Mike Windu Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 http://www.gta-sanandreas.com/ Well, looks like they won. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Announces Conclusion of ESRB Investigation ESRB assigns "Adults Only 18+" (AO) rating for current version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas due to unauthorized third party "Hot Coffee" modification Rockstar Games to cease manufacture of current version of title and offer a downloadable patch to prevent modification of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for PC Company lowers third quarter and fiscal year guidance to reflect the expected negative impact on the title's retail performance I suppose we should recall JO because there was a naked Jan released Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IG-64 Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Or the sims, since someone got rid of the censor pixelation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acrylic Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Wouldn't it just be a lot better to take out the "Hot Coffee" thing from the code instead of rating this AO? *sigh* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BongoBob Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Well that's just ****ing retarted. *continues to lose faith in humanity* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acrylic Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 I just realized. I should buy this game like, soon, otherwise I won't have a chance of ever getting it. (Or at least for a long while) Yet again, another *sigh* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TiE23 Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 This is funny. I just think its interesting. Bleh, I don't really care. TiE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TK-8252 Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Oh well, I guess politicians have nothing better to do than sit around and condemn a video game they've never played because, although it allows players to murder countless numbers of innocent people, it can be modified to show, gasp, sex scenes (god forbid)! I mean, it's not like our government has to deal with terrorists... and it's not like we're at war losing lives everyday... nor is this country in massive debt... so really I guess this is the most important issue there is! *Sigh* On a serious note, to get this mod you have to download it from the internet... right? If you have access to the internet to download the mod, you also have access to the biggest porn database ever - the internet! Why don't we just make the whole internet for only 21+? Since kids can't get it in stores, what the hell is stopping them from pirating the game? If they can download the Hot Coffee mod, they can download the game too. Not only will our kids be watching sex scenes, but now they'll be software pirates! God damn. I could go on and on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TiE23 Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 This one site let that PatrickW guy take it off. As a sign of support towards RockStar http://www.gtagarage.com/mods/show.php?id=28 Note: The link in the description is there is dirty TiE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Knight of Keno Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 They just dont' understand that the PARENTS buy them to their kids. THE KIDS DON'T FREAKIN' BUY THEM!!! They are just full of BS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TiE23 Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 And whats with that "patch" buisness they are talking about? A patch that you download that renders you incapable of using a mod that you could only obtain by downloading it? Its like giving everyone a bullet proof helmet to everyone in the world to protect themselves from shooting themselves in the head! TiE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toms Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Well, i have to agree with penny arcade that the difference in definition between M and AO is pretty tiny: The ESRB is suggesting that they may change the rating of the game to Adults Only, a category that by their own definition should see a great deal more use in a retail environment. This is great. Look at the descriptions for these. MATURETitles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content, and/or strong language. Or, as the rest of our culture calls it, "Rated R." Check out AO. ADULTS ONLY Titles rated AO (Adults Only) have content that should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity. This can't seriously be their distinction. The scenes are longer? I played Resident Evil 4 nearly 26 hours, all told. I'm going to say that maybe nineteen hours of it was spent looking down the iron sights at humanoids. The reality is that once a person is 18, a violent videogame is fairly minor in the spectrum of "adult" content available to that person. Looking over my collection, if the duration of the violence is the distinguishing factor, I'm trying to figure out what purpose Mature serves other than to remove the stigma from otherwise "adult" content and grease the wheels at retail. In practice i doubt this means anything other than a face-saving exercise with the politicians. It just means the shops will slap AO stickers on current games in stock and then the next batch will be back to M but with the code removed. Between Rockstar acting like idiots, the ESRB being complete wusses and politicians not having a clue what they are talking about I don't think any side comes out of it looking very clever. The main problem is the stupid wallmart type shops who refuse to stock AO games (though they have DVDs with just as much adult content next to them) because of some misguided idea that games are just for kids. Then they wonder why no-one wants their games rated AO. Then M becomes the new AO. Then shops stop selling M games, and so on... [edit]though of course its bound to have some unfortunate unexpected side effects, everything does these days: The decision could have a sweeping impact on the industry as a whole. The decision forces the ESRB to consider Easter eggs, hidden content and perhaps even the ability to mod a game in rating future games. It also could lead to a crack-down by the industry on the modding community, forcing game developers to spend more time making their games mod and crack proof lest they be held responsible for some future modification of their game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrotoy7 Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 *points at giggles at censorship Nazis* too bad I dont play GTA to care about this too much, but this is just a tad silly.... Great publicity for Rockstar and GTA tho Every 12yo kids gonna drop their new Harry Potter book and want GTA from momz NOW Naked Jan had a camel-toe btw mtfbwya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toms Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Price is sure gonna go up on ebay It is kind of daft that a game in which you can kill, maim, steal, carjack etc.. get its rating changed because you get to see some non-explicit sex. Weird priorities there. Of course, in the UK its had an 18 certificate from the beginning, but then unlike the US that isn't a problem as non of the major retailers here refuse to stock 18/AO games and its probably even an advantage - marketing wise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Sitherino Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Originally posted by Astrotoy7 *points at giggles at censorship Nazis* too bad I dont play GTA to care about this too much, but this is just a tad silly.... Great publicity for Rockstar and GTA tho Every 12yo kids gonna drop their new Harry Potter book and want GTA from momz NOW Naked Jan had a camel-toe btw ^ Agreed. Especially about the nekkid Jan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BongoBob Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Originally posted by toms [edit]though of course its bound to have some unfortunate unexpected side effects, everything does these days: The decision could have a sweeping impact on the industry as a whole. The decision forces the ESRB to consider Easter eggs, hidden content and perhaps even the ability to mod a game in rating future games. It also could lead to a crack-down by the industry on the modding community, forcing game developers to spend more time making their games mod and crack proof lest they be held responsible for some future modification of their game. Now, that pisses me off. One of the greatest things about pc games is the ability to make mods. It's what I love about them, and the entire reason I get some games on PC. Watch them change sims rating to M now. Just watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TK-8252 Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Originally posted by Tokarev I find the ESRB non-trustworthy after this. Yeah, and that's truely sad. Are they going by the content of the game, or what the politicians are pressuring? ADULTS ONLY Titles rated AO (Adults Only) have content that should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity Oh... so nudity gets an AO rating? I thought it was the sex scenes. Now the Sims deserves an AO rating because a modder disabled the nudity censor. And what about The Guy Game? All it's about is seeing nude chicks. Yet it has only an M rating. Geez, this proves that all the politicians target is what's hot in society... It also could lead to a crack-down by the industry on the modding community, forcing game developers to spend more time making their games mod and crack proof lest they be held responsible for some future modification of their game. That is one of the most retarded things I've ever read and I hope those who made this decision feel ashamed of themselves. So the developer suffers because some modder wants to make pixel porn? So the entire modding community and all those who download mods suffer because of the one or two nudity mods that are out on the internet? What about games that aren't likely to have nudity mods and don't even have girls in them, like Battlefield? Originally posted by toms Between Rockstar acting like idiots They could have easily argued their way out of this if they pointed out all the other games that got by with an M rating. ...And they could have pointed out that anyone who deems nudity to be worse than murder is a god damn idiot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TiE23 Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Originally posted by BongoBob Now, that pisses me off. One of the greatest things about pc games is the ability to make mods. It's what I love about them, and the entire reason I get some games on PC. Watch them change sims rating to M now. Just watch. Add UT 2003/4 and HL2 to that list. Originally posted by Astrotoy7 Naked Jan had a camel-toe btw mtfbwya You should check out the HL2 Nude Alyx skin thing... bump mapping helps >_> Originally posted by TK-8252 Oh... so nudity gets an AO rating? I thought it was the sex scenes. Now the Sims deserves an AO rating because a modder disabled the nudity censor. No, your wrong about that, in the Sims 2 the sims have the genetalia of manequins. So when the censor bar disapears, giving you nippleless and crotchless bodies. Hell, my sister plays without it cause its really stupid looking. And then you download new skins that have the nipples and stuff painted on. That whole make it AO rated. But Maxis did not make that, that is a third party modification, and if you do not want it, don't teach your 10 yearold how to download the skins and how to install them. TiE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BongoBob Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 It's not because of the nudity, but because of the *EXTREMELY* fake sex scenes. That doesn't make it any less retarted though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TK-8252 Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Originally posted by BongoBob It's not because of the nudity, but because of the *EXTREMELY* fake sex scenes. But the description of AO says nudity... ADULTS ONLY Titles rated AO (Adults Only) have content that should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity Which is really, REALLY retarded because for some reason, seeing the human body is worse than going out and murdering people... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Sitherino Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Originally posted by TiE 23 No, your wrong about that, in the Sims 2 the sims have the genetalia of manequins. So when the censor bar disapears, giving you nippleless and crotchless bodies. Hell, my sister plays without it cause its really stupid looking. And then you download new skins that have the nipples and stuff painted on. That whole make it AO rated. But Maxis did not make that, that is a third party modification, and if you do not want it, don't teach your 10 yearold how to download the skins and how to install them. TiE He said Sims though, as in the first one. In which they weren't manequin'd. Originally posted by TK-8252 Which is really, REALLY retarded because for some reason, seeing the human body is worse than going out and murdering people... Penis' are evil and funbags are a sin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukeskywalker1 Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 I could be wrong, but I bet that RockStar didn't write a disclaimer about mods like LucasArts and did with JK2 and JKA. And if they did.. .then... well, I guess I'll shut up... lol. I say this because Max Payne, and Max Payne 2 are both Single Player games, that can be modded and Rockstar gives no disclaimer. But the JK series manuels say clearly that LucasArts is NOT responsible for these mods, and no legal crap can happen to them because of a mod. This prevents "nude jan" skins from changing a T rated JK game, to a AO rated JK game. Not to mention, many games today say "game experience is likley to change online" underneath of the rating. Technically, this should apply to mods, even though GTA isn't an online game. But crap, I really don't care, as the series means nothing to me. This is one reason why I am sticking with consoles. Mods are great, and I loved editing the JK games, but I have a lot legal concerns. You know.. copywrite infringment, etc... And yeah, places like walmart and maybe gamestop will pull this game off the shelves immediatly. I have never seen an AO game in a store. Ever. I can't really say I have looked for one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neverhoodian Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 In a way, I'm not surprised at this latest development in the whole "Hot Coffee" incident. The edgy, controversial tone and widespread popularity of the Grand Theft Auto series have caused the series to be targeted in the past by politicians and special interest groups numerous times. Though I disagree with claims that Rockstar's games and gaming as a whole are the cause of youth violence and "moral degradation," I have to admit that Rockstar practically asked for this latest development. They were the ones who designed the sex mini-game in the first place, after all. Even though it was never officially included in the game, the data is still there nonetheless. I'm sure they were also well aware that there are mod communities for practically every PC game out there (as well as folks who illegally tamper with consoles) who literally volunteer their own spare time to unearth such secrets. They are also undoubtedly well aware of their infamy amongst certain politicians and interest groups, who waste no opportunity to demonize their games. Even though I think it's unfortunate that this incident has grown to the magnitude that it is today, I have to say that Rockstar was simply looking for trouble this time around. That said, however, I am annoyed (though not particularly surprised) at the latent hypocrisy in all of this. San Andreas is not the only recent game that contains scenes of nudity. God of War (which was rated "M") contains nudity, and you don't even have to play The Guy Game (again, rated "M") to realize that it's all about naked women. Yet those games slipped under the radar, with only scattered protests that fell on deaf ears. Just one little mini-game that wasn't even meant to be played though, and San Andreas gets the "AO" rating slapped on it. If the ESRB is concerned about nudity, why haven't God of War and The Guy Game been given "AO" ratings as well? It ticks me off that gaming always seems to get the most negative publicity for things like this and all the blame for the latest Columbine or other socially/morally unacceptable act. Gaming is but one facet of a vast entertainment market, with practially every facet of it containing similar amounts of violent or sexually oriented material. Radio stations play rap tunes with lyrics about humping ho's and b*tches and capping folks, but no one seems to complain. Kids can go to "R" rated movies as long as an adult comes along, but no one seems to complain. The internet is the largest provider of porn and smut, but no one seems to complain. Parents have a big role to play as well. One time when I was buying a used game at GameStop, a mother came in looking for an Xbox game for her kids. Without really thinking about it, I recommended Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30. When an employee at the counter asked her how old her children were, she told him that they were five to seven years old. Upon hearing that, both I and the employee tried fervently to persuade her to buy a more family-friendly game, telling her that Brothers in Arms contains intense violence and strong language (one of the few games where the "f-word" is used liberally without censoring). She decided to go with Brothers in Arms anyway, despite our best efforts to politely dissuade her. Indeed, it seemed that our arguments that it might be too mature for children actually helped her decide on buying it. I've been more cautious in my game recommendations after that particular incident. She isn't the only parent, either. In my latest issue of Game Informer, it stated that over half of parents in a European study of video games say they don't care what games their kids buy, even if they might not like its content. Now I'm not saying that games should be regulated in sales to minors by rating, but I would like a little more common sense to be used. Every child is different, and different kids can handle potentially violent/sexual or disturbing scenes at different ages. It should be up the parent to know what their child can handle as well as the child knowing their own limitations. I guess what I'm trying to say is that gaming is too often the scapegoat. There are so many factors to take into account that one simply cannot blame a single aspect for all of society's woes. Dang, this has become one marathon post! I didn't mean to carry on this long. Well, if you're still awake after reading this, I thank you for your time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Sitherino Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Let's not forget the playboy game. Seen it at blockbuster a few times when getting games around the s and p letters. It's only M, yet you know playboy = nude models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acdcfanbill Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 ****! they gave in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TiE23 Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Originally posted by InsaneSith He said Sims though, as in the first one. In which they weren't manequin'd. They were manequin'd, they never included nudity. Besides, in the Sims, you could move the shower the sim was in and it would remove the bar with it, and they were still manequin'd. Proof: annnndd: Listen to the guy who has been playing the Sims since 1999, thanks. TiE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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