ESRB changes San Andreas rating

[Eon]

nobody was forcing the parents to buy their kids the game, >_>


they should be throwing **** at THEM, not the videogame industry

The parents didn't put the sex scenes in the game.

 

[SaiyanPrideXIX]

Yeah I'm sorry but this quote sums it up:

If you're old enough to play Grand Theft Auto you're old enough to see this part

I don't like this, cause pornographic stuff has no place in games really. It ends up being stupid.

But then again if we're going to start suing or taking back ratings...well what the ****, go back and make South Park the movie NC17, cause that's what it was supposed to be before the creators 'edited' it...but after they got the green light they released it with most of the stuff they were supposed to have taken out of it.

You can't change your mind about a rating because someone discovered some hidden piece of the game that was never intended to actually be accessible in the game. I think the anti-gaming people just have such a huge boner to stick it to GTA and Rockstar that they saw this as a perfect opportunity for a heroic screwjob.

And Magus, normally we are in agreement, but not on this. I don't give a damn what's in the game, hidden or disabled or otherwise. At the end of the day it's the mom and dad who are at fault for their kids' eyes finding it, one way or the other.

 

[Eon]

Well of course it's the parents' fault for getting the game in the first place, all I'm saying is R* got what it deserved for putting the stuff in the game.

 

[Nuttzy]

The parents didn't put the sex scenes in the game.

rockstar DID take it out of the game, thought it remained on the disc one would have to INTENTIONALLY modify the game in order to view it. its not something you would accidentally stumble across.

 

[Eon]

Still, they left it in the game and didn't present it when they were rated. Thus giving them the shaft.

 

[SaiyanPrideXIX]

"In the game" and "on the disc, completely disabled" are two different things.

 

[Eon]

But still, it is on the disc, and once again (I hate sounding like a broken record >_<) wasn't presented when they were rated. The fact they didn't disclose it was their undoing.

 

[Chakra-X]

yeah cos videogames dont affect people at all...

in the news here within the last couple of weeks, a 13 year old stabbed someone over a videogame.

i think the new rating is deserved. GTA should never be played by kids anyway =/

Well its not like the video game itself killed him. the video game could of been anything that the kid desired that would be equal to that of a video game. Though there are kids who haven't matured enough to be basically unaffected by video game violence/sexuality, thats why parents need to know what they are getting their kids.

I know 'M' games require someone over 18 to buy them, so the parents should know (the basics) what the game contains and how the child make be affected by previous expierences. Obviously a parent cant have their eye on the child 24/7, but I'm pretty sure any extreme behavior defects due to a video game/t.v show are obvious.

 

[Tassadar]

I'm gonna have to agree with Magus on this one. Just because the content was locked on the disk doesn't mean anything. This all started when the game came out on PC. GTA Vice City had a pretty decent sized modding community, and now San Andreas even more, Rockstar had to have known someone would have found this. It's no one's fault but theirs.
San Andreas didn't deserve an AO rating off the bat, they got it as punishment for defying the ESRB standards and not showing them the content when they should have.

 

[sub]

It was on the disk, but the fact is that you cannot view them unless you are directly trying to.

 

[Jesus]

It was on the disk, but the fact is that you cannot view them unless you are directly trying to.

THATS NOT THE POINT!!! whether your trying to or not. the access is there.

 

[Optimus Prime]

It was on the disk, but the fact is that you cannot view them unless you are directly trying to.

That's not the point. They didn't tell the ESRB there was disabled code in the game. Which is why there was an investigation to see if the game was inaccurately rated by the ESRB. Which as it turns out, it was, and now it's AO.

In related news

There appears to be some confusion regarding the UK rating of GTA San Andreas. Many suggested that the recent re-rating from M to AO in the US would lead to a re-rating in the UK, but Roger Bennett, director general of ELSPA, has confirmed that the game will retain its 18+ rating for the foreseeable future. However, this may change. Bennett said his organisation will "wait to hear what Rockstar's investigation throws up".

Source.

 

[Cap J]

I really hate this kind of thing. I personally think that sure, Rockstar should have either removed it completely before release, or said it was there during rating BUT, I really get pissed off when the people who are complaining are PARENTS about their kids playing it. It pisses me off no end, if you see an age rating that is older than your child DON'T BUY IT FOR THEM. Stop me if I'm wrong but don't game boxes usually have warnings saying what is in them? Like "Animated Violence" and things like that? It's as if parents are just getting retarded, "Hmmm.....17+, violence, theft.......I'm sure little Jimmy will love it" 2 months later "OMG! How dare they make this game! (foams rabidly)". (If anyone has a problem with the last sentence.....or with piss then I apologise).

Uhhh....do we even HAVE a rating higher than 18? To buy porn here you have to be 18 anyway so what would it matter?

 

[sub]

Alright, I've got a question. Why is God of War, a game that is much much much more violent, has topless women and has a mini-sex-game where you have sex with two women at once rated M instead of AO? Isn't that much worse then what’s in GTA: SA? I mean, at least in GTA: SA, you can't get to the content unless you're actively trying to.

I honestly think they're blowing this way out of proportion. I'll say it again, if someone is deemed old enough to play GTA, they're old enough to see what was on the mod.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Alright, I've got a question. Why is God of War, a game that is much much much more violent, has topless women and has a mini-sex-game where you have sex with two women at once rated M instead of AO? Isn't that much worse then what’s in GTA: SA? I mean, at least in GTA: SA, you couldn't get to the content unless you were actively trying to.

[YELLING]BECAUSE R* DIDN'T TELL THE ESRB ABOUT THE MINI-GAME[/YELLING]

Phew.

 

[sub]

So? If they had told them, it wouldn't have been a big deal? That doesn't make any sense. And don't tell me that they would have taken it out, because honestly, they didn't make the people who made God Of War take out any of their content and their content is 2x worse.

 

[Optimus Prime]

So? If they had told them, it wouldn't have been a big deal? That doesn't make any sense.

In order to accurately rate a game. The ESRB must know EVERYTHING. Which they didn't, therefore, they inaccurately rated GTA: SA. It's not a hard concept to understand.

 

[sub]

Look, I understand that they didn't know about the hidden sex scene. The fact is, however, is that if they did know about it, it would have still be rated M (i'll say again, God Of War got rated M and it was much worse). The fact that they didn't mention it shouldn't have changed the rating, they're blowing this whole thing out of proportion.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Look, I understand that they didn't know about the hidden sex scene. The fact is, however, if that if they did know about it, it would have still be rated M (i'll say again, God Of War got rated M and it was much worse). Why should the fact that they didn't mention it change the game rating?

Because the ESRB was stuck between a rock and a hard place and R* payed the price. They brought this upon themselves when they only disabled the code, instead of removing it entirely.

Think of it as a deterrent to not hide ****, especially things that could be considered adult rated, from the ESRB or pay for it later.

 

[Chakra-X]

I don't think they are completely trying to say it deserves an AO rating, but that lying to ESRB was a big mistake and now they are paying for it.

For some reason I've heard more controversy over GTA: SA than god of war..Maybe cuz GTA: SA is more 'realistic'