GTA San Andreas given AO rating

[OldW]

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

For full story, go herehttp://ir.take2games.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=169278

[Leadbones]

Seems the sort of game that should be adults only anyways.  If a parent is ok with their sub-18 child playing this game then, they should get it for them.  Relying on retailers to selectively sell games won't work, as they want their money.  It's not the sort of thing that's well kept track of...yet.  If I was still under 18 this might piss me off, but even then, my parents were confident in my "reality vs. fantasy" detection skills and they would have got it for me if I had the money for it.  I detest all forms of physical violence and abuse in life, but enjoy the hell out of it in games.

[WebbPA]

I agree completely, LB, but you have to understand the American mentality.

In America you can show all the blood and guts violence you want and get a teen rating.  Once you show a breast or 2 you an adult rating - I can't figure it out.

I suspect I'm a little older than you are.  Here are some movies that my parents wouldn't allow me see when I was a teen:

Easy Rider
The Exorcist
Apocalypse Now

I hated them for it then but maybe they weren't that far off.  At least they took some control over what I saw.

[Leadbones]

I guess this would be a good time to tell you that I am an American.  The problem with sex and violence is that most Americans don't even realize what the real effects of images and music are.  It's become such a white Christian mainstream finger pointing festival, that real cause and effect escape rationalization.  Some American kid shoot eachother, it's musics fault.  Rich white kid steals a car and shoots a cop, it's blamed on video games.  All the idiots in my beloved country love blaming someone else for their own problems, and the politicians capitalize on it for votes.  Hillary Clinton doesn't give a damn about GTA, she just wants American parents to think that it's video games that are damaging children, not their faulty child rearing philosophies.

[ozzy72]

ARGH, this argument again.  Video games do NOT make decisions for you.  I've played GTA games ever since I could legally own them, and I haven't shot anyone or stolen cars.  The only wreck I've ever been in was when the guy who hit me was pushed into me by the guy who hit HIM.  I hear on the news, some kid says it's GTA's fault that he did this violent crime, and I just wanna slap him across the face.  People don't wanna take responsibility for their own actions anymore, I see it every day.

Dun get me wrong, these games aren't apropriate for the little ones.  I was appalled when I saw a 10-year-old kid at EB one day (with his mother) trading an M-rated GTA for an M-rated True Crime.  The game should be controlled, but not by the govt.  Parents need to take more responsibility.


About the mod.  Is it truly in violation of the EULA?  I've seen HUNDREDS of mods for HUNDREDS of games, just look at the SimV freeware library!  I dont see any of US getting sued.  What's so special about this one?  I know what the mod is, I've seen the reviews.  How does it violate the EULA?  Is it the content, or the fact that you have to edit the game's base files to make it work?

My story, stickin' to it.

[Leadbones]

I suspect you are not only a bit older than me, but your parents kept you under a much tighter security watch than mine also.  The thing that get's me upset about this ruling is that the people claiming this software is harmful don't know enough about games to understand how harmless they really are.  This is a mod you have to download and install.  Any kid who has the resources to do that, already has free access to all the porn he needs anyways.  Politicians take advantage of these amoral pushovers by focusing attention on whatever media is hot at the time.  They only do it for votes and publicity.  It's like the drug counselor at school, who's never touched a joint in his life, telling you how any and all drug use is certain to screw up your life forever.

[the_autopilot]

People under 18 will still be able to get it eaily. this new change means little.

As for the reason why this took place, its stupid. Its dumb christians who can't stand a single sexual reference and who think their religion should rule over everyone else. Its non-patriotic chistrians who believe in censorship and religion (their religon) in the government. I'm sorry if I've offended you, but this kind of subject really gets me riled up. I don't hate christians or anything. I just dislike chistrians (or any person) who give their religion a bad rep.

Plus, you have to install a mod to get it. Its not in the orginal gameplay.

[WebbPA]

I don't think it's fair to blame it on the "dumb Christians".  The original rant came from Hillary Clinton, hardly a "dumb Christian".

Hillary needs to score some points with political conservatives and GTA was an easy target at the right time.

You could easily modify FS scenery to show couples copulating but it has never, to my knowledge, been done.  We are more mature than that.  Does that mean that IF it is done FS should receive an AO rating?  After all, MS publishes a guide on how to modify scenery.

[Scorpiоn]

I read it was originally programmed in there, and with a simple cheat code or something it was unlocked.  The important thing to consider here is if it was included with the original game, and as I see it, it was.  Now if some sikko comes along and makes a mod with all these "unmentionable" things in them, that's a different story.

[Mobius]

It was originally programmed in but to unlock it on the computer you need to download the mod, and to unlock it on the PS2 version I heard it takes literally hours of entering codes and different things.

[ozzy72]

I'm locking this thread due to a breach of the NO RELIGION rule and the NO POLITICS rule