GTA: San Andreas
Alright, I lied. Before I continue making up for the months I haven't updated, I want to talk about the latest PR fiasco in the video gaming world, the "Hot Coffee Mod" for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
To begin, I will introduce the game series itself.
The Grand Theft Auto game series (produced by the game company Rockstar) is loathed, feared and martyred by the entire anti-video-gaming demographic. It is the poster-child for every one of those groups, from Lieberman to Hilary Clinton. The reason is that the games involve carjacking, drug use, prostitutes and many other equally-wholesome activities. I agree with the various special interest groups that these are indeed unwholesome activities and are quite bad things to participate in. However, I feel there are two underlying issues that these people do not consider.
1) These activities are as optional as they are in real life.
...with a few exceptions, you can go through the entire game without having anything to do any of those things. I admit these activities are certainly more accessible in the game, but they are still optional. If I wanted to go solicit a bunch of prostitutes, I could. I could, but I won't, both in real life and in the game. The same goes for drug use, beating old ladies with a baseball bat and throwing molotov cocktails at groups of nuns.
2) The game is rated "M" for a reason.
The Electronic Software Rating Board (ESRB) works with video games in much the same way that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) does with movies. It gives official ratings for each game based on how appropriate it is, from "EC" (Early Childhood) to "AO" (Adults Only). For the complete list as well as descriptions, click below:
http://esrb.org/esrbratings_guide.asp
The various GTA games are (or have been) rated "M" (Mature 17+). The various anti-video-gaming organizations claim that the inappropriate content in these games is harmful to children. Personally, what I would suggest would be some sort of rating system to keep these sorts of games out of the hands of children under the age of, say, 17 years. Store clerks would be forbidden from selling these games to minors just as movies rated "R" cannot be sold to minors. Oh wait...
One of the things that frustrates me about the arguement is that people like Senator Lieberman (one of the leading proponents of anti-video game legislation) differentiate video games from cinema and other forms of media. The fact of the matter is, there was nothing in GTA: Vice City that was not in the movie "Scarface" and that is considered a classic. While many people would argue that "Scarface" is a wildly inappropriate movie, it is important to remember that it is rated "R." That is to say, it is "restricted" for anyone under 17 years of age.
What this does is place the responsibility in the hands of (gasp!) the parents. If a person does not want their child to play a violent or otherwise inappropriate video game, DO NOT LET THEM, let alone buy it for them. And if you cannot control your child, it sounds like you have bigger problems than violent video games.
THE HOT COFFEE MOD
One of the extra things you can do in the game is get girlfriends. You can take them out on dates and increase your relationship-o-meter or whatever it is called. As this meter goes up, new things are opened up. You can take her out on different dates and do different things. Eventually you get to the point where, when you take her home, she invites you in for "coffee." Both of you walk inside and you get a shot of the house and hear the two characters breathing heavily etc.
Initially, when Rockstar Games was developing the game, one of the programmers created a mini-game wherein the sex scene was not only visible, but interactive. However, Rockstar decided they did not want to include the mini-game. My guess is that they figured they got enough flak from parents groups and didn't want to push it any more. When they told the programmer to cut out the mini-game, he instead covered it up with some lines of code that made it inaccessible. However, a hacker in Amsterdam found out about this and wrote some of his own lines of code that opened the mini-game back up again. Thus the "Hot Coffee Mod" was born.
It soon became public and the media shockwave began. Those of us that had followed such stories in the past could already tell this was going to be bad. Sure enough, the various special interest groups were furious and the ESRB bumped the rating of the game up from "M" to "AO." If you read the ESRB's rating guide, you will notice that a rating of "M" restricts the game to those who are 17 and above. The "AO" rating restricts to those who are 18 and above. To quote Maddox at The Best Page In The Universe:
"What pisses me off more than anything is that I paid for a game rated for 17 year olds, or possibly 17 and 1/2 year olds, tops. What I got was a game rated for 18 year olds instead."
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=ticket_to_hell
I will admit that I think the ESRB should have upped the rating for the game. To explain my words which some would consider heresy: The content is actually in the game CD itself. According to the ESRB's standards, the sex scene classifies as "prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity," which would give it an "AO" rating. In all technicality and legality, the game should be rated as such.
In my defense, I do however think that the whole thing has been overblown by the media. To actually access the material, you have to purchase 3rd-party hardware that can cost upwards of one-hundred dollars. In addition, you need to have an understanding of basic computer programming as well as the "Hot Coffee Mod" software itself.
Finally, my personal opinion is that, given some basic self-control, the Grand Theft Auto games are extremely well-done. They are funny, clever, detailed, well-written and well-designed. They have excellent controls and gameplay and have more than excellent replay value.They are more than explosive, shoot-em-up games, which I do not like. If you are mature enough, they are very good games.
To begin, I will introduce the game series itself.
The Grand Theft Auto game series (produced by the game company Rockstar) is loathed, feared and martyred by the entire anti-video-gaming demographic. It is the poster-child for every one of those groups, from Lieberman to Hilary Clinton. The reason is that the games involve carjacking, drug use, prostitutes and many other equally-wholesome activities. I agree with the various special interest groups that these are indeed unwholesome activities and are quite bad things to participate in. However, I feel there are two underlying issues that these people do not consider.
1) These activities are as optional as they are in real life.
...with a few exceptions, you can go through the entire game without having anything to do any of those things. I admit these activities are certainly more accessible in the game, but they are still optional. If I wanted to go solicit a bunch of prostitutes, I could. I could, but I won't, both in real life and in the game. The same goes for drug use, beating old ladies with a baseball bat and throwing molotov cocktails at groups of nuns.
2) The game is rated "M" for a reason.
The Electronic Software Rating Board (ESRB) works with video games in much the same way that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) does with movies. It gives official ratings for each game based on how appropriate it is, from "EC" (Early Childhood) to "AO" (Adults Only). For the complete list as well as descriptions, click below:
http://esrb.org/esrbratings_guide.asp
The various GTA games are (or have been) rated "M" (Mature 17+). The various anti-video-gaming organizations claim that the inappropriate content in these games is harmful to children. Personally, what I would suggest would be some sort of rating system to keep these sorts of games out of the hands of children under the age of, say, 17 years. Store clerks would be forbidden from selling these games to minors just as movies rated "R" cannot be sold to minors. Oh wait...
One of the things that frustrates me about the arguement is that people like Senator Lieberman (one of the leading proponents of anti-video game legislation) differentiate video games from cinema and other forms of media. The fact of the matter is, there was nothing in GTA: Vice City that was not in the movie "Scarface" and that is considered a classic. While many people would argue that "Scarface" is a wildly inappropriate movie, it is important to remember that it is rated "R." That is to say, it is "restricted" for anyone under 17 years of age.
What this does is place the responsibility in the hands of (gasp!) the parents. If a person does not want their child to play a violent or otherwise inappropriate video game, DO NOT LET THEM, let alone buy it for them. And if you cannot control your child, it sounds like you have bigger problems than violent video games.
THE HOT COFFEE MOD
One of the extra things you can do in the game is get girlfriends. You can take them out on dates and increase your relationship-o-meter or whatever it is called. As this meter goes up, new things are opened up. You can take her out on different dates and do different things. Eventually you get to the point where, when you take her home, she invites you in for "coffee." Both of you walk inside and you get a shot of the house and hear the two characters breathing heavily etc.
Initially, when Rockstar Games was developing the game, one of the programmers created a mini-game wherein the sex scene was not only visible, but interactive. However, Rockstar decided they did not want to include the mini-game. My guess is that they figured they got enough flak from parents groups and didn't want to push it any more. When they told the programmer to cut out the mini-game, he instead covered it up with some lines of code that made it inaccessible. However, a hacker in Amsterdam found out about this and wrote some of his own lines of code that opened the mini-game back up again. Thus the "Hot Coffee Mod" was born.
It soon became public and the media shockwave began. Those of us that had followed such stories in the past could already tell this was going to be bad. Sure enough, the various special interest groups were furious and the ESRB bumped the rating of the game up from "M" to "AO." If you read the ESRB's rating guide, you will notice that a rating of "M" restricts the game to those who are 17 and above. The "AO" rating restricts to those who are 18 and above. To quote Maddox at The Best Page In The Universe:
"What pisses me off more than anything is that I paid for a game rated for 17 year olds, or possibly 17 and 1/2 year olds, tops. What I got was a game rated for 18 year olds instead."
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=ticket_to_hell
I will admit that I think the ESRB should have upped the rating for the game. To explain my words which some would consider heresy: The content is actually in the game CD itself. According to the ESRB's standards, the sex scene classifies as "prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity," which would give it an "AO" rating. In all technicality and legality, the game should be rated as such.
In my defense, I do however think that the whole thing has been overblown by the media. To actually access the material, you have to purchase 3rd-party hardware that can cost upwards of one-hundred dollars. In addition, you need to have an understanding of basic computer programming as well as the "Hot Coffee Mod" software itself.
Finally, my personal opinion is that, given some basic self-control, the Grand Theft Auto games are extremely well-done. They are funny, clever, detailed, well-written and well-designed. They have excellent controls and gameplay and have more than excellent replay value.They are more than explosive, shoot-em-up games, which I do not like. If you are mature enough, they are very good games.