Rating Changed for Grand Theft Auto San Andreas

Take Two Interactive has been in hot water this week over it's latest title from the Grand Theft Auto series of popular video games. In the series of games, players take on the role of common criminals looking to climb the ranks of the criminal world by completing specific game missions and objectives. Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, the latest title in the series, allows players to take the role of a lowly Los Angeles street gang member who is looking to gain a reputation. This gain in reputation comes from successfully completing missions and side objectives which usually consist of criminal acts, most of which are violent.

The week however, the game has prompted outrage from parent groups and politicians over sexually explicit material that can be "unlocked" in the PC version of the game. The Entertainment Software Rating Board under pressure from these groups, changed the game's M for Mature rating to AO for Adults Only.

The offensive material, first reported as a user community created modification for the PC version of the game called "Hot Coffee", takes players into a pornographic minigame with their "in-game" girlfriend. A Take Two Interactive spokesperson stated Wednesday that the sexually explicit content is in fact on all retail versions of the game including the Xbox and Playstation 2 versions. This goes back on a previous statement that the sexually explicit material was created by an unauthorized third party when in fact the "Hot Coffee" mod unlocks code that was left in place by the original designers.

It should be noted that both the Playstation 2 and Xbox games are much more difficulty to modify since most of the game files are hard coded and encrypted onto the game discs and cannot generally be accessed by everyday users. The PC version however, can be readily modified and is fairly easy to do. Game modifications or mods are very popular in the PC gaming community and can be readily found from any Internet search engine. They help extend the life of a video game title by modifying the original game, adding new features, improving graphics or sound, and can even create an entirely new game.

Rockstar games has created a patch for the existing PC versions of the game that will remove the sexually explicit content, while existing games can either be sent back in exchange for the updated version of the M rating or be label as AO and sold differently. Grand Theft Auto San Andreas was the best selling video game of 2004, but the impact on Take Two Interactive, Rockstar Games, and the series could be irreversible with Take Two already lowering its current quarter earnings expectations based on potential returns and loss of retailers which do not sell Adult Only games.