GTA and the ESRB

**Catiline** · 07-21-2005, 15:12

See here, http://www.esrb.org/about_updates.asp#7-20-05

GTA San Andreas has been reclassified as an AO in the US.

More menacingly for games long term, and why i'm posting here is the following part of the statement

'Furthermore, the ESRB calls on the computer and video game industry to proactively protect their games from illegal modifications by third parties, particularly when they serve to undermine the accuracy of the rating'

wooohooo, lets lock everything down. Lets see you complain about CA then :)

i should state a degree of interest here, I'm mate's with a school friend of the guy who started Rockstar which has given me some entertaining insight into this...

**edyzmedieval** · 07-21-2005, 15:19

Man,

If I want to get GTA San Andreas, I have to get it fast.....

**Geoffrey S** · 07-21-2005, 15:56

It seems a bit strange to base the age rating on the possibility of certain mods; if this were applied to all games any game featuring buxom female characters and enthusiastic skinners (just about any modern FPS) would have to be rated differently, if you get my drift...

**Steppe Merc** · 07-21-2005, 16:01

Yeah, Morrowind would be screwed...

But what rights do they have to call modders illegal? We're not selling it, are we?

I don't particullary care for GTA or those sort of games, but I am worried about how it may effect games that I like.

**Crazed Rabbit** · 07-21-2005, 17:00

I believe that GTA had the 'AO' stuff already, and was just 'unlocked' by a mod.

The real problem is what Cataline stated, that ESRB seems to want to crack down on mods. Since it'd be impossible just to stop bad mods, all mods would be skewered.

Crazed Rabbit

**IliaDN** · 07-21-2005, 17:02

What is AO?

**Productivity** · 07-22-2005, 07:17

Way to concentrate on something that is relatively harmless, but let this get by with minimal fuss.

Should this be in the Backroom?, it's primarily politics even if it is somewhat based on games.

**discovery1** · 07-22-2005, 08:05

No one will buy that racist game. Not only is it racist but I can guarantee you that the graphics are terrible and the story nonexistant.

That is probably why no one cares.

**Fragony** · 07-22-2005, 14:13

Well you can pick up hookers, slit the throat of a grannie or chainsaw a police officer to death. That kind stuff gets a 18+ rating in movies in the usa if I am not mistaken, so why not in a game.

**Proletariat** · 07-22-2005, 14:21

Good point. You can steal cars, assassinate cops, kill hookers, and now all of a sudden this game has crossed the line?

BFD.

**Geoffrey S** · 07-22-2005, 15:02

It's not just a matter of whether it encourages violence or not. Games, more than any other medium, draw people into their world. In this light I find it absurd that so few games actually have age restrictions, more so the fact that shops rarely enforce these restrictions. Just as young children shouldn't really be allowed to watch various horror films they shouldn't be allowed to play a game like GTA San Andreas. Games have grown up, yet many parents and apparently politicians don't seem to recognize that games need similar rules to movies. It would also help if game developers realised this.

Bah, that didn't come out too clearly. Basically the point I want to make is that games need to be taken seriously as an entertainment medium, along with the fact that games with adult themes should be for adults only.

**Proletariat** · 07-22-2005, 23:42

Originally Posted by Gelatinous Cube

Oh great, I should have guessed the might Proletariat would seek to Censor games, too.

Did you read what I wrote? Wanna take a wild stab at what 'BFD' might stand for? It has the words Big and Deal in it.

I'm not for censoring anything. This is a non-issue that's being run away with by people with nothing better to do. (ESRB supporters)