Australia Outlaws Grand Theft Auto

[Madame Butterfly 0]

Australia outlaws 'Grand Theft Auto'

Officials cite hidden sex scenes in game

MSN Tech & Gadgets

 

The Associated Press

Updated: 1:46 p.m. ET July 29, 2005

SYDNEY - Australian officials effectively banned the computer game "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" and ordered it removed from stores Friday because it contains hidden sex scenes that can be viewed with a special Internet download.

 

The Office of Film and Literature Classification said in a statement it had outlawed sales of the game by stripping it of its official classification after learning of the explicit content.

 

"Revocation of a classification means the computer game cannot be legally sold, hired, advertised or exhibited in Australia from the date the decision is made," the statement said.

 

 

"Businesses that sell or hire computer games should remove existing stocks of this game from their shelves immediately," said Des Clark, director of the government-funded classification board.

 

The game involves a main character seeking bloody vengeance on gang-filled streets, firing automatic weapons and picking up women along the way.

 

After downloading and installing a modification to the game -- one of many "mods" available on Web sites maintained by video game enthusiasts -- a new world opens up in which the girlfriends appear nude and engage in explicit sex acts, according to the modification's author.

 

The classification board in October 2004 gave the game a MA15+ rating, meaning it could be sold only to people aged over age 15, and warned that it contained "medium level animated violence, medium level coarse language."

 

On Friday, Clark advised parents to be on the alert for their children accessing the explicit scenes.

 

"Parents are strongly advised to exercise caution in allowing children continued access to the game," he said -- particularly if they have access to the Internet modification.

[sea trooper 0]

LMAO

[MrPsychic 1]

Australia has been notoriously strict about video games. They banned the other GTA games, starting even with the first one.

[BKY1701 0]

This is just plan sad on the part of the government. And to think I thought Australia was not all that bad.

[Jack_Bauer 1]

Someone recently writing into the Toronto Sun made a very interesting point. Why is it that GTA gets in so much trouble for being violent while the Godfather is hailed as the greatest film of all time? As for the sexual stuff, there is a lot worse out there.

 

The people who created these games deserve alot of credit for their tireless work in creating such a large and detailed game. And it's not as if the events depicted in the game (shootings, muggings, prostitution) don't actually happen. They shouldn't but they do.