Say Good bye to GTA:SA

[Stevevai9]

It now has an AO rating, no U.S. retailers are selling it, not EBgames, not Newegg, not no one.


I feel sorry for all of you who never got a chance to play that game.

[Ob1]

what does AO stand for? that sucks, whats on it thats so bad? im guessing some kids wanted it for x-mas or for there b-day and got, they were playing it and mom or pa walked in and saw something, and got pissed and reported, it, man, thats some BS if you ask me.

[Stevevai9]

No, on the PC version and the other console versions, there is hidden code in there for a mini sex game. some smart people decided "hey, lets make a mod for this and send it across the web" Well, because f that mod, the Game was given an AO or Adults Only rating.

Hilary Clinton and her band of soccer moms banned the game from being sol to ANYONE under the age of 18.

Thanks Hilary.

oo yeah, for you guys who want to see actual evidence of video games not causing violence.

http://gr.bolt.com/articles/violence/violence.htm

[kevinf]

i heard that they are making another version with a harder to crack code but not sure don't remember the link too

[Jaggannath]

Incorrect... they're taking the version and removing the code that allowed the Hot Coffee mod to work, which had been coded around rather than removed. They will continue to sell the game unchanged aside from that to try get the M rating back

[TennBikeBerk]

How come it can get an AO rating, when you need the mod to get to the AO content? Seems the mod should be AO, but not the game.

[DonVito]

Originally Posted by TennBikeBerk How come it can get an AO rating, when you need the mod to get to the AO content? Seems the mod should be AO, but not the game.

It dont matter, this is just the break the government was hoping for. Most people dont know what a hack or mod is. So all the government tells people is "theres porn on GTA". And after years of propaganda of how the game industry is only out there to turn kids into killers......this happens.

[spyder003]

Originally Posted by AMD_freak And after years of propaganda of how the game industry is only out there to turn kids into killers......this happens.

I guess they can add porn star to the list now

Oh well, I'm sure SA will be back.

[wolfie]

this game was rated m already, nobody under 17, and not one thing on the news saying that. so to me its the parents fault if there 13 year old was playing it. it was really stupid of them for putting it on there but you can see more at noon on a soap opera then what was really on that game.

[Jaggannath]

Yup... in all honesty, I don't see how they can alter the game rating because a mod could potentially be downloaded and unlock undesirable stuff. I really think parental responsibility is the exception rather than the rule nowadays, it's really sad

[Ironsides]

Does this mean games like Call of Duty are up for a rating change because there are mods that make it more violent? Seems kind of stupid... although, I am kind of wondering how that "hidden code" just happened to be in GTA. All said, here's the lesson kids: don't vote for hillary in 2008!

[Turbo91Bird]

she will never win.

And what does the mod do again? Show people having sex or something?

[sdkfz]

Read the story carefully- the mod allows you access code that was left in the game when it went gold, but was not supposed to be used. This is an error and failure of the game company to issue a clean product. Think of it as an Easter Egg like when you could type ZZZZZ into Word's spell checker and the reply was 'sex'. Is it done all the time - sure it is- but it is no excuse -they were asking for this.

The only thing that the game company is doing now is to remove the code like it should have before it went gold. Of course at this point the whole excercie is purely punitive and essentially a monetary fine since I am willing to bet that the mod and the source code will be available from the web once the new version comes out.

Here is a screen shot from a newspaper -obviously not all that explicit if it can be there.
http://sfgate.com/columnists/morford/

Personally - the game is abhorrant anyway in that it glorifies lawlessness, I see no good that come from it.

[Prew]

It was my understanding also that the explicit sex content was within the game- not a part of third party mod- I think the mod just unlocked it (as someone else pointed out)- or if using a PS2 using something like Action Replay Max (a cheat code module) would allow one to see it.

[spartan015]

well the only thing is... u have to make yourself spend time to unlock it... on xboxes its commonly used w/ a mod chip which is illegal... and on the PS2 well it was... a simple memory hack... and pc its easier then that. but the only problem is its simply u have to make time to actually download and install it. now i want my revenge and i want some one to mod America's Army.. then see what happens lol.

[Ironsides]

a mod for America's Army - haha, that would be funny, the government banning a government game?

the GTA developers were asking for this. this is one game i will not miss. seriously, what was so much fun about these games anyway?

[spartan015]

exactly! banning a government funded game! slaps them in the face for creating it lol tho i enjoyed it.

hmmm its a matter of opinion... GTA series were great (for those who enjoy it) becuase of the creativity, the idea of being able to steal cars... shoot everyone lol... excessive voilence... but it was also had a interesting story. like vice city... it was alot like the movie Be Cool... thats why i enjoy it. i think some one mentioned gta SA as like scarface... but maybe it was adifferent game seeing that i nvr seen that movie. if u dont like voilence or cars... or both lol then ur not gonna like gta.

[doctorgonzo]

What I want to know is what the huge difference is between an "M" rating, which means suitable for 17-year olds and up, and an "AO" rating, which means suitable for 18-year olds and up. One freakin' year means that nobody can sell it?! How can anybody rationally argue that this game is now OK for a person who is 18, but is completely inappropriate for somebody who is 17?

I'm not fond of the GTA series personally (sure, it's fun to blow people up and run away from cops, but it gets old pretty quickly), so this won't affect me, but I think it is incredibly stupid. I'm guessing that the stores that won't sell this game anymore are still selling "R"-rated movies with violence and nudity in them.

[imbest123]

wait... so its still for sale as long as you are 18 years of age or is it banned completely? im 18 so its all good >=] plus there is always ebay.

[Yuanji]

i don't think most stores in the US sell AO games and they made Rockstar stop production of GTA:SA

[enhanced08]

Originally Posted by imbest123 wait... so its still for sale as long as you are 18 years of age or is it banned completely? im 18 so its all good >=] plus there is always ebay.

from what i understand its a little of both. you can't buy it unless your 18 but there is no store that will sell it at all! so you could be 30 and not able to get this game!

that is how i understand it anyway.

[spartan015]

well i think M is like all the bad stuff and AO is something above it... like pretty much having excessive blood... close to pr0n

dierect quotes from ESRB
AO ADULTS ONLY
Titles rated AO (Adults Only) have content that should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.

M MATURE
Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content, and/or strong language.

I don't much see a difference but yea... if u ever played postal 2 then u would wonder why it doesnt fit under AO lol... weird game

[Two|Bit]

Its strange. If you mod a game you are changing what is intended to be shown on the screen. I have modded a game, for example Counter Strike. You can get Skins to change how the guns and players look. You can get a skin for the hostages to be naked women. This is a Mod. With the same theory behind GTA: SA, shouldn't Counter Strike get an AO rating? I don't think so because it is not what the developers intended to be shown on the screen.

[spyder003]

Originally Posted by Two|Bit Its strange. If you mod a game you are changing what is intended to be shown on the screen. I have modded a game, for example Counter Strike. You can get Skins to change how the guns and players look. You can get a skin for the hostages to be naked women. This is a Mod. With the same theory behind GTA: SA, shouldn't Counter Strike get an AO rating? I don't think so because it is not what the developers intended to be shown on the screen.

No, it's not really a mod. The Devs put it in there. It was just a matter of someone finding it. I personally believe they wanted it to be found. If not, why would they bother? I think it was put in there knowing it would be found, with the expectation of having their ratings shoot through the roof when sales started to dip off. And they did, literally.

[TennBikeBerk]

Correct me if I am wrong here, but can't anybody buy an "M" rated game, even though it is meant for 17+ year olds? I think with the "AO" rating, you legally have to be 18 to buy the game.

[Two|Bit]

Originally Posted by spyder003 No, it's not really a mod. The Devs put it in there. It was just a matter of someone finding it. I personally believe they wanted it to be found. If not, why would they bother? I think it was put in there knowing it would be found, with the expectation of having their ratings shoot through the roof when sales started to dip off. And they did, literally.

Oh I see. I can agree with that than. They probably did this to be all over the news and to have people on message boards about PC Building talking about it to boost their popularity until they release the clean version, which EVERYONE who hasn't played will crave.

And I think they aren't supposed to sell them but they do anyways and nobody cares.

[juppy]

I agree with whoever said its just a way they can start banning video games. Greece already banned video games altogether and there are people in this country that would love to do the same. I personally don't see how they can call it the game's fault when you have to download a hack YOURSELF to implement it. C'mon parents, take a little responsibility for what your kids do! And just for the record, yes I have the game (PS2 version) but I don't even have a desire to download the hack. Call me weird, but computer-rendered pixels made to look like a nude person do nothing for me. If this is the case of things, then they better start banning alot of other stuff. Like Campbell's soup products for instance....a friend sent me an email once that had the Campbell's kids in various sex acts with each other. You could download that, print it out, and glue it to your can of soup! DOWN WITH CAMPBELL'S CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP!!! [/sarcasm]

[rackham]

Yeah Berk the store clerks are supposed to make sure you are of age when buying Mature rated games. There was a huge fuss a couple years back because of how they slacked off on that. What I dont understand is how you can come up with a system where different ratings (M and AO) are only one year apart.

[bigandy]

It's just like the record store. I would go in and buy albums with the "Parental Advisory" sticker all the time, and they would sell them to me without question, even though I was only 13 or so.

Rockstar should have removed the code altogether before releasing the game, rather than just leaving it so that it had to be found/modded, but it's their game, so it was their choice. But one thing this does is just increase the noteriety and popularity of Rockstar and the GTA series. For every moral touting mother, there's a couple hundred kids who will want to, and find a way to, play GTA. And this just brings out more of them. I'd like to know though is what about things like the nude patches for The Sims? Shouldn't The Sims receive an AO rating then because it can be modded into a game which shows nudity? Sure it's not quite as "in-depth" as the mod for SA, but it's nudity none the less.

[als814]

I'm glad when the re-release the game I'll be able to shoot cops, sell drugs, bang prostitutes and steal cars without this filthy smut of a hack in the game. /sarcasm

It is already filled with about as much filth as possible. It sure is a fun game, but I don't see why this is so much worse than beating up a cop with a sex toy.