Sleaze in Grand Theft Auto raises hackles

SAN FRANCISCO: The "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" was hailed as the most 'cool' game by the teenage community. However, it has ended up by being more than cool, it's downright sleazy. The National Institute on Media and the Family, a non-profit organization has issued a nationwide parental alert detailing the presence of explicit sexual content in the game.

The Grand Theft Auto has already been panned as a very violent game and in fact has a ‘M’ (Mature) rating. But the presence of seamy scenes in the game could prompt the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) to give it an 'Adults Only' rating.

The whole controversy was triggered off by a mod called as 'Hot Coffee.' This mod was created by Dutch gamer Patrick Wildenborg and posted on the mod site. A modder is a games enthusiast who creates patches for games that are originally not included in the games, but are some kind of accessories using which gamers can play out different scenarios according to their wish.

The 'Hot Coffee' mod in the GTA apparently unlocks content that was already present in the game, claims Wildenborg. He says that neither he nor any of his friends have added any scenes to the game, they have just altered a code and provided access to the content, "All the material that is used during the sex scenes of the 'Hot Coffee' mod are on the official San Andreas release," Wildenborg has said. He added that the whole scene was like an "Easter egg." Readers are well aware of this gimmick of programmers who hide some content in their programs, which can be accessed by a few simple steps.

The Easter egg in GTA is hidden under the scene when the hero visits his girlfriend's house for a cup of coffee. In the original version, only the house is shown, and a few suggestive sounds are heard. In the 'Hot Coffee' mod, the whole cheesy act is played out albeit by cartoon characters.
And this issue has now blown into a wholesale slanging match with Assemblyman Leland Yee, D-San Francisco furiously accusing the ESRB of failing to rate the game appropriately. Take 2 Interactive, the manufacturer of the game has refused to comment on its alleged role in the whole sordid saga. The company says that it cannot comment on what the modders' do, but the media has pointed out that the fingers have been raised at the company and not at the modders.

Meanwhile, ESRB president Patricia Vance is under immense pressure to respond to these allegations, "If after a thorough and objective investigation of all the relevant facts surrounding this modification, we determine a violation of our rules has occurred, we will take appropriate action," she said.

The National Institute on Media and the Family has issued a statement as already mentioned and has called upon the company to quickly clarify the issue, “We are calling upon Rockstar Games to come clean with the ESRB, the nation’s retailers, and especially America’s parents What is your involvement in the production and distribution of pornographic content in your game? What do you know about the "Hot Coffee" scenes, and what are you doing to inform the public?" a statement posted on the site has said.

The Web today has been agog with this news and most of the blogs that we saw have said that the sleaze could have been in-built. In fact some blogs have also posted links to the video of the GTA scene. If there is any truth that the game's manufacturers have indulged in hanky-panky, retailers could take this game off their shelves.

This controversy only serves to highlight that even simulated games are no longer safe from sex and gore. They could end up morally corrupting the youth of the country and this is a chilling scenario. The raunchy act in the GTA could have been a naughty prank but the manufacturers as well as legislators must notice the fact that it is there and should take appropriate steps to see that such episodes are not repeated.

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