1]

What about people who already have it?

[HRH The KING 0]

The game is totally harmless.

 

It's not even meant for children anyway.

 

At it's heart, GTA is nothing more than a driving game with flashy elements thrown in like buying property, violence and a cool soundtrack.

 

Ever so often a hysterical politician will come along and try to ban this or that and launch a campaign of outrage against a TV show, movie, video game, book or CD.

[Wishfire 2]

Damn! I knew I should've gotten the PC version!

[LordOfTheBorg 1]

Argh! I could've bought that game yesterday!

[HRH The KING 0]

The Parents Television Council

 

Noted troublemakers and hysterical proponents of censoring anything that might offend.

 

Once pestered the WWE until they eventually went too far and the WWE sued them, winning three million dollars in a settlement.

[gul_nodrog 2]

^^Good for them!!

 

In the words of the Fresh Prince of Belair "Parents just don't understand."

[APW 0]

I heard the last few fragments of this story on the news early this morning.

I knew GTA:San Andreas was a mature game,but I had no idea about the sex scenes....

My nephew plays a lot of games on his PS2 and XBOX,but he's not interested in games like GTA.If he was I'd let him play it.I let him watch violent horror films (which sometimes have nudity) and he handles it pretty well.

I think it depends on the kid.Some are more impressionable (and unstable ) than others...

[Wishfire 2]

I heard the last few fragments of this story on the news early this morning.

I knew GTA:San Andreas was a mature game,but I had no idea about the sex scenes....

My nephew plays a lot of games on his PS2 and XBOX,but he's not interested in games like GTA.If he was I'd let him play it.I let him watch violent horror films (which sometimes have nudity) and he handles it pretty well.

I think it depends on the kid.Some are more impressionable (and unstable ) than others...

342561[/snapback]

 

Agreed. I also think it has more to do than just the games. I think it also has to do with how the parents/siblings/adult figures react to it. I think that will make more of an impression on the kid than the game itself. For the most part, that is.

[Ace 0]

I won't go into my reasonings right now, but, to an extent, I actually agree with Hillary Clinton.

 

Someone call the underworld and ask if it's snowing.

[Odie 0]

I won't go into my reasonings right now, but, to an extent, I actually agree with Hillary Clinton.

 

Someone call the underworld and ask if it's snowing.

342596[/snapback]

 

Strange things do happen all the time.

 

*Check the temp. Nope still very hot, because Buffalo Bills haven't won a Super Bowl. Yet!!!

Edited July 22, 2005 by Odie

[Itchygomba69 0]

Remember when The Goverment went Nuts over Mortal Kombat, isnt this just a replay of that

[removed 0]

The world is already tired of this game anyways.

[MrPsychic 1]

San Andreas has been out on the market for months already. They've sold several million copies already, so this uprating does absolutely nothing. I'm surprised there hasn't been a rise in overly concerned parents trying to return the game.

[HRH The KING 0]

I'm looking foward to the next GTA.

 

I wonder what the setting will be?

[Itchygomba69 0]

an old folks home

 

:oops:

[HRH The KING 0]

LOL!!!

 

 

Personally, I'd like it to be set in Chicago during the Al Capone gangster era.

 

Prohibition, Speakeasy's, Untouchables, Tommy Guns, those amazing old cars.

 

Awesome.

[Blue 0]

All I can say is, that everybody knows what these games are like, and if you buy them you obviously know what your letting yourself in for. I think its bit far, taking them off the shelves, and I agree that this will make them in higher demand.

[Itchygomba69 0]

did anyone on G4tv watch Attack of the Show where they made fun of hot coffee, they made all these sexy sounds and music when someone was making and pouring coffee, it was hot...Wink

 

Best TV Ive seen in a while

[sea trooper 0]

All the San Andreas games have been recalled from my store and all of the other stores.

[NordicBearskin 0]

I find the reaction to this all a little silly. To access the *gasp* fully clothed explicit sex content, one must first download and install a player-created mod which changes the game's coding, as this stuff was never meant to be accessed. Heck, if you had the time and the patience you could create a mod that makes, say, Roller Coaster Tycoon far more smutty then anything Hot Coffee can throw at you.

 

I think there are bigger fish to fry on the causes of violent behaviour then video games, such as, y'know, lousy parenting. Incidentally, on the back of this a lawyer is trying to get the Sims 2 banned, apparently it fosters paedophilic tendencies or some such nonsense...

 

(GTA games rule! :biggrin:)

 

EDIT* Ja, I recall reading somewhere that they're releasing a version of the game without the coding, and recalling all the unsold versions with the coding in the game. You could still mod it in mind, but the politicians would have less of a carcass to swoop upon...

Edited August 1, 2005 by NordicBearskin

[Capt_Picard 0]

I was watching X-Play about the game and I must say what they said.

1. I will never ask for "Hot Coffee" again.

2. "If your ten and your mommy buys you this game you should be more worried about then the game!"

It's only a game and like other things that you must be a cirten age to buy them, it's your choice!

[Dark Reality 0]

I have the patch on mine. The female is nude, but it looks horrible. You can only see breasts; the woman's private bits are covered by the guy, who is fully clothed. I found it to be pretty lame, actually. I'm leaving Hot Coffee in because it also unlocks the full map and activates most if not all interiors, so you can explore the game more from the beginning.

 

What's funny is they're applying the AO rating to the Ps2 and Xbox versions. These can't be modded, unless you have a modded console. (Else, how would you change the files? You would end up with a burned San Andreas.) My brother has a modded Xbox, and San Andreas won't even play on it... it's got his modchip blacklisted. So he can't even play San Andreas, let alone mod it with Hot Coffee. I can see them getting in a stir over the PC verison, which is very easy to patch, but not the console versions. Most console gamers haven't got the means to patch their GTA:SA.

 

And I agree with The King on the Chicago/Capone era. I'm not much into it, but he's right, it is kinda cool... and it just seems it would go hand in hand with GTA. Maybe the game can even be in black-and-white, look like an old movie, to add to the effect. The ONLY problem with that is they'll have a hard time selling a GTA with only blues, classical, jazz, and whatever else was available back then.

 

 

What ticks me off is how worked up they're getting over lousy digital sex. What's so bad about SEX anyway? It's a natural act. Violence meanwhile goes unchecked... in The Punisher you can torture people for information. In Deux Ex 2: Invisible War, there's a side quest where you can get into a school with 6-10 little girls running around, and you can kill them without penalty. Yet I've never heard any right-wing groups after those games... then again they didn't sell as well as Grand Theft Auto SA. In GTA there's a limit on the violence you can commit... and there are NO children in the game. Ever notice that? Every NPC in every GTA game, as far as I know, has been an adult. They have school buses, I think (at least in the original GTA) but I've never seen little kids running around. Rockstar just took violence against children out of the equation. I think that is commendable.

[Itchygomba69 0]

Well The Head of Rockstar Games said its in the Consoles, so it cae from the horses mouth

[Dark Reality 0]

It's IN the console versions, yes... the content is in every version of GTA:SA out now. You need a patch from the Net to unlock it. Without this patch, you CANNOT unlock the sex scenes. Rockstar designed the game that way. They did not intend for players of the final game to be able to access the content. And as it is now, you cannot do so without the Hot Coffee modification.

 

How do you modify a console game? Normally you can't. Consoles read their games off a DVD-ROM disc. Sure, you could probably copy all the files on it to your hard drive (on your PC), apply the patch, and then burn a new DVD, but then you basically have a copied game. The console won't play it. Unless the console is modified to play copied games. Then you could do it. But ONLY with 1) a computer with a DVD burner, and 2) a modified console. That represents a tiny percentage, probably not 1%, of gamers. Modding a console involves sautering a chip onto the mainboard. I don't know about Ps2 but on Xbox this is all under the hard drive and DVD-ROM drive... so that's a lot of work.

 

So the console versions shouldn't be affected because better than 99% of GTA:SA Ps2 and Xbox owners have no way of accessing the adult content.

 

Oh yeah... The Sims, World of Warcraft, and a few others have nude patches too. Tomb Raider had one. This isn't the first time a nude patch has been released. It's just the first time a popular game featured actual sex (and oral sex).

[BKY1701 0]

Hil and Bill did more to contribute to the general deterioration of our (U.S.) society than any video game! Somebody should have slapped a rating on Bill's butt before they put him in the Oval Office.

 

LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11 :lol:

 

What rating would do? I think they'ed need to make a new one!! lol