Grand Theft Auto's Rating Carjacked

from the this-never-happened-with-pitfall dept

The Electronic Software Ratings Board today pulled the "M" rating from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, re-rating it as "Adults Only" (meaning now one must be 18 to purchase the game, instead of 17). This follows pressure from politicians for whom drug use, carjacking, killing and other extreme violence are apparently okay for kids, but not some cartoon consensual sex that's visible only through the use of a third-party modification. The game's producer also lowered its earning estimates for the quarter based on the ratings change, since presumably many stores will refuse to carry it (even though they'll still carry the add-on device needed to unlock the mod), and plans to release a patched version of the game that eliminates the source of the ruckus. Last week, the ESRB defended the original M rating, its president pointing out that in addition to the 17-and-up designation the rating carried, it carried designations for "intense violence, blood and gore, strong sexual content, strong language and use of drugs" -- which wasn't a strong enough warning to keep Hillary Clinton from calling the ratings system "broken". Either she thinks parents are too stupid to understand what the rating and warnings very clearly spell out, or somebody's overreacting. What becomes a more troubling issue for games makers is whether they'll be held responsible for third-party modifications to their games.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    thatguy, 20 Jul 2005 @ 4:01pm

    Sims2

    I guess that means that Sims 2 is now an AO rating since you can just as easily download a nude patch it. And it's rated TEEN!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    spam, 20 Jul 2005 @ 4:05pm

    ugh

    More 'feel good' mentality. More 'protect the children' BS.

    I'm going to buy TWO copies of the game and then seek out this patch. I want to play it now. Oh, and I'm 30, no kids.

    Silly move on their part.. and piss on what Wall Street thinks of it. Shortsighted "investor" idiots. Same idiots that frown on Costco for not screwing their employees like Wal-Mart.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Dorpus's Good Buddy, 20 Jul 2005 @ 6:19pm

      Re: ugh

      You are all a bunch of freaks.

      This type of game is sick.

      Why don't you play a game where you just torure small animals. Get your rocks off that way.

      LOSERS.

      Games like this are contributing to the downfall of our socieity.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Ivan Sick, 21 Jul 2005 @ 5:37am

        Re: ugh

        I vote for stupid (rather than blowing out of proportion.) Or rather, blowing out of proportion because of stupid.
        Oh, yes, the downfall of society. I forgot about that. Yes, a naked video game will change everything.
        I'm sorry, what do you mean by "You are all a bunch of freaks"? Do you mean that anyone who's read this article (besides yourself of course) is some kind of deviant pervert? And has even played the game?

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Mary, 22 Jul 2005 @ 2:05am

        Re: ugh

        U should really calm down !!!!!

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        pill, 31 Jul 2005 @ 9:14am

        Re: ugh

        lol

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    dorpus, 20 Jul 2005 @ 8:55pm

    Trivia of the Day

    Excellent, I see I have a fan club on here now. ;-)

    Trivia of the Day: dump truck tires are inflated to 5 times the air pressure of ordinary cars. On a hot summer day, the tires may spontaneously explode and kill bystanders, as happened to an unlucky man.

    http://www.asahi.com/national/update/0721/TKY200507210222.html

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      eeyore, 21 Jul 2005 @ 4:19am

      Re: Trivia of the Day

      Geez, Dorpus, you act like that's news. Truck tires have to be inflated to higher pressure because they carry like 50 times as much weight per tire as a car, and they can explode with the force of a quarter of a stick of dynamite.

      They don't "spontaneously explode." It's called a blowout and it happens thousands of times a day but usually while the truck is in motion and is caused by a worn-out or defective tire.

      Next you're going to tell us that people spontaneously explode.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 21 Jul 2005 @ 1:06pm

        Re: Trivia of the Day

        Next you're going to tell us that people spontaneously explode.
        Maybe they do around Dorpus.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    your mom, 25 Dec 2005 @ 5:15pm

    what do you think the subject is...

    what the heck. if that the case then shouldn't they make the mods Adult Only? out of the millions of millions upon millions of players of these types of games how many do they really effect. heck we're not really sure they really effect anyone, maybe they are faking. i think this rating change is completely unreasonable. it is these things that really bring down society. they make people want to disobey and do it anyways, or do something even worse.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Feb 2007 @ 2:25pm

    owesome game

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Some person that written this, 23 Mar 2007 @ 8:23am

    Subject!!?!? this is not a lesson!!!

    hey gta is good, by the wsy the 1st and 2nd werent because of the way the type of camera.
    "birds eye view" is no good on these type of games E.G:Weapons face as ememy on manual aim, does sod all!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.