GTA:San Andreas now Rated Adults Only
 

http://ir.take2games.com/ReleaseDeta...leaseID=169278

So it goes from being M and 17+ now to AO and 18+

When you put it like that it seems like no big deal. However, that means that one of the largest videogame retailers in the world will now pull it from their shelves. Walmart has never sold AO rated games and I doubt they will start now.

All the major retailers are pulling it from their shelves, and they're working on a new version without the code to bring it down to M again.

wait wait wait, so a hidden thread of code in the game that can basically only be accessed on the PC version gets all the versions bumped up to AO, thats fucking pathetic, i hate our political leaders who think this is a bigger problem then poverty in america or any other major problem

While I think it is stupid that some hidden sex mini-game is causing in uproar when it is in a game that is already obviously not for a younger crowd, I do think it is a good thing that this is causing the ESRB to rethink their ratings and game review process. I think what they have already done is great, but getting more objective criteria and more unambiguous ratings would be a big help in keeping the decency police away.

This would have sucked 13 years ago, but since i'm THIRTY I don't see the problem with it.

We got a call from our higher-up manager today, telling us to pull all versions of GTA:SA indefinitely. Initially we didn't get a reason, so we called our competitor EB Games and they had a similar order, but to add "AO 18+" stickers to their San Andreas stock.

Oh BTW, from what I've heard, thank Hillary Clinton for that one. I don't care tho, makes it easier for me to turn down all the 10 year olds asking for the game.

One more thing... a single quirk only accessible on the PC version that shows some sexual act makes the whole game null and void, but ignore all the other fucking violence in the game! Holy shit society has its priorities backwords!

Sheesh, Americans. Kids need the internet for the mod, right?
Find me ONE UNDERAGED MALE WITH THE INTERNET WHO DOES NOT HAVE LARGE AMOUNTS OF PORNOGRAPHY. I dare you.

its accessable on the PS2 version as well.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/news.php?date=2005-07-20

Just read.

Thank you! Violent acts on television, no problem. Janet Jackson shows a partially covered nipple, everyone freaks out. You're absolutely right on this one. :thumbsup:

Stumped...

Well, to be fair people have been bitching about the violence and implied sex with hookers in the GTA games for years now, but this gives them another opportunity to try to convince us that the evil videogames are bringing about the downfall of civilization as we know it or something.

Don't you just love the attention of the politicians, you know instead of doing something useful lets target video games. Wow, gotta love democracy..

i don't see how the sex mini-game has anything to do with the rating anyway - its not like its PART of the game. You actually have to intentionally circumvent the games code to make it work. Isn't it easier to just scope out some porno? Seriously, less effort, better returns.

That's too weird. I don't understand how a game's rating can be changed based on third-party software that is illegally added by the user. I mean, that means that basically every game has to be rated AO, since any idiot with a knowledge of textures can make a mod that does that for basically anything.

Parents, keep track of your own goddamn kids and stop blaming companies for things you should be responsible for.

Sex mini game? GTA:SA. Have I missed something?

So is it accesable on the PS2 or no?

All of the GTA games have been 18+ from the beginning in the UK.
I don't see how age restrictions make a difference anyway. A lot of people who are underage just get their parents or someone old enough to buy it for them

The sex scene doesn't show any nudity. It still should be rated mature. The girl is naked but you really can't see any details. You know what there doing and thats about it. CJ has his clothes on! :|

The difference between this and something like the Tomb Raider Nude Patch is that this was placed in the game by the developers but not actively unlockable for one reason or another (avoiding the AO rating the most likely reason), whereas the Nude Raider Patch is entirely supplied by the horny idiot.

But it's still a lot of bullshit, since many shipped game have assets that are included but never used. I mean, congress might as well blame the ingenuity of the consumer that found this and penalize them.

Hell, they showed a clip of it on the 6pm news here. I'm just.. stunned. Game devs in the US must be hurting, with all the shit they can be held responsible for now.

I agree...all the violence is ok for a M rating, but show some really bad polygonal nudity and now its AO????

So what's next? Are they going to start and target mods? I know this was unlocked cause its in the game, but that doesn't stop those that are ignorant from targetting a Tomb Raider or Sims that have 3rd party mods.

Well, it isnt a third part, the develpoers had it in the code the whole time, just tucked away. Its on the ps2 version as well, and from what I hear you can access it with a Gameshark. They are trying to come out with further realeases of GTA:SA without that code to get the M rating again.

Who cares? It probably looks stupid anyway

Yeah this just blows my mind. Like people before me have commented, being able to blow peoples heads off is apparently totally fine. But the second a hint of sex comes around, we have to stop it. I mean think of the children!
Honestly, the US (And maybe other countries as well) is way to uptight when it comes to sex.

I think the game should be AO because of the violence. I think kids even young teenagers shouldn't be allowed access to San Andreas. I'm old fashioned, but that's where I'm at. I wouldn't let my 12 or 13 year old bring that into our house. The sex just pushes it over the top. The violence already stopped me from buying it.

The violence in GTA is over-rated, to the utmost extreme. Any impact it may have is almost completely made moot by the fact that it's so abstract to really cause any reaction. Things shot at in the game are targets, remember, not living breathing creatures, and if kids know the difference between the two a computer game isn't going to make them forget it.

The key to having a child be able to know the difference is good parenting. In every form of media, there's going to be someone who won't be able to distinguish between fantasy and reality and they're the ones who will make the evening news.

I'm just curious as to which "great parenting" technique you would use on your children to justify their intaking graphic violent scenes, and having them know the difference between reality and fiction. "Okay Jimmy, it's important for you to know the difference between a computer generated man kicking a man until blood squirts out his brains and a real man doing it. As long as you never kick a man until he bleeds, you will be fine. You can keep watching violence of any form as long as you promise never to do it."

No matter how you say it, I can't picture a scenario where I'm sitting my kid down and teaching him to know the difference, and appreciate the difference between real and fictional violence. I'm not saying I'd shelter my child; they're going to be exposed to it eventually. But I wonder if I wouldn't be condoning/celebrating it if I have games like San Andreas in my home.

Even with an M rating the game wasn't supposed to be in the hands of anyone under the age of 17. All an AO rating does is push the age limit up one year and make some retailers not carry the game.

That's America.

Violence = Teh Okay
Sex= OMGWTFBBQ!

I'm not saying that great parenting is having them intake graphically violent scenes. Please don't put words in my mouth.

I'm saying that great parenting is having a good understanding of what your child is ready for and exposing them to life experiences under appropriate supervision so that they can at least be emotionally, mentally, and physically ready to handle situations in a way that is appropriate.

If a teenage kid (yes, 13+) is changed or influenced by violence or sex in videogames then I honestly believe they have issues. I'll be 22 this year. I've been into videogames since my early childhood. My parents let me play violent videogames when I was 10+ (to my surprise). I've grown up to be perfectly fine. I do not think downward upon women. I do not think violence is the answer to anything. The only feeling I'm left with is wondering what kind of fucked up teenager would let a videogame get to him. There's way worse problems with the kid than videogames if he is influenced negatively by them.

I think it's bullshit that Rockstar and Take Two are getting slapped with the AO now. Why? Because the content was not intended for use by gamers, period. A third party mod unlocked content on the CD that was NOT supposed to be in the game. It's just code that was left locked because it would probably take more time and money to remove it. I'd be having words about legal issues if I were Rockstar or Take Two...they're being fucked over here. That's like adding C4 to a vehicle and blowing up a building with it...and blaming it on the vehicle manufacturer because all of the wiring in the car allowed the bomb to be built. Ridiculous.

-Lasereth

I'd say that the only was the ESRB could redeem themselves here would be to start giving out the AO rating more for games... it's obvious that this one game/company has been targeted, but if more games in the future start getting AO instead of M, it may well just work out...

Of course, this would possibly screw up the whole game industry if stores continue to not stock AO rated games... I dunno really, but I agree with the fact that the rating should've been more influenced by the violence than anything else...

I'm most disappointed in Best Buy for pulling the game. Walmart, Target, etc. I can stomach (cuz they pretend to be so "family friendly"), but if Best Buy is going to pull this, why not God of War (nudity in bed scenes), or, say, 1/2 the fucking DVD's they sell?

Maddox has done an article on this, which shows most other peoples sentimetns here. Still is quite funny :)

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse....ticket_to_hell

This is such bullshit. An AO rating is beyod unnecessary. AO implies hardcore porn, this is nowhere near hardcore porn. What's worse is that the people flapping their heads all 'GTA is teh evol' have no fucking clue what they are talking about. There is nothing in teh game that is worse than an R rated move, therefore MA is appropriate.

Here's a movie of the content. Enjoy! :)

http://www.gametrailers.com/player.php?id=6810&type=wmv
or
http://www.gametrailers.com/player.php?id=6810&type=mov

Edit: !!!!NOT SAFE FOR WORK!!!!

That is hilarious. Cartoon boobs, and CJ is totally clothed.

Well we could blame DICE and Battlefield 2 for that one...

A buddy of mine went to EB and picked it up. It wasn't on the shelves, but he asked for it and they sold it. I'm sure that many retailers will do the same. They are in this business for one thing money, not stopping people from buying what they want. The stores know people want it, so they will go where they can find the game. If it is only available online, then so be it, people will buy it online. EB, Gamestop, Bestbuy, etc... should be responsible and put it behind a counter, but to pull the game completely will only hurt them.

Although Take Two is saying that they project to lose 1.1 million because of this, I wouldn't be surprised if their sales skyrocket as people want to find this game.

All too true.

I think you're right. Trying to split hairs on why it's "ok" to hurt people in a fictional situation and not "ok" to do it in real life isn't the way to go, especially if you're talking to a younger kid. I think the better tact is to shy away from ideas about "right" and "wrong" and talk about what effect violence has on a situation. Take, for example, GTA: if you kill someone for their money, there's a chance you'll get a star. The more people you kill, the more people want to kill you. You always die in the end. That seems like a good example of violence never working out to me.

IMO, there are too many examples in our world (not just video games, but movies and books as well) where characters use violence for "good" to just tell kids that violence is never the answer. We, as a society, have proved that we sometimes believe violence is necessary. I think it's better not to go after if killing/attacking/hurting people is right or wrong, but what the alternatives are and how they're better (because they usually are).

I think you actually have to watch the kids playing the game, to determine if there's a problem. It's a tricky thing, but, you need to work out if they're shooting people or targets, if you follow me.

Does anyone have (or know where to find) a list of what retailers will still sell this game? I've been putting it off for a combination of lack of $50 and still having 5 games I haven't beat yet on Xbox, but now I fee like I'm stuck (or will have to pay extra to get it)

Gogamer still has it.

http://www.gogamer.com/

Can I get one of those cool AO stickers for my copy?

Uh-oh. Now The Sims is a pedophile training tool. Goddamn, is there no end to right-wing stupidity?

Stores are still offering as far as I'm concerned, you just have to specifically ask for it or something like that. But either way, it won't take them long to just make a new batch of games with the AO sticker on them.

Then again, M$ first came out at launch and said that no Xbox games would be rated AO. Now that this has happened, its going to make for some interesting news bits in the future. Good luck, I still have my copy of the game with M on it. :D

This is just getting fucking ridiculous. I hope that all these idiots come to realize that all this entertainment media can be subverted in one way or another and to impose these ridiculous restrictions on the gaming industry is absolutely stupid.

Unfortunately, Hillary Clinton had her hand in the GTA fiasco, so this thing isn't right-wing stupidity, it's technological ignorance.

And gee, theres a money-hungry attorney that's behind it..

You know if the kids have access to the mod to get to have sex in GTA San Andreas, then they have the ability to get tons of free porn. That's how I see it...

Any PC game that can be modified could contain adult content with modification. If parents choose not to police their children's gaming and internet use, then I believe they are washing their hands clean of the issue. These seem to be the people complaining.
Hillary Clinton saw something people were upset about, and championed the cause to get her name out there. It's all just political agenda. I doubt she really cares anyways. I also doubt she's ever even had sex, but that's another issue for another day. Don't mean to turn to personal attacks, but it was there, so I went for it. It's more of a Bill joke anyways.

Why is it ok to slaughter innocents overseas, but wrong to have hidden porn in mature rated video games?

Actually, I didn't have to download the mod to access the sex scenes in GTA:SA on my PC. It was simply a part of completing a mission. At least that's how it was with the latina (I forget her name - the crazy one). CJ did keep his clothes on though. I guess a polygonal schlong would've been just a bit too much for GTA's target demographic to handle.

If you wanna talk Superbowl, how about Nicolet Sheridan's back? OMG it's a BARE BACK! WTF! I DON'T WANT MY KIDS TO SEE A BARE BACK, WHICH THEY CAN SEE IF THEY WALK THE FUCK OUTSIDE!

Argh...I have a theory that all these right-wing fanatics know that what they condemn isn't wrong, but if they can look like a responsible person by condemning it, they won't think twice. Can someone say insecurity?

I say we make Hillary Clinton wear a burkha for the rest of her life.

Okay, here's a question to argue the other side of the point. Should this game have been AO before all this hubub simply for the sheer amount of violence in the game?

What is the line between M and AO? What should the line be?

Heck no. The violence in GTA, graphically, is extremely tame. Kill Bill was far worse, and that only hit R 18+ here because of exposed brains.

The line is "sexual themes" and "graphic sexual content".

http://www.gtasanandreas.net/news/single.php?id=1766

Hi-larious.

Nice link. That does bring up a good point though. If those crackpots in Washington manage to bump Sims 2 up to a more mature rating from T, does that mean Barbie dolls, which can be readily disrobed by the end user, should be only sold to people 17 and up? :lol:

This entire situation baffles me.

As we all know, M is 17+ . What's a rated R movie? 17+. What rating was Basic Instinct, which had LOADS of graphic sex? R.

Not only that, but... it's NOT okay to see these pixellated sex scene if you're 17, however, a year later, you are of ripe age to experience it in it's entirety? There's really no difference between 17 and 18, and I don't understand why they aren't seeing this.

What this is is a bunch of people in power that honestly have NO IDEA what the hell they're talking about and completely lack any sign of logic and reasoning. They should NOT be in the positions there were elected to and should be removed immediately... yet no one sees this.

You need to go online with the INTENT of applying this patch to unlock the code. Now, if you had the ability to do that, you also have the ability and know-how to access unlimited amounts of hardcore porn.

If someone wants to see sex, they will see it - plain and simple.

I would like to see one VALID reason why sex is so bad, yet all the violence is perfectly okay. Seriously, WHY is sex so bad that we have to censor it to this extent? It's a natural part of life, everyone does it. You wouldn't be here if it wasn't for sex. It shouldn't be censored.

There's all this fuss to "protect children", but guess what? When parents' backs are turned, their kids are swearing up a storm. If there's a rated R movie, they're gonna watch it.

Enough of this fucking control and censorship - it's getting out of hand and is completely contradicting everything this country was founded upon.

I came to think about that too. I have a few theories about M which is for 17+ and AO which is 18+

1. Most stores dont even carry adult so it harder to get ahold of. They are not worried about the 17 or 18 year olds but rather before the big WalMarts and Targets started to ID whenever a M game was scanned, any kid with 50 bucks could easily get the game themselves.

1.5 Also Parents teld to get all these games at Walmart and Target. If they were to go onto any gamer website and buy the game then they would see its Adults Only and more likely than not no get it for them.

2. 18 year olds tend to hang out with older crowds. Sure they might be seniors in high schoool for a little bit but that extra year from 17 to 18 is a big difference in who they hang out with. Less chance from getting a game from a senior from a junior (note I said LESS chance, its not bulletproof Same reason for the alcohol age)

Comments?

Update: FTC to investigate Rockstar Games

http://biz.gamedaily.com/features.as...feature&email=

Secondary update: The modder responds to Clinton, Yee, and Thompson.

http://biz.gamedaily.com/articles.as...n=news&days=-1

I'd also like to throw in that every game company is required to submit a tape to the ESRB demonstrating gameplay which may be considered questionable. So it very well could be Rockstar's fault for omitting the sex scenes. I say this because like Coppertop said, he was able to access the hot coffee scenes without any sort of modding.

And the lawsuits begin..

This one is a 85-year old grandma that bought it for a 14 year old grandson...

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...o_game_lawsuit

Ugh, these people are disgusting and need to be shot.

I don't know wtf people don't get about, "You have to MODIFY THE GAME TO UNLOCK THE CONTENT."

Just another money grubbing POS.

Oh wow, it's totally banned in Australia now. The ratings board revoked it's rating, so it's illegal to sell or hire the game. A bit much for some fully-clothed badly animated sex, eh? I doubt they even did much more than read the US news about it, for fuck's sake. I'm quickly losing faith in humanity.

I am still wondering why this game is all the hype at the moment when there is Leisure Suit Larry and I havent heard anything about that....

That was banned in Australia, too. It's a date rape simulator, apparently. We don't get Postal, either. Strangely enough, orders for Postal 2 are surprisingly high from .au...

Or how about Max Payne 2, where typing in an actual CHEAT CODE, not a mod, let you see one of the main characters fully nude.

-Lasereth

How soon is the new version being released? This is fucking stupid how many stores won't carry this now. I can't find it ANYWHERE in my town.

even. www.gogamer.com is sold out! AUGGGGHHHHHH!

OK, i'm better now. They were selling it at my local EB Games. You just had to "ask for it" because they wouldn't display it.

BTW, fuck everyone selling it on eBay for $99. Bastards.