'GTA' Game Rating Changed to Adults-Only

[Bond]

SAN FRANCISCO - The video game industry on Wednesday changed to adults-only the rating of "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," a best-selling game in which explicit sexual content can be unlocked with an Internet download.

The decision followed intense pressure from politicians and media watch groups, and retailers reacted swiftly — Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. and Best Buy Co. said they would immediately pull all copies from their store shelves nationwide.

The game's producer, Rockstar Games, said it stopped making the current version and would provide new labels to any retailer willing to keep selling the games, which had been rated "M" for mature. The company also will offer a downloadable patch to fix the sex issue in PC versions, and is working on a new, more secure version, to be rated "M."

Source: Yahoo News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050721/ap_on_hi_te/video_game_sex;_ylt=AnCFoML0trpDYHaRkmwow7qs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MjBwMWtkBHNlYwM3MTg-)
Wow Rockstar, way to **** up your only good selling videogame.

[BlueFire]

lmao.

[Jonbo298]

pwnd! Get them while these gems are hot (ie: price goes up down the road)

What Rockstar means by "more secure" is "Its gonna require a 50 button code to unlock it" :D

I wonder, did Rockstar ever give another excuse for lying to the public again?

[DarkMaster]

Ah, there's nothing like dropping $50 to watch a block hump another block. What an age we live in.

[Typhoid]

Ah, there's nothing like dropping $50 to watch a block hump another block. What an age we live in.


Thats too good for words to decribe how good it is.



Disregarding the words already spoken.

[DeathsHand]

pwnd! Get them while these gems are hot (ie: price goes up down the road)

I don't think a game that's already sold a bazillion copies is really ever going to be worth anything :>

It'll be like "Mike Tyson's Punch Out!" vs. "Punch Out!"... except with sex instead of Mike Tyson...

[Dylflon]

http://www.esrb.com/images/icon_m.gif MATURE
Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content, and/or strong language.


http://www.esrb.com/images/icon_ao.gif ADULTS ONLY
Titles rated AO (Adults Only) have content that should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.


The two ratings are seperated by the word prolonged? Jesus...why aren't games like Manhunt AO?

Personally, I think more games should get the AO rating slapped on them. But to make the system less confusing they should change the ratings from letters to number based ratings or something to make it less confusing. (example: Teen goes to 13+, Mature goes to 17+ and AO goes to 18+)

[DeathsHand]

http://www.esrb.com/images/icon_m.gif MATURE
Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content, and/or strong language.


http://www.esrb.com/images/icon_ao.gif ADULTS ONLY
Titles rated AO (Adults Only) have content that should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.


The two ratings are seperated by the word prolonged? Jesus...why aren't games like Manhunt AO?

Personally, I think more games should get the AO rating slapped on them. But to make the system less confusing they should change the ratings from letters to number based ratings or something to make it less confusing. (example: Teen goes to 13+, Mature goes to 17+ and AO goes to 18+)

I think the actual descriptions are misleading... Basically the only reason this got an AO rating is because it actually shows them doing the nasty (albiet with their clothes on) as opposed to the normal thing in the game which is hearing them do it while watching an outside view of the house...

Of course people cause more of a ruckus over sex than they do violence which is retarded, but let's not get into that...

The number-free (well, except PG-13) rating system works fine for movies, I think the main problem with the ESRB ratings is that they're not actually enforced by most stores (at least not very well)...

They need to be just as strict with the ESRB ratings as theaters/stores are with the movie ratings... Then everyone will be happy... Or at least they should... *shrug*

[Perfect Stu]

the chick is actually naked in the sex scene I saw. ridiculously polygonal and really stupid, but naked nonetheless.

it is quite suggestive, and it shouldnt even be in the game...I bet a couple of 35 year olds that are scared of girls coded it...it's pretty damn pathetic.

I doubt this will affect sales much...I mean it's already sold HOW many million? Add the fact that it's getting lots of free publicity, the fact that MORE 13 year olds are probably gonna want it, and I dont think RockStar has a big problem on their hands. It's still a hell of a game.

[Crash]

here is the scene

http://www.jesuslovesyou.com

[TheGame]

lol **** it, they should just unlock the mini game if they get the rating for it.

[Bond]

here is the scene

http://www.jesuslovesyou.com
Bad Crash! No porn!

[DarrenMcLeod]

This is just downright silly. If a person has to download this off the internet, they can just as easily download porn. It never should've come to this.

[Bond]

In case anyone is interested Take-Two's stock as dropped nearly 6% over the course of a little more than a day over this mess.

[Acebot44]

Here's (http://gr.bolt.com/articles/violence/violence.htm) a good article on the defense of Video Games.

[Swan]

One thing I'm wondering about is, why are the age differences for M and AO so close?

[Ginkasa]

Because the age difference between R and NC-17 are so close. Why that is, though... :unsure:


/me shrugs and walks away

[Su-Yin]

A woman, who was upset she bought the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for her 14-year-old grandson without knowing it contained hidden, sexually explicit scenes has sued the manufacturer on behalf of consumers nationwide.

Florence Cohen, 85, of New York, said in the lawsuit filed in US District Court in Manhattan that the game's manufacturer, Rockstar Games, and its parent company, New York-based Take Two Interactive Software, engaged in false, misleading and deceptive practices.

She sought unspecified damages on behalf of herself and all consumers nationwide, saying the company should give up its profits from the game for what amounted to false advertising, consumer deception and unfair business practices.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/07/28/1122143921942.html

[Ginkasa]

She wasn't upset about the extreme violence, foul language, gangster themes, and the already sexual dialogue, but a hidden sex minigame that her 14 year old probably wouldn't have played anyway?

I hate stupid people...


/me shrugs and walks away

[Dark Samurai]

She wasn't upset about the extreme violence, foul language, gangster themes, and the already sexual dialogue, but a hidden sex minigame that her 14 year old probably wouldn't have played anyway?

I hate stupid people...


* Link1130 shrugs and walks away

I still say its funny...

That article that Acebot showed us is a very good read...

[DeathsHand]

Because the age difference between R and NC-17 are so close. Why that is, though... :unsure:


* Link1130 shrugs and walks away

I thought it was something like people under 17 could go to Rated R movies if they are with an Adult, but weren't allowed into NC-17 movies period.

[Ginkasa]

Only 17 year olds or older are allowed to buy tickets to R movies for themselves. Only people 21 or older (I think) can buy more than one (maybe two) tickets.

NC-17 only allows people 18 or over, I think...

Something like that.


/me shrugs and walks away

[The Germanator]

http://www.mpaa.org/movieratings/about/

Read all about it...

Basically, you can see an R-rated movie if you are under 17, you just need to be accompanied by an adult.

Then for NC-17, you MUST be 17 and that's it... NC-17 used to be the "X" rating, but they just changed that.

[Ginkasa]

It says that "NC-17:NO ONE 17 AND UNDER ADMITTED," so I'm thinking you'd have to be 18 to get in.

And why it was changed is kind of funny (and is also where XXX came from).

Because the rating "X" was not trademarked, and just any distributor could stick it on their movie, many porn studios would not send in their movie for rating and just stick an X on it. This became so commonplace that "X" basically meant porn, which is why the official rating was changed to NC-17 (and trademarked).

Also, because nearly every porn movie had an X stuck on it as a rating, some distributors began adding more X's try to distinguish themselves as "more hardcore" than the other movies. So they began to put "XX" and eventually "XXX" on the covers/posters/whatever.

And that is Link1130's porn trivia bit of the decade...


/me shrugs and walks away

[Swan]

It says that "NC-17:NO ONE 17 AND UNDER ADMITTED," so I'm thinking you'd have to be 18 to get in.

And why it was changed is kind of funny (and is also where XXX came from).

Because the rating "X" was not trademarked, and just any distributor could stick it on their movie, many porn studios would not send in their movie for rating and just stick an X on it. This became so commonplace that "X" basically meant porn, which is why the official rating was changed to NC-17 (and trademarked).

Also, because nearly every porn movie had an X stuck on it as a rating, some distributors began adding more X's try to distinguish themselves as "more hardcore" than the other movies. So they began to put "XX" and eventually "XXX" on the covers/posters/whatever.

And that is Link1130's porn trivia bit of the decade...


* Link1130 shrugs and walks away
Wow, you really know your porn. Good job! :shake: