Take-Two Looks To Settle Over Hiding Consensual Adult Sex In A Game About Stealing And Killing
from the sorry-about-that dept
You may remember the big fuss over the "Hot Coffee" mod in the video game Grand Theft Auto. This was a special modification that you could make to the game software (i.e., you couldn't just get it to work out of the box) that added a short interlude involving some cartoon-like figures in the game performing consensual sexual activities. Now, remember, that this is a game that is purposely about stealing, killing, prostitution, drugs and creating general mayhem. Yet, you add in a little bit of consensual sex that cannot be seen without modifying the software, and suddenly there's a huge uproar about how the game needs to be banned, while various people who had bought the game for their children and grandchildren (and then anyone else who lawyers could cram into a class action lawsuit) sued. Take-Two Interactive, the publisher behind GTA, has apparently agreed to settle the lawsuit, which focused on the idea that the company was somehow deceptive in selling video games with sexually explicit content under the "wrong label." Of course, the label it was sold under already said that the game included: "intense violence, blood and gore, strong sexual content, strong language and use of drugs." Apparently, "strong sexual content" doesn't mean what most of us thought it did. Even the FTC found no problem with the way the game was labeled. It's hard to see what Take-Two has to apologize for (or settle), but such is life in a world where politicians who have no clue about video games want to make sure they can "protect the children." In the meantime, can someone explain how a parent who bought a game for his or her child that was labeled as including "intense violence, blood and gore, strong sexual content, strong language and use of drugs" could possibly be surprised or upset that it also included consensual sexual activity between naked cartoon-like characters?
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Stupid
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Stupid politicians.
Why do parents believe it is the governments job to protect their children? If you are not one of these parents then you know who you are and no defense is needed.
What ever happened to a parent being involved in a childs life? If you can't pay attention to what you are buying your kids, and have the motivation to be in your childs life then you should not be a parent.
And these politicians that think the need to run the public with stupid usless laws need to be shot.
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Re: Stupid politicians.
I'm actually glad this happened- it shows the sad state this country is in:
1. Overworked parents buy their children a game that they should take the time to determine is inappropriate content-wise.
2. When the easter-egg is finally discovered, their kids install the mod (they could have also downloaded porn at the same time, probably).
3. Parents, upset that their kids like sex, lash out against someone, ANYONE (except themselves).
4. The media, with nothing better to do than create sensationalist stories, latches on to this and, because their focus on "personal responsibility" only applies to those who are NOT their customers (after all, if the media told you you should do a better job parenting, you might not tune in anymore, a.k.a. denial). So, they blame the publisher, who is clearly not responsible, nor did they do anything wrong.
5. Politicians, committing the sin of omission, follow along (as always-unless they're doing nothing at all); after all, they need to get reelected somehow!
6. Overpaid lawyers then ran with this, despite any conscience they might still have left, just to make that extra buck.
And you know what really kills me? They're gonna WIN.
-Max out.
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Re: Stupid politicians.
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The real crime is that..
Take-Two did nothing wrong in providing a properly marked video game.
the real crime is that adults would expose and I guess even encourage this video game to kids. The limits of supidity know no bounds.
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Re:
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Victims
The hardest thing for some parents to say to a kid should be the easiest. "NO" is a simple, two letter word that should be a standard part of any parents repertoire. And when they don't have the testicular fortitude to speak this word to their children? It's someone else's fault. Blame someone else on your failure. Have you ever heard a parent get pissed off at the teacher for little Johnny's failure on a test, knowing full well that the little turd didn't even pick up a book to read it much less use it for a door stop?
Here are examples of it's proper use:
"Mom, can I take dad's .38 in the backyard of our suburban home and shoot the squirrels and birds and the neighbors dog, Spotty?" NO
"Mom, can I watch this porn movie on the Spice Network?" NO
Mom, will you buy me this neat video game that has all this neat street, gangsta violence, plenty of cursing, and some pretty neat sex stuff in it? I'll have to get on the internet and figure out how to get the actual intercourse to be shown, but that's only a minor obstacle. Huh, can I, can I, can I, pleeeeeease?" NO!!!!
You laugh at some of these outlandish examples, but some parents would have a hard time answering these questions. It might hurt Junior's self esteem and we can't have that, can we?
It's only a matter of time before someone decides to sue an ISP for access to porn. Think about it, When you pull up the internet through your local Cable or DSL provider, there is no warning label there for adult content. And, it's much easier and there's a helluva lot more satisfying and high quality selection to choose from than watching a couple of cartoon figures knocking boots on some video game. I'll take Big Naturals over Grand Theft Auto any day.
The downfall of America? Racial discord? Illegal Integration? Bilingualism? Nope. Mothers of America
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Another example
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Great - nows theres another precedent
I'd really appreciate it if you could include a storyline which allows me to hunt down and kill him and all his lawyer friends giving extra points for pain inflicted and duration.....
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Y'know, for buying and giving a rated mature / adult game to underage children. Which harmed Rockstar's public image.
Man that'd be awesome
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RE: Stupid politicians
I say they only believe it when it’s convenient; otherwise those so called "parents" refer to it as governmental interference.
Once again those of lesser intelligence get to dictate what’s best for the rest of the nation, but hey WE voted these people into office.
Hope you are happy with your elected officials
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Re: RE: Stupid politicians
As far as being happy with the elected officials, Thier all liars anyway. Who can tell.
But dammit, READ THE ACTUAL LAW before you vote for it. Too many people don't know what they are voting for.
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RE: Victims by Bull Shifter
Boytbpc
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Re: RE: Victims by Bull Shifter
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It's Political
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Re:
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With all the lawsuits going around..
When a parent goes into a store to buy an M rated video game for their 13 year old, they have to sign a consent form stating that they are aware of the rating and that the video game may contain violence, vulgar language, sexual themes, and other adult content, and they understand that the video game company is no long responsible for any damages caused by views who are not of proper age.
Of course there would be more to it to cover everything, but you get the idea.
If it's an electronic sale, before the order is completed the customer has to submit their email address, type their name in a form to 'sign' it, then mail it back.
Who knows, maybe if parents have to start signing legal documents to buy junior the M rated video game he wants they'll stop and think about it for the first time.
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How about..
Ohh... oh.... and all internet usage by children must be supervised by the parent. Ohhh.. wait, did I suggest parental responsibility because they chose to breed? Oh jeez... that'll never fly.
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Hide your head in the sand.
Parents need to escort children when going to R rated movies.
Bad Parents. Point the finger. Bottom line is money and Kyles mom is a big fat bitch!
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Stupidity
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The thing that gets me...
That was what struck me as short-sighted on the part of the media -- that they reported on the content as if it was just in there and waiting to be accessed as any other normal part of the game's content, instead of the actual truth about the content only being available via modification.
And Rockstar may have hidden the content, but they had a reason for that -- the HC content was locked out of the game's standard playable code because they had intended to put the content into the game itself but decided against it, and the game was so far along into development that removing the code altogether could have had a disaterous effect on development (delays, bugs, etc.). It wasn't "hidden away" in the sense that Rockstar intended someone to find it, but in the sense that they couldn't take it out without having to possibly delay development and lose money -- which is exactly what happened when they recalled the old version of "San Andreas" and took a month or two to remove the code completely; they lost millions in possible revenue while the game was off the shelf.
This kind of bullshit just makes me weep for the loss of common sense and intelligence in this country. And yeah, the hypocrisy of whining about a consensual sex scene/minigame in a game that's not only labeled as featuring sexual content, but also contains scenes of violence, racism, and drug use is so overwhelming you could drown in it.
Oh, and let's not forget about Jack Thompson, who's already trying to file an injunction to prevent Grand Theft Auto IV from being sold in stores A HALF A YEAR before the game's even scheduled to be released ( http://tinyurl.com/23wy2x ). If anyone deserves to have this hypocrisy shoved back in his face, it's good ol' JT. Freaking idiot crusader is trying to destroy the First Amendment and villainize that which he doesn't understand in one fell swoop.
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Mod other games
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The insanity of it
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