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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.
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
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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