GTA:SA Pulled from the shelf

[_IrIsH_]

*shock*

*GasP* etc

Popular game pulled from sale

By Sam Varghese

July 29, 2005 - 5:49PM

The popular computer game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has been withdrawn from sale in Australia after the Office of Film and Literature Classification revoked its MA15+ classification.

The board said in a statement today that the game contained "contentious material" that had not been brought to the board's attention when it was classified.

There is no R rating for video games in Australia.

Take Two Interactive, the parent company of the game maker Rockstar Games, confirmed there were sex scenes in the retail version of the game on July 20 following which the US Entertainment Software Rating Board changed the game's rating from M to R18.

A grandmother in the US has sued Rockstar and Take Two on behalf of US consumers.

The issue came to light on July 11 when a freelance programmer in the US released a software "mod" making it possible to view the sex scenes.

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The game was released in Australia last October with an MA 15+ rating, as it contained "medium-level animated violence and medium-level coarse language".

The OFLC said it found that the content unlocked by the "hot coffee" mod could not be accommodated under the MA15+ classification .

The game cannot now be legally sold, hired, advertised or exhibited in Australia.

"Businesses that sell or hire computer games should remove existing stocks of this game from their shelves immediately," said OFLC director Des Clark.

"Parents are strongly advised to exercise caution in allowing children continued access to the game, particularly if they might have access to the 'Hot Coffee' modification."

[jezzerrr]

lol, what a joke

[doxximus]

"parents are strongly advised to stop being pussies, and blaming other people, to learn to deal with their own kids themselves instead of saying they are being influenced, because hey, you DO have some control over what your child does"

why'd they leave that out then?

and what game would be next? hope not world of warcraft considering you can make /rude gestures where a gnome flips you off! EEK! and the 12 year olds who start female nightelf characters only to strip them down to their nickers! gasp!

maybe next, granturismo will be banned because it is influencing children to go get their lisence, buy a car for under $1000CR, and then race people for money in order to buy those cool OZ Racing wheels. thats promoting speeding, gambling, and not to mention the false security of not causing damage when you crash!

I hope A Current Affair gets onto this real quick! i mean they already do the hidden camera thing in some p plater's car causing a ruckas, clearly proving that all young teenages, wait...ALL teenages are too dangerous on the road and speed so much, but we'll still show you responsible adults (thats anyone over 45 thank you very much) how to get out of speeding tickets that were unfairly handed out to you responsible, older, well trained drivers

damn world of warcraft is fun

[BigDatto]

I read about the "Hot Coffee" patch on Eurasia, think I'll get the game just for that. Now back to DOA Xtreme beach volleyball.

[bullet46]

"parents are strongly advised to stop being pussies, and blaming other people,  to learn to deal with their own kids themselves instead of saying they are being influenced, because hey, you DO have some control over what your child does"

why'd they leave that out then?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I see what ya saying dude but after my 12 yr old bro brought a knife to school my parents who live with him got rid of the xbox and its a different child...

You are right on 1 section and thats that they do have some control BUT what parent walks next to there child 24-7 including school

Ive played the game GTA sa a few times and its pretty mad, shame its gone now.

[SKYLVIA]

well first of all, any video game retailer (especially EB) will only sell GTA:SA to people 15+. we get alot of parents coming in saying "this game is horrible, i cant believe you sold it to my son/daughter" well sorry mr/mrs but you purcahsed the game and gave your consent, its not our problem. these ratings are there for a reason!!!! if a game is 15+ a parent should NOT purchases it for there child who is under 15. its sad for the kids cause they want what they cant have but hey if parents took videogames seriously then they shouldnt be buying it for there child.

everytime rockstar releases a new GTA they just get slaughtered by all the idiots out there who decide its too harsh. i wouldnt be supprised if rockstar just give in all together.

[dezz]

no way they'll do that man

rock star is smart! they make the game, release it, sell a bizillion copies, then it gets pulled off the shelves eventually....so what, they re-release it without the content, and all the pussies can buy it anyway.

they sell a shit load of copies when it comes out. people buy it instantly because the GTA series is always at the forefront in its genre...then you've got the people that buy it because they knows its gonna get banned eventually, so they want their un censored version...

rockstar are a bunch of champions....can't wait for the next 1!

[predator]

Its a bit stupid, considering the game had to have an unofficial patch to release the feature.

Most games can have patches made to allow rude things if people are really keen (and have in the past plenty of times). Just that its not official - seems like double standards.

So who wants to buy my Xbox GTA:SA ?

[SKYLVIA]

i went into work today and they let me know on all the info and unfourtunetly its illegal to sell your copy of GTA:SA sorry predator. (i recommend selling privatly )

and i didnt say they wouldnt make a sequel but i wouldnt be suprised, theyve been taken to court over the last 3 GTA's (GTAIII, GTA:VC, GTA:SA) but i spose they can afford to be fined the amount when theyre selling a crapload of copies.

[**JaR**]

lol true, but the games been around for like a yr already.... heaps of people have it, plus they took the 3rd one off the shelves when it was released and then brought it back, its just to please the bitching parents

[dezz]

lol true, but the games been around for like a yr already.... heaps of people have it, plus they took the 3rd one off the shelves when it was released and then brought it back, its just to please the bitching parents

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

they bring it back censored, but the fact is, rockstar knows they can sell a bizillion copies of the original before it gets taken off the shelf, then when they re release the censored version, all the "other" people can buy it

[Anakha]

I think its hilarious that the whole deal bout SA came about because of this 'hot coffee' patch... an 'unofficial' patch 'downloaded' from the internet.

Now really, its not exactly much different for some teenager or whatever to type in 'sex' or 'teen' (i wouldnt know of course), into google, and find some real sex scenes... rather than rather low quality additions (however funny) to a computer game.

If parents are getting upset over the game; how about they themselves take responsibility in what they allow their kids to get hold of.... instead of blaming some1 else.

[Anakha]

P.S. congratz to Rockstar for bringing out another top quality game

[**JaR**]

I think its hilarious that the whole deal bout SA came about because of this 'hot coffee' patch... an 'unofficial' patch 'downloaded' from the internet.

Now really, its not exactly much different for some teenager or whatever to type in 'sex' or 'teen' (i wouldnt know of course), into google, and find some real sex scenes... rather than rather low quality additions (however funny) to a computer game.

If parents are getting upset over the game; how about they themselves take responsibility in what they allow their kids to get hold of.... instead of blaming some1 else.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

yeah agreed, whats next.... they'll try ban google from letting people type "offensive" words into its search engine pffft. the whole GTA series rocks, even the old school ones, i got em all, it'll be awsome if they release another one

[japwpn]

heres a idea y dont they release a censored ver of the game and the norm ver of the game at the same time therefor they cant get sued then ppl who want the the censored crap cant blame no one but themselfs if they get the wrong ver and if ppl want the uncensored they can have it i know what id be getting

[dezz]

heres a idea y dont they release a censored ver of the game and the norm ver of the game at the same time therefor they cant get sued then ppl who want the the censored crap cant blame no one but themselfs if they get the wrong ver and if ppl want the uncensored they can have it i know what id be getting

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

the issue is that no game in australia can be classified over a certain level, where as in the USA etc, they might be harder on the ratings, but can rate a game at R etc....

in australia i think the max is like M, or it might be MA, and so if they decide that GTA is over what makes a game MA, it cant be sold in australia, as it would have to be rated R.

so they release the censored version...

but rockstar is not stupid. they know they have already sold hundreds of thousands of the original copy anyway, and will still sell copies when its re released!

[lordsnipe]

GTA:SA has been out for ages! It was released in Oct last year in the states for the PS2.

I think it's bs that a game can get recalled because of a 3rd party patch. What next? Mario gets taken off shelves cos somebody wrote patches to make all the characters naked?

[SKYLVIA]

well sims has an official patch to make them naked (although you dont see them sexing so it kinda cancels it out) and i dont see parents sueing them....

ohwell parents can have another mad bitch when GTA: liberty city stories comes out on PSP