Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments
Search

News for nerds, stuff that matters

Slashdot Log In

Log In

Create Account  |  Retrieve Password

ESRB Revokes San Andreas Rating

Posted by Zonk on Wed Jul 20, 2005 04:26 PM
from the wow dept.
Entertainment Games
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.'"
+ -
story
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

ESRB Revokes San Andreas Rating 50 Comments More /

 Full
 Abbreviated
 Hidden
More
Loading... please wait.

  • People are still having sex (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 20 2005, @04:27PM (#13117339)
    This makes me want to kill the ESRB board, but I will do one better, I will run around naked in front of them. Well at least now we have a new scapegoat, the Doom one was getting old...

    • Re:People are still having sex (Score:5, Funny)

      by Valiss (463641) on Wednesday July 20 2005, @04:32PM (#13117421) Homepage
      This makes me want to kill the ESRB board, but I will do one better, I will run around naked in front of them.

      Whoa! Hold up there, champ. It's one thing to threaten some violence, but threatening nudity? Now you've gone too far! Think of the children!!

      • Re:People are still having sex (Score:5, Insightful)

        by arkanes (521690) <arkanes&gmail,com> on Wednesday July 20 2005, @07:37PM (#13119426) Homepage
        No, they got the M rating based on the game as shipped. I can make my desktop background tiled pictures of enourmous penises with less effort than it would take anyone to unlock this content in GTA. Where the hell is the AO rating on Windows?

        In fairness, Tycho [penny-arcade.com] 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.

        • Re:People are still having sex (Score:5, Insightful)

          by BackInIraq (862952) on Thursday July 21 2005, @03:31AM (#13122107)
          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.

        • Re:People are still having sex (Score:5, Insightful)

          by Lemmy Caution (8378) on Wednesday July 20 2005, @08:21PM (#13119718) Homepage
          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.

  • In other news... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by DeathPenguin (449875) * on Wednesday July 20 2005, @04:27PM (#13117342)
    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.

    • Re:In other news... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by fbartho (840012) on Wednesday July 20 2005, @04:34PM (#13117445) Homepage
      I personally think its gotta get boring to have to keep repeating that mantra over and over again. You're a parent, its your job to raise your kids. Its ultimately your responsibility. All these social systems to supposedly protect your children are really there to protect your children if you don't do a good enough job in protecting them yourself. This means that broadcast TV had pressures to be family oriented, both because parents wanted to be able to watch things with their kids, but also because TV would be a convenient device that serves as an electronic nanny. As long as the runt is glued to the TV/Game Console, they can't fall down the stairs with scissors. The problem comes from the things we don't normally view as sharp/dangerous, that are corrupting our kids minds. Raising a kid is a full-time job, at times more than even 2 people can comfortably handle. There is risk in the real world, but every parent has to choose what is an acceptable risk level for kids. If they err on the side of danger, their kids may get hurt, and it will be their fault.

    • Re:In other news... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Rei (128717) on Wednesday July 20 2005, @05:15PM (#13117963) Homepage
      Bah! Captain Obvious is one to talk, given that his video game ("Captain Obvious vs. the Braindead Senators") had a patch that enabled such a scene as well (in which, for the most part) Captain Obvious stood on the sidelines, watching and snidely pointing out the fundamentals every time one participant did something wrong).

      • Re:In other news... (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Sheetrock (152993) on Wednesday July 20 2005, @04:50PM (#13117677) Homepage Journal
        Since this "tough on media violence/obscenity" rhetoric has been stepped up again, I've noticed at two stores a new policy of asking for a birthdate or age before selling both games and movies with an ESRB M/MPAA R rating. No carding yet, although I bet it happens if you look younger than 17 or the checkout staff is in a bad mood.

        It's annoying enough that I'm just buying my media online now.

        What bothers me is that irregardless of the fact that this game is effectively a murder/obscenity simulator that should never fall into the hands of children forcing Rockstar to recall/modify their game or be relabeled AO is effectively censorship, albeit one that takes advantage of economics rather than legal force to effect the views of the minority over the majority. Most stores refuse to carry AO titles and therefore artificially decrease the audience for the game, putting severe pressure on the manufacturer to cater to the distribution chain by watering down their content or simply shelve products that would have been successes but for the fact that they are offered only through adult-only resellers (a chilling effect on customers who simply want to enjoy a game released as the developer intended without having porn businesses appear on their credit card statements.)

      • Re:In other news... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Ravatar (891374) on Wednesday July 20 2005, @05:16PM (#13117983)
        Rockstar did not give out documentation on how to enable the mod, and included no mechanics to access it. A game should not be rated by third party patches and mods.

        There are nude patches for the Sims, but you don't see little Suzie being carded for a new expansion every month, and you certainly don't see it getting slapped with a M or AO rating.

  • In further news... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Werkhaus (549466) on Wednesday July 20 2005, @04:28PM (#13117346)
    People found to be naked under clothes.

  • No Sex please, we are Br^H^H (Score:5, Funny)

    by DF5JT (589002) <df5jt@qsl.net> on Wednesday July 20 2005, @04:28PM (#13117359) Homepage
    Merkins.

    'Nuff said.

  • nice publicity (Score:5, Interesting)

    by lecithin (745575) on Wednesday July 20 2005, @04:29PM (#13117376)
    "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."

    Right. Sure.

    What would the reason be to put it in there then? Perhaps the publicity that they are getting now? My 8 y/o son would not have known about GTA except that it has been in the news lately. (Yep, an 8 y/o that watches the news)

    "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."

    Well, I suspect that most will put a sticker on the game and continue to sell as usual. I also suspect that if a 15 y/o wants to buy one, they still will be able to do so.

    • Re:nice publicity (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Acy James Stapp (1005) on Wednesday July 20 2005, @04:40PM (#13117539)
      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.

    • Re:nice publicity (Score:5, Informative)

      by the_skywise (189793) on Wednesday July 20 2005, @04:43PM (#13117584)
      As an ex-game programmer, there's TONS of stuff we left in various games. Some intentional, some not so intentional.

      I can't speak for how GTA is setup, but in our case some of the stuff went out because of a lock down in the code/data. When *any* change would be considered a potential to introduce bugs it was safer to lock down *everything* and go as it was.

  • Hmm.. (Score:5, Informative)

    by trmj (579410) <tmacfarlan@gmaDEBIANil.com minus distro> on Wednesday July 20 2005, @04:29PM (#13117377) Journal
    I believe that Penny Arcade's [penny-arcade.com] news and comic today sum up this whole situation best.

  • The Video (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 20 2005, @04:29PM (#13117378)
    GTA San Andreas "Hot Coffee"

    Coral Cache of some of the content in question:

    http://files.gtanet.com.nyud.net:8090/gtasa/videos /hotcoffee.wmv [nyud.net]

    Get it while it's hot?

  • 17+, 18+, whatever... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ivan256 (17499) * on Wednesday July 20 2005, @04:31PM (#13117405)
    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.

  • A generation is saved! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by TopShelf (92521) on Wednesday July 20 2005, @04:36PM (#13117476) Homepage Journal
    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...

  • Beginning of the End (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Shky (703024) <shkyoleary.gmail@com> on Wednesday July 20 2005, @04:39PM (#13117517) Homepage Journal
    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.

  • sex? (Score:5, Funny)

    by DanThe1Man (46872) on Wednesday July 20 2005, @04:43PM (#13117578)
    I can get sex in a patch now? Like Nicorette?

    That would save a lot of wrist strain.

  • Hillary using it to get re-elected... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by HockeyPuck (141947) on Wednesday July 20 2005, @04:50PM (#13117680)
    In other news...

    Hillary Clinton (who makes ~$162k http://people.howstuffworks.com/question449.htm [howstuffworks.com]) 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 [bbc.co.uk]

  • When did America lose its mind? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by defile (1059) on Wednesday July 20 2005, @04:50PM (#13117685) Homepage Journal

    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?!

  • What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Locke2005 (849178) on Wednesday July 20 2005, @04:52PM (#13117718)
    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?
  • Think about it. GTA is the perfect medium by which to teach guys how to *really* pleasure a woman. As long as the gameplay makes you work for the woman's orgasm, meaning you're going to have to work those controls for more than 5 minutes guys, I say bring it on.

    GTA: Turning Geeks into Better Lovers

    ~tokengeekgrrl

  • An important thing to realize.. (Score:5, Informative)

    by vhold (175219) on Wednesday July 20 2005, @05:41PM (#13118269)
    A lot of people are running around in here wondering what is so important between M and AO as if there is no big reason for R* to care.

    Basically Wal-mart won't carry AO.

    Senate Testimony to that effect [senate.gov]
    In the case of video games (for example, Sony Playstation or Nintendo games) and computer software, we use the ESRB, Entertainment Software Rating Board, ratings (EC, E, T, M, and AO) as we make decisions about which products to carry. We do not carry software rated adults only (as rated by the ESRB). As a rule, we do not carry Parental Advisory stickered products.
    That is all.

    • Re:America (Score:5, Insightful)

      by RexRhino (769423) on Wednesday July 20 2005, @06:22PM (#13118791)
      Pity yourself. All video games in England need to go through the British Board of Film Censors, and some have already been banned (no video games have been banned in the United States, by the way). GTA:SA is ALREADY rated 18+ in England. British regulation is far more strict than in the United States.

      The difference is that in the U.S. censorship is still controversial, where as in the U.K. is happens without anyone taking a notice.

All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the Poster. The Rest © 1997-2009 Geeknet, Inc.