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The ruckus broke out after the public learned that top-selling video game "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" included sexually explicit scenes that could be accessed using code that quickly spread across the Internet.
"GTA: San Andreas" had already been seen as a fairly extreme game, given that its players could routinely shoot police officers, beat up prostitutes, carjack at will and more. As such, the gaming industry's rating agency, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB), had given it a rating of M, for mature. But in the wake of the revelations about the additional, sexual, content, the ESRB was forced to change the rating to A, for adults only. Such a rating would likely mean a big drop in future sales for the game, and indeed, it has been banned outright in Australia.
Before long, the so-called "Hot Coffee" scandal, named after the modification that unlocked the extreme scenes, became a hot news item, and fodder for politicians, who used it to attack the gaming industry. Sen. Hillary Clinton seized on the scandal and castigated the game's publisher, Rockstar Games, for distributing immoral material.
But through it all, the ESRB kept its cool, maintaining that the Hot Coffee modification meant nothing more than that "GTA: San Andreas" needed a different rating. Meanwhile, the ESRB kept on reviewing new games and bestowing upon them one of the six distinct ratings it gives for games, including C for early childhood, E for everyone, T for teens and the aforementioned M and A.
CNET News.com spoke with ESRB President Patricia Vance about the "GTA" scandal, the fallout, the board's ratings process and more.
Q: The "Grand Theft Auto" situation has put a spotlight on the industry and the rating system. Are you comfortable with that?
Vance: Yeah, the ESRB is proud of its rating system and the way it serves the public interest to be better informed about what's in video games. If the publicity surrounding the "GTA: San Andreas" situation raised awareness, and then consequently use, of the rating system, it's a good thing.
What is the proper role for ESRB in setting guidelines for game developers to follow?
Vance: We don't set guidelines for developers to follow. We rate games, and ensure (that) consumers have the information necessary to make educated purchase decisions about games before they bring them home.
How much discussion goes on between game publishers and the ESRB before games are rated?
Vance: Our ratings are assigned based on the consensus of independent raters with no contact or relationship whatsoever with the development community. So when we issue ratings, we're issuing them based on the consensus of those independent raters. If a publisher does not want the rating that has been assigned, they can make changes to the product as they see fit and resubmit the product.
So the responsibility for getting the rating a publisher wants falls entirely on the publisher's shoulders?
Vance: Yeah, our rating categories are (well) defined. We also conduct seminars with the industry on a regular basis to provide them with information about how we assign ratings to which games, and we illustrate for them content that has been assigned different ratings. But at the end of the day, obviously, it's a creative form of expression and developers will create what they choose to. It's that creation that we rate. They're not following guidelines per se from us. They are following their own creative visions for the product and then submitting it to us so we can accurately label it for consumers.
Do you think the criticism that has been leveled at Rockstar Games over the "GTA" situation has been warranted?
Vance: Once it was determined that (the Hot Coffee content) was actually created by Rockstar, we had to correct the (rating) so that the consumers had accurate information on which to base a purchase
See more CNET content tagged:
Grand Theft Auto, rating, scandal, video game, guideline
While this is true, you can also shoot thugs, criminals in vigilante mode, and how in fact, you beat up most EVERYONE in the game, not just hookers. Do hookers deserver some special recognition? Are they a example part of society? NO!
2)The ESRB had their hands up their ***** the entire time. They were busy figuring out which games needed their new E-10+ rating (I chuckle) and how to tie their shoes.
2) The ESRB did not have "their hands up their *****" as you put it, they were blind sided by a) the very people they were monitoring via non-disclosure and b) their own naiveté and failure to think that coders and developers don't bury content that they *hope* no one will find but yet know it's possible. Let's face it, ESRB has always known that "easter eggs" abound in games but would you think that anyone would put a BJ mini-game in, even one that is "disabled" (and doesn?t depict genitalia)?! Sorry but I don't think most people would, to us that would seem crazy. But all it takes is one person to make it hard on all. Thank Rockstar for that but don't shoot the messenger (ESRB).
People need to stop burying their heads in the sand. ESRB is not the problem here, it's the gaming industry that needs to wake the F up. Why do you think Rockstar didn't document that mini-"game" when it submitted the game for review? You can't say "oversight" cause it just doesn't wash in an industry that LIVES on cataloging everything. Either Rockstar or one of it's developers tried to slip one by but now it's bit them on the ass. Sure as I'm typing this if that content had been described to the ESRB, GTA:SA would have gotten the AO rating it deserved.
Final point, I do think that ESRB has a problem. That problem is an over broad rating of the "mature" games. What they need to do is expand the 'T' rating with something like 'T15+' and 'T17+' (and move the 'M' rating to 18+ and the AO to 21+) to better define games that are good for teens yet have advanced levels of blood, gore, etc. that most look for. Not that I advocate blood and gore (or sexual content) but its ignorance of what drives games today that has gotten us to this point. Teens want to escape as much (if not more than) as many adults, give parents better tools to know what is good escapism and bad.
Parents and politicians need to learn once and for all that it is the PARENTS responsiblity to PARENT their children. It's not a gaming companies, nor a ratings firm, nor the store where you can purchase these things responsiblity!
Parents are looking for a scapegoat for their own shortcommings and today it's video games. Yesterday it was Dungeons and Dragons. Before that Rock Music. Before that comic books.
When will it end people?
old play an M rated game and not and AO game. They are both
the same in my book. We can send an 18 year old man to Iraq to
get shot but he shouldn't be able to buy a video game or have a
beer? This country is really backwards sometimes. I won't even
let my kids watch GTA let alone play it, so it really doesn't matter
if there's any hot coffee mod in it. Parents need to do their jobs
and keep an eye on their kids.
It's really odd that the act of sex would outrage yet mass murder
is ok....odd.
Instead of endless layers of ratings, just tell me what's in the game and let me decide. If it's patently objectionable, put on an appropriate warning/label/whatever to keep it out of minors' hands.
LOLZ!!!11
PWNED!!!11
This is a fuss about NOTHING!
First of all, this isn't about the millions of copies of GTA that have been sold on all systems. The Hot Coffee mod was only for the PC version of the game, which is a fraction of the total sold.
More to the point, however, is the fact that the game had to be hacked to get the mod to work...we're not talking about entering a cheat code, but actually HACKING the game. Does anyone really think that someone who knows enough about computers to be able to hack a game can't find all the real porn that they want on the internet?
computer world. Games just don't get attention unless they are
portraying anti-social themes and actions. Sadly, there are enough
budding sociopaths out there who would buy such junk. But that's
the way it goes in all things - most people live their lives without
ever really thinking. Unfortunately, marketeers are well aware of
that failing.
- Are you kidding me?
- by October 19, 2005 11:28 AM PDT
- I find this article to be untrue and offensive to video gamrs everywhere. That's saying that Michael Jackson hung his child off of a balcony edge because he saw it happen in a video game. Actions are caused by a person's choices, not a very popular video game.
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(17 Comments)PWNED!