Slashdot Mirror
GTA Sex Game Debate Intensifies
The ESRB kerfluffle with Rockstar shows no signs of ebbing. Gamespot is reporting that a watchdog group has gotten into the act. From the article: "The Minneapolis-based watchdog group, founded by Dr. David Walsh, previously decried the game for its glorification of cop-killing with an online petition. Now the group is issuing a National Parental Warning for the game, giving concerned mothers and fathers a heads-up that their children could be playing with their joysticks in an inappropriate way. The National Institute on Media and the Family joins an already active debate on the game, its content, and the appropriateness of its current M rating." Additionally, the Dutch hacker who claims to have uncovered the game content has been identified. From the article: "...the mod was authored by 36-year-old Patrick Wildenborg, a Dutch gamer and a member of the modder community...Wildenborg insists that the X-rated code is already in the game and that all his patch does is bypass the game's 'censor flags.'" Among many others, Game Girl Advance has commentary on the story.
"that their children could be playing with their joysticks in an inappropriate way."
This came out way wayyy wrong.
Game Girl Advance provides two solid viewpoints on the issue.
One is the whole "It was locked out, had to be hacked to access" issue.
And the other, "It was still on the final master disc when it shipped."
It's a tough question, should the ESRB have access to all materials on the master disc? or just the materials that are available to anyone who doesn't attempt to hack the game?
However, GTA : SA is a Mature game, at least in terms of rating, and as far as I've seen, the sex, though more explict than that found in most video games isn't a big deal.
But then again, I'm one of those whackos who doesn't have a problem with sex.
And one of those who finds a certain catharsis through violence.
I could see it if the ESRB was only complaining about the violence (although even that would be debateable, since it is already rated mature), but Sex? If I had children, i would much prefer that they were exposed to sex, and educated about safe sex, rather than having the constant exposure to violence that kids nowadays seem to have.
Unfortunately, in my lifetime, it seems to have always been this way in the US. The media appears to promote violence and repress sex (unless it's violent sex, like rape - which is arguably not even about sex anyway).
This has become a country of minority (wealthy) rule over the majority (normal people).
"Teleporting Rodents with D-Cell Battery Displacement" theory -- IgnoramusMaximus (692000)
America, wake up! You should do something about the VIOLENCE, not the SEX! America has FAR MANY PEOPLE KILLED EACH DAY, still organizations seem to care about nudity issues.
I'm confused. GTA has been a Mature rated game, meaning 18 and older for a long time. How about we educate the parents, to take an interest in what their children are doing, and stop buying inappropriate games for them.
Sit down and play the games that your kid is playing, who cares if you're not interested, at least you won't be blind sided by your ignorance, when something like this comes out of left field.
Take an interest in your kids activities, and you won't have 12 year olds, playing games with organized crime, prostitution, assassinations and sex.
I think it's called parenting.
The game is rated 18+, and only after installing a patch the 'naughty bits' become available.
There a thousands of 18+ movies/site with far more explicit sex scenes, and far more easily accessible.
If Microsoft was mass, stupidity would be gravity.
In Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, gamers can play basketball, play pool, dance, grab some fast food, buy clothes, work out at the gym, base jump, have girlfriends, and race remote-controlled cars--all completely legal activities in the real world. However, the game's main character can also shoot innocent bystanders, stomp the heads of prostitutes into a bloody pulp, and launch rocket-propelled grenades at police helicopters--all decidedly illegal outside the realm of gaming
There are crimes being committed inside a video game!!! Well gee, who would have thought that crimes could possibly be committed in a video game, why can't we think of the children!?
I will agree, the actual sex stuff is really unecessary and I don't personally think it adds any real value to the game, but that's as far as they should go. They shouldn't yell about being able to kill prostitutes, or shoot police helicopters with grenade launchers (where's this grenade launcher anyway?). You can do that to pedestrians and villians as well, and it's the open ended gameplay that people love and not the sex mod that gets them hooked on the game.
The National Institute on Media and the Family should wake up and smell the (hot) coffee. :P
How can the creators be resposinble for material that was never supposed to be seen. How about in an online game, for example an MMORPG where people strip their clothes and use the dance emotes to act some really naughty stuff. Is the creators resposible for people "abusing" the system to create something that would be over the original rating of the game? How are the programmers supposed to block from player doing things like this? How about those Video Game porn archives where there are really really naughty scenes involving Pikachu and Yoshi, i guess those games should be banned too.
As the GamerGirlAdvance article said, this is just works of the anti-GTA crowd. There are no intellectual/logical base for these accusations, they are just flames that are thrown towards their enemy. In court, i doubt that these claims would stand. The only problem is some distributors and store owners that might ban the game from their shelves by these flames. On the other hand, the sales of the game will propably rise anyhow as it gains more free controversial press.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I beg to differ, one of the pleasures of playing games (and reading books and watching movies) is exploring possibilities you wouldn't normally (and in this case legally) be able to do.
Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do!
millions and millions of young people now see how sex works. They will try it out, have sex and not buy guns and kill or whatever. They will have sex.
Right now millions of people do have sex. Almost everybody on this globe has, had, will have, has right now sex. Sex is everywhere. We reproduce through this.
And those american morons have nothing better to do than whine about such a stupid mini-game?
I think those people have a too god life. They should be sent to some poor areas in the world. Live there for 5 years in shelters, boxes and eat the dirt and trash from the others. I am sure they will never ever complain about such a stupid useless thing again.
"Freiheit ist immer auch die Freiheit des Andersdenkenden" - Rosa Luxemburg, 1871 - 1919
I just tried the unlocking codes on a pretty girl waiting for a bus... you know... just in case it might work.
She looked at me like I was insane, asked what I just said. When I explained, she slapped me.
There was no sex.
Oh well, I didn't think it would work, but I had to try... just in case.
- For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat
Regardless of how many people knew about this beforehand, with this being made such a big deal of (I even saw it featured on fucking ABC News last night), there are millions of people who do know about it now, and went straight to Google and typed in "san andreas hot coffee". Great move, guys! You don't want something available to a large subset of gamers, and now you've told them exactly what to search for to find the actual mod itself! Fucking brilliant!
FC Closer
Shoot as many people as you want! Cuss until your face turns blue! Practice satanic rituals! Invade foreign countries! We don't care! But show one image of consensual adults fucking, and we'll lock you up in jail you SEX CRIMINAL!
...to me.
Considering the amount of inappropriate content already in the game, is this one thing really enough to warrant changing the rating? Especially considering that the game, as shipped, has this portion locked out? It's like complaining that they used the F-bomb one too many times in Pulp Fiction.
In addition, the M rating already restricts the sale of the game to those 17 and older. The AO rating would make it available to those 18 and older. Seems that one of the other is redundant. The only reason that the MPAA features an R and NC-17 rating (which are considered the equivalent of M and AO) is because in a theater setting, NO minors are allowed to view an NC-17 rating, regardless of parental consent. You cannot even take your own kids in. In a take-home setting (such as video/video games) there is no discernable difference between the two, because either way the parent can just hand it to the kid when they get home.
The only reason the two distinct ratings were created was to allow stores a black-and-white line to filter out which titles they would refuse to carry. God forbid the management make those decisions on their own.
Really, I think it was created less to give stores like Target and Wal-Mart an excuse not to carry AO rated games, and more an excuse for chains to explain why they DO carry certain M-rated titles. "I know it's inappropriate for kids, ma'am...but it is only M rated, and we do carry M rated games." That way they can milk the GTA cash cow (along with other "offensive" content) and still act like a family store.
This is the reason for the 1 year age difference as well...by making it 17 and under, they can claim that since it can be legally sold to minors it's appropriate for a family-oriented store.
Well, for whatever it's worth I ain't no expert on parenting, don't even have kids, but I think you simply have to use your best judgement and learn to live with it. Your best is all you can do.
However, as a child from a dysfunctional household, my best advice is whatever happens, make damn sure that you keep communications open with your kids. In my experience, it's when the trust erodes and talking becomes forced that the real problems start. Talk to your kids as often as they let you, and remember talking means listening too not just laying down edicts.
..is not that people are outraged. That is there perogative. People can vote with their dollars and not buy the game. What gets me is that groups like this are so well organized that they can effectively move legislation to outlaw games like GTA (which is fun, btw), even while the "silent majority" just doesn't care.
Would I let my young son or daughter play GTA? Of course not, it is extremely violent. Would they play it behind my back? Probably. But like most rational people, I'd probably talk to my kids about why I didn't want them playing it.
Either way, what I wouldn't do is force my neighbor to make his children not play GTA.
But this is exactly what this group is going to try and do.
-- bearclaw