Rockstar's claim in PR talk. On my Xbox version a simple byte flag change in my saved game file unlocked that minigame, no files added/removed from the game. It's been called the censor flag. The Xbox version also has clothes on the players in the minigame, but I've heard the PC version they are nude.
The larger PC mods simply add more features hacks to make the mod easier to pull off and more interesting. And they contain the changed file, not instructions on what bytes to change in the files to achieve the result.
The thing I'm confused about, other games such as Playboy Mansion on the Xbox has an even more graphic love scenes in the game than in San Andreas, because the Playboy mansion scenes the players are nude, not in GTA Xbox. That "mode" don't have to be unlocked, it's part of the game. It is also an M rated game, just like GTA. The only difference? One is a LOT more popular because it's a much better game, that would be GTA.
I too agree with improved regulation of age ratings for Video Games, and movies. Because if a parent wants their 8 year old kid to play GTA, they'll buy it for the kid reguardless. But don't just let the kid go and buy the game, let the parent decide if the kid is mature enough to play it.
Re:Why is this even a question anymore?
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RockStar Speaks
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· Score: 1
The game DOES contain that extra content, it's part of the game that was locked off from being used. Think of it like commenting out the code that allowed the user to get in to that mode.
The "Hot Coffee" patch simply unlocks it, but there is other ways to unlock the mode by altering a saved game file. In the saved game file there is a flag that if you simply change that flag it unlocks that mode in the game. It's been dubbed the "censor" flag. Changing this flag requires no changes to the game itself, but rather to the saved game file. This would easily allow a PS2 or Xbox user to possibly access this mode of gameplay using a memory card that can be edited via the PC, without needing to mod the system itself.
The "Hot Coffee" patch adds more than just removing the censor flag. Stuff like allowing you to always date the girlfriends in the game by unlocking them all from the start, and to date multiple times during the day. There are probably more alterations to gameplay, but I haven't tried this method. These changes are helpful because once you mod the game, you can't use your old saved game files. So the user of the patch doesn't have to play through a large portion of the game before he gets to go on the first girlfiend mission to try out the "Hot Coffee".
I don't see how Rockstar can be to blame for this, because it doesn't effect 99% of the users of the game on the console, because of needing special hardware to execute it. And it wouldn't effect maybe 80% of the PC game users because most wont be able to properly install the patch, or wont even know how to get to it. Rockstar may issue a patch to remove it from the PC version if enough pressure is applied, but I really don't see that happening.
This is not the first time hidden/removed game elements have been discovered in a game post-release by some observant hackers. But leave it to a high profile game like this to make international news.
Well the scarier thing for me was when I was starting the install of SP2 my friend IMed me something to the effect of "Hmmm Doom 3 can't find the CD" right after he finished installing SP2. I was just starting the install and had finally finished the extraction phase, so it had two options available to me, Next and Cancel. Needless to say I hit Cancel and am now holding off on upgrading until I know the Doom 3 issues are resolved!
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Rockstar's claim in PR talk. On my Xbox version a simple byte flag change in my saved game file unlocked that minigame, no files added/removed from the game. It's been called the censor flag. The Xbox version also has clothes on the players in the minigame, but I've heard the PC version they are nude.
The larger PC mods simply add more features hacks to make the mod easier to pull off and more interesting. And they contain the changed file, not instructions on what bytes to change in the files to achieve the result.
The thing I'm confused about, other games such as Playboy Mansion on the Xbox has an even more graphic love scenes in the game than in San Andreas, because the Playboy mansion scenes the players are nude, not in GTA Xbox. That "mode" don't have to be unlocked, it's part of the game. It is also an M rated game, just like GTA. The only difference? One is a LOT more popular because it's a much better game, that would be GTA.
I too agree with improved regulation of age ratings for Video Games, and movies. Because if a parent wants their 8 year old kid to play GTA, they'll buy it for the kid reguardless. But don't just let the kid go and buy the game, let the parent decide if the kid is mature enough to play it.
The game DOES contain that extra content, it's part of the game that was locked off from being used. Think of it like commenting out the code that allowed the user to get in to that mode. The "Hot Coffee" patch simply unlocks it, but there is other ways to unlock the mode by altering a saved game file. In the saved game file there is a flag that if you simply change that flag it unlocks that mode in the game. It's been dubbed the "censor" flag. Changing this flag requires no changes to the game itself, but rather to the saved game file. This would easily allow a PS2 or Xbox user to possibly access this mode of gameplay using a memory card that can be edited via the PC, without needing to mod the system itself. The "Hot Coffee" patch adds more than just removing the censor flag. Stuff like allowing you to always date the girlfriends in the game by unlocking them all from the start, and to date multiple times during the day. There are probably more alterations to gameplay, but I haven't tried this method. These changes are helpful because once you mod the game, you can't use your old saved game files. So the user of the patch doesn't have to play through a large portion of the game before he gets to go on the first girlfiend mission to try out the "Hot Coffee". I don't see how Rockstar can be to blame for this, because it doesn't effect 99% of the users of the game on the console, because of needing special hardware to execute it. And it wouldn't effect maybe 80% of the PC game users because most wont be able to properly install the patch, or wont even know how to get to it. Rockstar may issue a patch to remove it from the PC version if enough pressure is applied, but I really don't see that happening. This is not the first time hidden/removed game elements have been discovered in a game post-release by some observant hackers. But leave it to a high profile game like this to make international news.
Well it was released on "Cinco De MySQL" of course. 5-5-95... no research, just an arbitary guess.
Well the scarier thing for me was when I was starting the install of SP2 my friend IMed me something to the effect of "Hmmm Doom 3 can't find the CD" right after he finished installing SP2. I was just starting the install and had finally finished the extraction phase, so it had two options available to me, Next and Cancel. Needless to say I hit Cancel and am now holding off on upgrading until I know the Doom 3 issues are resolved!