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ESRB Revokes San Andreas Rating
Alex Blonski writes "In a stunning move, the ESRB has advised retailers to stop selling Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. This report follows public pressure over the Hot Coffee debacle. Rockstar, the publishers of the game have given retailers the option of restickering the game with an 18+ rating or exchanging it for a new version with the controversial content removed. ESRB head Patricia Vance says 'After a thorough investigation, we have concluded that sexually explicit material exists in a fully rendered, unmodified form on the final discs of all three platform versions of the game (i.e., PC CD-ROM, Xbox and PS2). However, the material was programmed by Rockstar to be inaccessible to the player and they have stated that it was never intended to be made accessible. The material can only be accessed by downloading a software patch, created by an independent third party without Rockstar's permission, which is now freely available on the internet and through console accessories. Considering the existence of the undisclosed and highly pertinent content on the final discs, compounded by the broad distribution of the third party modification, the credibility and utility of the initial ESRB rating has been seriously undermined.'"
In a move equally stunning to neglegent parents everywhere, Captain Obvious has advised that people stop paying attention to the ESRB and take a more proactive stance in monitoring the content that they're buying for their kids. He also advised that parents pay more attention to other aspects of games, such as violence and racial overtones, and not use sex alone as a deciding factor for whether or not to buy a game, movie, music CD, etc. Experts predict that people will ignore this advice and continue to rely on other people to raise their kids for them.
because of the "nude Sims" patch floating around?
As a British person (of 15 years of age), I pity you Americans. What the fuck is your problem with the human body? Why an 18+ when the 17+ was appropriate for the game, even with the minigame?
Clearly in that critical year you become mature enough to be allowed to consume renderings of fully clothed individuals in sexual positions.
Seventeen year-olds just aren't ready for that kind of stuff yet. Their exposure to sexual situations should be limited to what they do with their boyfriends/girlfriends in the back seat of their parent's car when they're "at the movies."
Oh, BTW, to all the parents out there... Your 8 year old probably says 'fuck' all the time when he knows you're not around, so you can get over yourself already.
From TFA:
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO - News) announced today that the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has changed the rating of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on all platforms from "Mature 17+" (M) to "Adults Only 18+"
So basically, they've made the decision that 17 year-olds just shouldn't see this two-bit low-res porn hack, and stick with the carjacking, wanton murder, and other wholesome activites within GTA. 18 year-olds are qualified for the whole ball o' wax, though.
Amazing...
Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
This whole debacle is bad news. If retailers don't stop selling it, we're all in trouble. If the ESRB loses all credibility, the only thing stopping a full-on onslaught of legislative parenting will be gone. If the video game industry 'can't be trusted' to rule itself, the government will have to step in. Australia-like bans will be coming to a USA and Canada near you.
CC Licensed Serialized Story and Podcast: Ingenioustries
Come to think of it, no. Bring on the guns and bombs.
Stick Men
As a game developer, sometimes you write something and the suits say you can't put it in, so you just comment out the call to activate it. It's a lot easier than pulling all the source and assets out of the game. Time pressures abound and a thirty-second fix impresses the higher-ups a lot more than a two-day hunt to find and remove all of the offending assets.
-- Too lazy to get a lower UID.
In other news...
Hillary Clinton (who makes ~$162k http://people.howstuffworks.com/question449.htm) has decided that it's in her best interest to waste her time (and our tax dollars). I'm sure that the FTC has better things to do than to investigate RockStar Entertainment... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4682533.stm
i mean really. if a kid can download and apply a patch, he is already in a position to see way more nudity than what is offered in this game.
you may think that's a strawman, bringing up internet porn, but think about it. the point of the ESRB rating is to inform the parents of the content of the game. which, in my opinion, the "M" rating did accurately. the sex scenes aren't in the game. they were disabled.
from a parent's standpoint, what is the difference between downloading a third-party mod that enables disabled content, and applying a third-party mod that adds newly-created content? they are identical in their difficulty/accessibility to a kid, and both insert content into the game that the developer did not intend to appear there!
it is drawing boobies on the title page of "Harry Potter" and then sueing JK Rowling, citing an unfinished but steamy scene she deleted from her hard drive as evidence.
i could live a little longer in this prison
The game allows you to...
- Pull people out of their cars and drive away in them
- Steal military weapons
- Destroy property
- Injure and kill completely innocent bystanders
- Develop a criminal enterprise
- Carry out the orders of corrupt police officers
- Pick up prostitutes
- Burn down a pot farm
and so far it's been pretty smooth sailing, but once you can have vivid consensual sex, but only through extensive third party modification, everyone flips out?!The SIMS has an ESRB rating of E-T (Everyone/Teens). However, there is a patch available for The SIMS that removes the dithering done when they are changing clothes, allowing one to see buck naked SIMS!. Doesn't this mean the ESRB should also revoke The SIMS "Everyone" rating?
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
Unfortunately, show me a country that doesn't rely on war to keep the peace and I'll show you a country that is ripe for the taking by one that does.
Switzerland?
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
I don't think I've ever seen that in a game, and rarely have I seen in in movies. Screwing and fucking in lust, yes, but never what you described.
Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
Just like in the dark ages: you can have public executions and torture sessions but you cant even _think_ about sex.
history repeats itself...
Yeah, cuz "Hot Coffee" is all about the procreative "love". Right there in between the homicide.
Maybe that's because there's nothing wrong with sex.
I think, therefore I doh.
In fairness, Tycho has a point. We let a lot of crap slide. By all rights, GTA as shipped should have had an AO. Halo should have had an AO. The difference between the M rating and the AO rating is *one year* and a bunch of sales - it's stupid. It's exactly the same with movies, too. But as a culture we're hypocrites and every so often we need to sacrifice someone up the "think of the children" gods, and Rockstar certainly has put themselves out there to be the goat.
If you, as parent, approved of GTA for your child last week, and now don't because a patch downloaded from the internet can show you non-explicit sex, then you're a shitty excuse for a parent and a worse one for a human, and regardless what Rockstar did or didn't do, and regardless of they hypocritical bullshit pandering that the ESRB and our politicians do, you shouldn't have any say in what *any* child does. To anyone with half a brain, this is a non-issue.
Look, including the content and making it inaccessible without a minor hack is no accident. It's a brilliant move. But it's disingenous to think that they "didn't mean" for anyone to access it.
Think about it: all the people with the PS/2 or Xbox version of the game who ran out and actually bought the PC version of the game just so they could use the Hot Coffee mod. The fact that it's going to be rated "AO" now is irrelevant - sales are going to soar for the title no matter what.
The ESRB is doing exactly what it should, and, to be honest, Rockstar is still going to benefit from it. Penny Arcade was right about just how disingenous the cries of innocence on the part of Rockstar really are. If ESRB didn't act, it would become irrelevant - and less voluntary measures would come into force.
I can't believe that no one realizes how Rockstar has had a win-win situation in all this all along.
The difference between the M rating and the AO rating is *one year* and a bunch of sales - it's stupid. It's exactly the same with movies, too.
No, even with movies the difference between R and NC-17 is a lot larger. For those that may not know, any parent can take their 6 year old kid into an R-rated movie at the theater. But if a movie is rated NC-17, children CANNOT attend, even with parents present. This is the reason that most theaters will not take up screenspace with NC-17 movies...the market is a lot smaller, because parents are unable to make the decision for themselves.
A parent can, however, choose to buy an AO rated game for their kids.
If you, as parent, approved of GTA for your child last week, and now don't because a patch downloaded from the internet can show you non-explicit sex, then you're a shitty excuse for a parent and a worse one for a human, and regardless what Rockstar did or didn't do, and regardless of they hypocritical bullshit pandering that the ESRB and our politicians do, you shouldn't have any say in what *any* child does. To anyone with half a brain, this is a non-issue.
Especially because last week the game was already rated M, and recommended only for age 17 and up. Unless I'm mistaken, a large portion of American teenagers age 17 and up have already had sex. It's the stupid-ass parents who didn't understand what an M rating meant and bought it for their 12 year olds that are getting so upset. And I say screw those idiots.