July 30, 2005

  • For gamers, we all have heard the recent news regarding Grand Theft Auto : San Andreas and the "hot coffee" controversy. 
    At first it was more or less a "oh cool, check out what we found" kinda
    deal, not thinking about any ramifications that this easter egg will
    bring to the game.  I'm sure we thought that the ESRB rating would
    end up going "AO" (adult only) from an "M" (mature) because of the
    hidden mini-game, but did people really think that the game will be
    removed from the shelves of stores?! I sure didn't think it would go
    that far. Then the next reaction would be, well, I may not see it in
    Walmart or Best Buy, but there's always game specific stores like
    Gamestop or Electronic Boutique right? Nope, doesn't look like you'll
    find it there either.

    I went to a gamestop recently and I asked their store employee what
    their policy about the game is.  They told me that all gamestop
    stores will not carry the game anymore, and even indicated that sister
    company Electronic Boutique is doing the same thing.  I asked what
    stores would even carry the game anymore, and they said that probably
    only the mom and pops or ebay. To make matters worse, I hear that since
    stores are getting burned by the game going off the shelves, they might
    not even consider supporting the "fixed" version of the game when it's
    released weeks from now.

    Grand Theft Auto is a HUGE game franchise and it's getting slammed hard
    by the government and by the industry for it's harmless sex mini-game.
    There's sooo many violent actions you can do in the game, but it was
    accepted and allowed on store shelves. Yet when you're actually given
    the option to have sex with a virtual consensual character, it's the
    product of Satan!  For cryin out loud, there's worse things you
    can download for free on the internet. But I guess if the government
    had their way, they would regulate that too.

    I suppose the question now will be, how will this affect the production
    of the next Grand Theft Auto game? Will it completely be affected by this? Or howabout ANY future games? Heck, they are even attacking the Sims 2.
    With the next-gen consoles around the corner, publishers and developers
    are keeping their eyes and ears glued to any more revelations in the
    case.