Silly Rockstar

Courtosy of Penny Arcade.

Sigh. This is basically what happened. The first two stages, anyway. Someone found sex scenes in GTA:San Andreas, and Rockstar denied having created them. It's obvious to anyone who knows about software on nearly any level that this is an outright lie. Especially after the same scenes were made accessable on PS2 using only one of those cheat devices like the old Game Genie (I think its called Action Replay). Obviously the games had the sex scenes within them from the start. Rockstar merely blocked them from the game, which was, in retrospect, a dumb move, but at the time, it probably seemed like it would be cheaper and easier, and probably a more versitile solution than just deleting it.

The fact of the matter is that Rockstar should have, once it was revealed, taken responcibility and said, "Yes, we made the scenes, found them to be innapropriate for the game, and removed them from gameplay. The people who granted access to the scenes did so in violation of the EULA, and this is not sanctioned by Rockstar in any way." That was what needed to be said. That, along with a strategy that harps on the fact that the unaltered game was itself not intended to be played by anyone younger than 17, would probably gotten them of with a warning, and all future copies of GTA, this time with the Hot Coffee code edited out, would have been given the warning "Game Experience May Change During Online Play," which, realistically, should be put on all PC games.

Instead, for having lied, Rockstar is going to look like a dishonest peddler of smut to children. I wouldn't be surprised if GTA gets slapped with an A/O rating, if it is even allowed to be sold at all. Honestly, my big worry is that this will all backfire, GTA will get an A/O rating, and continue to sell like hotcakes. Admittedly less than rated M hotcakes, but hotcakes nonetheless. The one year difference in age restrictions won't make too much of a difference. This will instead prove to game companies that A/O titles can sell and be profitable. and the market will have a surge in outlandishly sexual games. Japanese dating sims will take off in popularity. EB will have to keep all its adult titles behind a velvet counter where no one can see them without asking. But you know that since it's for kids, parent's won't think twice about buying a video game, because as the while GTA controversy has shown, Parents are Dumb. "What's that, Billy, you want Lara Croft, Tomb Raider: Angel of Nudity? Okay, I'll get it while I'm at the mall." X_X