Curse

EchoSex · Jul 15, 2005, 02:37 AM // 02:37

http://www.betanews.com/article/Rock...ens/1121373705

Of course, you wouldn't think this was a parenting problem, right? I mean, you CLEARY can't expect them to know what ESRB is, and what "Mature" and "Graphic Violence" mean, right?

This aint anything new by the way... Any one remember back in the day when some kid living in his momma's basement made that Tomb Raider patch?

Shadowdaemon · Jul 15, 2005, 02:53 AM // 02:53

i dont know what it is they found in san andreas, i didnt find it very pornographic, i really dont see the big concern anyways, are they afraid the kids are gonna play videogames and masturbate? if so maybe its time for "The Talk"

DarrenJasper · Jul 15, 2005, 03:04 AM // 03:04

Bloody Clinton. I tell you, it's a hard time to be a New Yorker right now. You've got this right-wing bitch masquerading as a liberal and you'd rather chew your leg out of a bear trap than vote for her, but when you think about it, she's really the only one with any chance of beating Giuliani... who's an even bigger fraud.

I'm going to go lie down...

ManadartheHealer · Jul 15, 2005, 03:38 AM // 03:38

Hillary is a moron. Bill was awesome. Case closed

Muffles 12 · Jul 15, 2005, 03:51 AM // 03:51

About the scandal, or whatever, the kids that are in danger of corrupting there minds shouldnt be playing the game in the first place. Hence the M rating.

Winterclaw · Jul 15, 2005, 04:08 AM // 04:08

Hillary is more liberal than Bill. The only reason she is mad is that she is a feminist and feminists hate almost all things about sex. In fact I'd be surprised if Chelesa is really hers.

I'm not against sex as she is but I don't care for the game or the mod (though they go together I think). Never played either, no plans to.

DarrenJasper · Jul 15, 2005, 05:52 AM // 05:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Winterclaw

Hillary is more liberal than Bill.

You do mean she pretends to be, right?

Gosh, all it takes to fool people nowadays is to wear a big sticker on your jacket that reads "LEFT LIBERAL LEFT LEFT". Has anyone actually looked at the things she's done out there? Refusing to support bills aimed at reducing the class gap? Falling conveniently silent when they sign things like... oh, the Patriot Act? How about how the right wing has mysteriously stopped taking pot shots at her lately? Hmm...

Winterclaw · Jul 15, 2005, 01:17 PM // 13:17

No, she is very much to the left. Lately she's only pretending to be more moderate to increase her chances should she try to run for president. I think the republicans are backing off now because they think attacking her now would hurt their chances in the next election.

Pevil Lihatuh · Jul 15, 2005, 05:00 PM // 17:00

ok i didnt bother reading the article, but I know the investigation is about this:

Modders from the GTA:SA community have apparently unlocked code that was shipped on the discs but was hidden, which basically unlocks some mode to do with picking up girlfriends and then taking them for coffee (the mod has been called 'hot coffee' for this reason). Apparently this basically means sex games and, from what i've read, you see some kinda sexual activities. Rockstar are claiming that the modders coded this all themselves, the modders say it was on the discs and merely needed unlocking. So basically if it is found to be on the discs, there's a chance rockstar will be forced to change the rating to AO (I believe that's what it said, american rating meaning Adult Only, meaning very few high street stores would stock it).

That's what i gathered from my CVG email the other day.

EchoSex · Jul 15, 2005, 10:10 PM // 22:10

The thing about this incident is that from what I've seen and heard, the graphics and scripting are way more than just amatuer work, and aparently, voice acting was invovled from people who did other voices for the game. Go figure, eh? Personaly I never liked the GTA series, not because of violence or any crap like that (Hell, I play DOOM 3 just about all the time. I REALLY don't give a crap about violence in video games since its A GAME), I just thought they were taking the cheap way out (IE: making it "gangsta" based), and never liked the graphics and such (Come on- a revoler spitting out a used shell after firing? Is that even possible? GunZ does that too >.<).

I think that crap was on there from the start. I mean think about it- how could moders get the people who did the original voice acting? And what about how well it's coded? I dunno about you guys, but I have yet to play a mod that didn't have it's share of bugs and problems. Either way, thanks to the overzealous pain in the butt liberal press, Rockstar is in trouble. Not that I really care since I dont play their games, but if they go down, thats bad news for the rest of the industry. You just KNOW Liberman is gonna hop on and ride this one 'till the end.

Winterclaw · Jul 16, 2005, 03:58 PM // 15:58

Gamespot said they grabbed a PS2 version of GTA:SAd and were able to unlock the scenes with a few codes. I don't think I mind sex or nudity in games, but I think if it is put in there, it could have been done better and by a better company.

Spartan2 · Jul 17, 2005, 08:10 PM // 20:10

The reason why all of these senators jump on this is because it is so damn easy to jump on a major release game and make an example of that than actually do any research on games, children, and what the children get out of the game.

I am 17 years old and I have grown up in a wolrd of constantly devolving media. I went from Super Mario, Duck Hunter (OMG 8-bit blood!), and Sonic [Best Christmas Ever btw] to things like Call of Duty, Gran Theft Auto, and Battlefield 2. As the premiere generation for this technology and media mature, so does the content in the video games that they play mature as well.

As aging gamers, we could be satisfied by simplicity, but when we know that the technology is capable of so much more, we can hardly settle for less. We want entertainment, we want graphic realism, we want mature situations. That being said, the ESRB is doing a pretty good job; they rate the games as they see fit, but like any organization, they make mistakes because they are human. Rockstar, as well, made a mistake: they did not properly destroy or encrypt that scene like they intended; now, they know that it is best to not animate it at all instead of trying to erase it later.

On the subject of ratings, parents should be aware of what their children listen to, watch, and play; a strong and supportive role helps a child so much more than a lazy and dismissive, always letting television teach, role. The rating mature indicates that this game is not intended for those under the age of 17; it has content in which children will need it explained to them or things that are too complex for them to understand. Like some of the people under the comments section have said, the game is 17+; at the age of 18, you are a legal adult and can visit strip clubs and view pornography at your disgression.

This whole argument the senators are making is silly. I'd rather them put this much effort into nulling the Patriot Act, getting the FBI, CIA, military, etc. to actually make charges against those in Guatanamo Prison instead of holding them against their rights or moving them to a secure prison inside the mainland US, and/or setting a firm budget to get us out of deficit. 7 trillion dollars and climbing is a lot of money... Clinton actually reversed that and started getting us to climb out of the red, all Bush has done is plunge us headfirst into the red and hasn't looked back since. There are bigger problems Congress, tackle those tough issues first, then we can worry about these petty concerns.

EndersNight · Jul 17, 2005, 09:26 PM // 21:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spartan2

The reason why all of these senators jump on this is because it is so damn easy to jump on a major release game and make an example of that than actually do any research on games, children, and what the children get out of the game.

I am 17 years old and I have grown up in a wolrd of constantly devolving media. I went from Super Mario, Duck Hunter (OMG 8-bit blood!), and Sonic [Best Christmas Ever btw] to things like Call of Duty, Gran Theft Auto, and Battlefield 2. As the premiere generation for this technology and media mature, so does the content in the video games that they play mature as well.

As aging gamers, we could be satisfied by simplicity, but when we know that the technology is capable of so much more, we can hardly settle for less. We want entertainment, we want graphic realism, we want mature situations. That being said, the ESRB is doing a pretty good job; they rate the games as they see fit, but like any organization, they make mistakes because they are human. Rockstar, as well, made a mistake: they did not properly destroy or encrypt that scene like they intended; now, they know that it is best to not animate it at all instead of trying to erase it later.

On the subject of ratings, parents should be aware of what their children listen to, watch, and play; a strong and supportive role helps a child so much more than a lazy and dismissive, always letting television teach, role. The rating mature indicates that this game is not intended for those under the age of 17; it has content in which children will need it explained to them or things that are too complex for them to understand. Like some of the people under the comments section have said, the game is 17+; at the age of 18, you are a legal adult and can visit strip clubs and view pornography at your disgression.

This whole argument the senators are making is silly. I'd rather them put this much effort into nulling the Patriot Act, getting the FBI, CIA, military, etc. to actually make charges against those in Guatanamo Prison instead of holding them against their rights or moving them to a secure prison inside the mainland US, and/or setting a firm budget to get us out of deficit. 7 trillion dollars and climbing is a lot of money... Clinton actually reversed that and started getting us to climb out of the red, all Bush has done is plunge us headfirst into the red and hasn't looked back since. There are bigger problems Congress, tackle those tough issues first, then we can worry about these petty concerns.

Wow - that is the truly the most thought-out mature post I've seen in a long time. I'm Canadian so I really don't have a good perspective on American events... but for the most part I agree.

We have had our own share of political hubris - so Canadians don't really have a right to comment on American issues. However, I think most Americans/Canadians are so apathetic about politics that NOTHING that those politicos do surprise us now.

Censorship for anyone over 18+ is vile. Don't get me started on TV "editors" that wreck movies. I wish lawmakers would look to their OWN families (like in the movie Traffic) before rushing off to make crummy laws.

EchoSex · Jul 17, 2005, 09:34 PM // 21:34

My person feeling is that if the rating is there, then put whatever the hell you want in it. If the movie is rated R in the theatres, it should be rated R on TV and there fore shouldn't be touched because then you ruin the experiance of what the movie was supposed to provide... Changing stuff on TV like that just drives me nuts, the same way rerealesing movies with edited content does. Example: ET being remade. What the heck: They changed the word terroirst to hippie and changed the guns to walkie talkies? Just TRY to convince yourself that's not a way to make a quick buck from over protective parents with too much time on their hands to actauly realize that it's THEIR job to keep their kids clean of this stuff, not the media's.

Aniewiel · Jul 17, 2005, 10:03 PM // 22:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarrenJasper

You do mean she pretends to be, right?

Gosh, all it takes to fool people nowadays is to wear a big sticker on your jacket that reads "LEFT LIBERAL LEFT LEFT". Has anyone actually looked at the things she's done out there? Refusing to support bills aimed at reducing the class gap? Falling conveniently silent when they sign things like... oh, the Patriot Act? How about how the right wing has mysteriously stopped taking pot shots at her lately? Hmm...

OH PLEASE! The only reason she's "taking up conservative themes" is to try to appeal to middle of the road Republicans and more conservative Democrats. She's as liberal as they come but she's also a wolf (liberal) in sheep's (conservative) clothing.

In this day and age, you can't take a hard line to the extreme of one side or the other until AFTER you take office. Didn't you know that?

Spartan2 · Jul 17, 2005, 10:29 PM // 22:29

Thanks, EndersNight. I try to post in the best way possible and not just post a "That's Stupid, what I believe is right" kind of post. It is just silly!

Media has desensitized our society. For the first time since Vietnam, our children can see what war is really like, see killing without disgression, thought or creedance occur daily on our MagicBox called TV.

This world is pathetic; our elected leaders go on formal rants about how children in one of the richest countries in the world need to be protected from images of violence, sex, and the good being punished while the evil remain supreme, yet, there are children in poverty stricken 3rd world countries who have never had a good meal in their life, never had a good night's sleep, never known our luxury. There are also children that fit this discription living on our streets, here in America, the land of the free, home of the ill-represented. [/rant]

Good to get that off my chest. The only way to let people know that something is wrong is to raise your voice.

Mercury Angel · Jul 17, 2005, 10:56 PM // 22:56

The issue about the game:

If the mod is indeed within the game, which it seems is true, then the game received a lesser rating than it should have.

That being the case, they nevertheless broke laws and snuck something into the game that shouldn't be there.

There's a difference between fanfiction and fanart over that of the original characters+story. Those are the creations of others, and are not the responsibility of the company that created the original concepts.
What's going on here though is that it seems to me the material was indeed inside the game already.

However, there're 2 things wrong with the picture-

1) People are once again choosing one isolated issue to rally behind in an attempt to exert greater control over the gaming industry.

2) Compared to what's already in the game, I can't see it really being a huge issue...

I don't often play gorey games, animated cartoonish violence (no blood, exxagerated sounds and movements, fantasy violence) is more my style. I'm not a minor, I can buy such things, I simply don't exercise that right.

My issue with all of this is that people want to blame the gaming industry and lay down greater restrictions, when all the restrictions in the world don't matter in the end.
One Mature game I've purchased was the original Parasite Eve. The store asked for my ID, yadda yadda, SOP.
Ok now, I give that game to my hypothetical child, and she plays it. Assuming she goes on a rampage killing people because of the game, who's at fault? The retailer that sold me the game legally? The game company who produced the game which is legal content for people such as me within the law? Or me? Oh no, it couldn't be me... How was I to know such a thing could possibly happen? It must have been the store, for not informing me how dangerous the game was before selling it, and did they really check my ID? That slips my mind. And then that evil company, selling such immoral filth that I purchased. How would I know such drivel was in the game, I don't read the packaging?
Someone has told me that if I really had children, I'd think differently. What if my children got access to material I wouldn't normally let them have at a friend's house?
Let's see, it couldn't be my fault for not getting to know my neighbours enough to be familiar with the kind of toys and games they give their children, and for just dropping my child off there. No, no, not at all.

The ESRB rating is more than enough. Your approval of the content of those games is expressed in our great country through consumerism. If you don't like it, don't buy it.
If it's your dear children you worry about, and bless their little hearts, then take an authentic interest in what they're doing, for goodness sake. How long does it take to go run a google search on the game they're playing? A couple seconds? A few minutes of reading is worth the wellbeing of your child, right?

For some people, you really have to wonder.

Many of them merely wish to waive responsibility. If their children screw up, then it's not their fault, it's the TV's for not monitoring content better, it's the blasted game companies for producing and releasing immoral drivel, it's the stores for selling it.

Short summary:
I think Rockstar screwed up and left something the game that shouldn't have been there, and should therefore be punished under the law, and that's where thing should stop. Most moral arguments are simply overgeneralized and fall apart the moment we look at the speaker's own life.

Edit: Btw, you can find a video of the effects of the hot coffee mod online. I'm definitely not linking it though. It doesn't look like a fan-made add-on at all.