Violent Video Game under Fire for Secret Sex Scenes
“Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is again facing criticism, this time over claims that it contains hidden ‘explicit’ sex scenes. The controversial game, designed by Edinburgh-based company Rockstar North, has attracted repeated criticism for its extreme violence. But now it has come under fire for a mini-game which revolves around players trying to woo a girlfriend. If successful, she invites the player back for coffee, but gamers are now claiming that the original code for the game contains hidden scenes showing in graphic detail what happens behind the closed doors. It is claimed that this allows players to watch graphic scenes featuring sex acts, nudity and simulated intercourse. The hidden scenes were discovered by modders, a group of PC users who hack into game codes to access cheats and secrets hidden by game developers on-line.” —The Scotsman (UK)
It is hard not to be struck by the irony that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is being criticized for containing “hidden” sex scenes. What would the critics prefer — that the sex scenes be deleted so that young viewers can spend more time indulging in the game’s own brand of ultraviolence? As sex scenes go, these are relatively tame. (Here are some screen grabs and a short video.) The guy in the scenes doesn’t remove or even unbuckle his pants, though the female is butt-naked. Apparently the animator couldn’t bring himself to dwell on rendering a penis.
Furthermore, these scenes are only available thanks to a modification to the released code. Naturally this raises some interesting questions. Is Rockstar North, the maker of the game, responsible for the sex scenes if they weren’t part of the authorized (ie unhacked) release? After all, to hack the code to reveal sex scenes is sort of like discovering that you can rearrange words in the Bible to create a profanity. It’s making something obscene out of something that, on its own, wasn’t. (Well, you could argue that the Bible is obscene, but you get the point.) Or did the manufacturer anticipate that modders would break into the code to discover these lewd extras? In that case, they may well be culpable, something which will ultimately be determined by an investigation launched by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board.
“After all, to hack the code to reveal sex scenes is sort of like discovering that you can rearrange words in the Bible to create a profanity.” - Exactly.
SiN (1998, Ritual Entertainment & Activision) had a easter egg that allowed players to punch the main protagonist Elexis Sinclaire, to which her response was to masturbate furiously.
The Sims (2000, Maxis) has had “pornographic” mods available for it since about the year 2000, mods which allow gamers to see their sims pee, bathe, and generally fornicate with abandon.
Do I need to list the Leisure Suit Larry games, oh sorry, those were from before the ESRB started protecting consumers from themselves and those nefarious and unwholesome game developers.
Why aren’t the ESRB, and now Senator Hillary Clinton going after The Sims as well? Or any other game that can be reverse engineered and modified to create “questionable content”.
Am I the only person in the world to see the “Mature” rating on the box? That means that the game shouldn’t be sold to anyone under the age of 17 in America. It’s the equiv. of a movie having an R rating. And I can’t even begin to list the ammount of R rated movies that have all sorts of nudity, sexuality, and splatterpunk ultraviolence in them.
It’s all just political grandstanding. “These What About The Children(tm)” nuts need to find a new hobby.
This uproar really pisses me off. I’ve played this game, and tried out the mod. It’s dull and annoying. Who gives a shit but the PTA and the politicians? It’s nothing compared to many other games. The game got an MA rating didn’t it? I guess they didn’t quite catch on that MA means not appropriate for kids. And I suppose like most other people who frequent this site, I love the irony that carjacking, murder sprees on innocent people, and developing a gang are okay, but dry humping a naked girl with your pants on is bad. Who cares? It’s a good game.
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