James Delahunty
29 Jul 2005 11:03
So the story continues now on an international scale. Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is being pulled from shelves in Australia as ordered due to the game being stripped of its MA15+ rating. Of course this is linked to the "hot coffee" modification which unlocks sexual content hidden in the game. The mod was not created nor distributed by Rockstar Games or parent company Take-Two Interactive; it was the creation of a third party.
"Businesses that sell or hire computer games should remove existing stocks of this game from their shelves immediately," said the director of the ratings board, Des Clark. "Parents are strongly advised to exercise caution in allowing children continued access to the game, particularly if they have might have access to the 'Hot Coffee' modification." Game hacks and mods are not uncommon, but the problem in this case is the mod simply unlocks existing code in the game, it does not actually add the extra content.
Due to the availability of the mod alone, Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification revoked the games earlier MA15+ rating. You have to question whether such a move is justified considering the sex content is hidden in the game and the developers gave no way to access it. Warning are going out to parents about the Hot Coffee mod just in case their children can access it. However I'm sure children could find sexual content on the Internet much faster than they could find the mod.
GTAS: San Andreas was one of the biggest selling games in 2004 and it's packed with violence and other content that is not suitable for kids. Frankly, I find it hard to believe that the developers of this ame are getting trouble from ratings boards over content that as hidden in the game when you can so easily shoot a police officer in the face using non-hidden content. Maybe it's time for Hillary Clinton et al to open their eyes and realise they are taking this way too seriously.
Source:
BBC News