Hidden sexual mini-games in GTA: San Andreas

[zmweasel]

There's another topic about this, but it has a misleading title about the AO rating.

Here's the deal: there are several hump-your-girlfriend mini-games in the San Andreas program code. You don't see genitalia in this sequences, but you see everything else.

The mini-games were disabled before the game shipped and replaced with innocuous cut-scenes, but a clever hacker has created a patch to reactivate the mini-games in the PC version. People are freaking the hell out.

The ESRB is investigating the matter, as confirmed by Rockstar, which didn't actually 'fess up to the existence of the mini-games: "We feel confident that the investigation will uphold the original rating of the game, as the work of the mod community is beyond the scope of either publishers or the ESRB."

An MSNBC article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8515870/

Screenshots of the mini-games: http://www.gtagarage.com/mods/screens.php?id=28

Discuss, and by discuss, I mean laugh your ass off.

-- Z.

[Sothy]

Well since the game shouldnt havee been in the hands of any children in the first place whats the deal.

If a little kid has fifty bucks in his pocket to spend anyway the parents are obviously messing up right there.

[tylerwillis]

Wow. No really, wow. Even for GTA that's pushy.

Wouldn't Rockstar have realized that someone somewhere would find this bit of coding? Or did they perhaps secretly want someone to find it?

[YoshiM]

Sheesh, even if the game had those mini games intact would I really want to subject my on screen persona to lay the carpet with those scary looking individuals? The pic where the girl is saying "oh yeah, you're the man" looks like she took a huge whiff of Smile-X.

I was waiting for the gal to get all freakish like the "shy" girl Keisha from the movie "Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood" became when Loc Dog was drying to make his moves.

Keisha: (face turns all zombielike and wild)"C'mon bitch! Let's get it on!"

Loc Dog: (screams like a little girl and tries crawling away.)

[joshnickerson]

Meh. I figured this would happen eventually. I'm not fan of the GTA series in any way, but I know that each installment has pushed the barrier of what's acceptable further and further.

I can't blame Rockstar for this, since this data was never meant to be found and used, but at the same time they SHOULD have know someone was going to hack it out sooner or later.

[Gamereviewgod]

Even for GTA that's pushy.

Riiiight. Because blowing a cops head off doesn't push as hard. But my god, sex???

Come on, this isn't pushing anything. The game has already pushed.

[TheRedEye]

Well since the game shouldnt havee been in the hands of any children in the first place whats the deal.

If a little kid has fifty bucks in his pocket to spend anyway the parents are obviously messing up right there.

You're missing the point. This game was rated M for Mature, which is a guarantee that there is no blatant sexuality. What we're seeing here constitutes an "Adults Only" rating. Some parents may be okay with little Timmy hearing the word "fuck" and blowing cops away, but maybe they're not okay with pixelized boobs and actual sex, which is why the ratings exist.

Still, though, this whole thing is kind of dumb. The only way to access these hidden games is to make modifications that aren't endorsed by any of the companies involved. So what if the data is THERE, we can't see it by using the software in the way we agreed to in our invisible "contract" by purchasing the game. A good lawyer will be able to argue that this is no different than some kid making a nude patch for Tomb Raider.

[Mr.FoodMonster]

So its ok that BMX XXX and God of War both got M ratings, right?

BTW, on the M rated San Adreas already

"Strong Sexual Content"

So, by the way the ESRB rates things (I.E. 'Strong/Mild/Intense/Some'+'Violence/Sexual Content/Drug Use/Profanity'), it would only use a different word in place of 'Strong'. They arent going to put "Bare titties and fucking games" in there.

[Griking]

Well since the game shouldnt havee been in the hands of any children in the first place whats the deal.

Well, that's my arguement. The game isn't for children therefore there shouldn't be any arguements about it getting the AO rating that it deserves.

I can't blame Rockstar for this, since this data was never meant to be found and used

No, actually the code should never have been included in the game at all, hidden or not. it's 100% Rockstar's fault.

[TheRedEye]

So its ok that BMX XXX and God of War both got M ratings, right?

Did you miss the part where CJ stuck his dick into a woman on-camera? That's pornography, which is illegal to sell to a 17-year-old. M-rated games are 17+.

[slip81]

So its ok that BMX XXX and God of War both got M ratings, right?

Did you miss the part where CJ stuck his dick into a woman on-camera? That's pornography, which is illegal to sell to a 17-year-old. M-rated games are 17+.

I didn't see any genitals in any of those screens, at best it's just motions, and on par with something you'd see late night on Cinemax or Showtime or HBO.

Needless to say I'm gonna have to get the PC version and try this out

Also did anyone else think that the ad for Vice City at the bottom of the article was a little humerous?

[tylerwillis]

Even for GTA that's pushy.

Riiiight. Because blowing a cops head off doesn't push as hard. But my god, sex???

Come on, this isn't pushing anything. The game has already pushed.

Yes, in a sense, the GTA are already pushy and this is nothing different.

My point was that GTA is known for its violence and crime-sprees - not for graphic sexual games. If this were Leisure Suit Larry, we probably all would have shrugged.

I do think it is pushy because - for better or worse - there is more stigma attached to sex than violence in America. It's much harder to get sexual type scenes for a particular movie rating than it is for violent type scenes. We've been taught that blowing someone away is something we expect to see in movies/games, but having sex is only for porn.

Whether that is right or wrong, I'm not arguing. I just say that Rockstar pushed it by going over the top and including sexual mini-games for a series that was already on the edge for its violent content.

[Jive3D]

This is all happening to drive sales of the game. It already exists on the PS2, and they can't speed up those sales. The Xbox version has also probably sold the majority of units that it will push. So the game is on two systems and they really need to get a few reasons out there for people to buy this third incarnation of the game.

I don't think that it's too far off for me to say that I'll bet that Rockstar communicated with that guy thet apparently wrote the patch. I'm sure that they arranged for this patch to be written and distributed by a party that has no 'known' connection to them. One of the programmers that worked on the game, could have EASILY told his buddy to write that patch. It's all just to create more buzz on the game. I have the PS2 version of the game, I hardly play it, so this isn't motivating me to buy the PC version, but it might get a few spikes in sales this week.

[Bronty-2]

I disagree. Too much risk of a lawsuit for it to be intentional.

[Sothy]

The Red Eye has spoken.

[Famidrive-16]

This reminds me of those old Naughty Dog games where you could 'unlock the girl' in the opening sequences...

I could see how people who freak out over this. I personally don't find it a big deal though.

[Aussie2B]

Sheesh, even if the game had those mini games intact would I really want to subject my on screen persona to lay the carpet with those scary looking individuals? The pic where the girl is saying "oh yeah, you're the man" looks like she took a huge whiff of Smile-X.

Tell me about it... Maybe it would be kind of hot... if the graphics didn't look like PS1 graphics, ugh!

I'd rather go watch me some PC-FX anime porn. At least that's competently drawn.

[Push Upstairs]

I didn't see any genitals in any of those screens, at best it's just motions, and on par with something you'd see late night on Cinemax or Showtime or HBO.

I'd agree. Since you don't see any actual penetration it falls under the classifcation "softcore".

And I'd hardly classify whats in those screenshots as "sex"....at most "dry humping".

[Gamereviewgod]

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/gt...s_6129301.html

Actual code on the disc, accesible with an Action Replay. Rockstar lied, and they are in DEEEP shit. Let the soccer mom battle begin.

[blissfulnoise]

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/gta4/news_6129301.html

Actual code on the disc, accesible with an Action Replay. Rockstar lied, and they are in DEEEP shit. Let the soccer mom battle begin.

I wouldn't go so far as to say they're in "DEEEP shit". Take a look at the article:

Given that the minigame is about as raunchy as an episode of Sex and the City, cannot be accessed without entering a long string of cheat codes, and takes several hours of effort to access, charges that San Andreas is "pornographic" may seem extreme to some. However, its existence does appear to contradict Rockstar Games' carefully worded statement blaming hacker mischief for the existence of the Hot Coffee mod.

As long as no "no-nos" are seen interacting (thank you Hank Venture), I doubt a pornographic label can be slapped on the game, and it should maintain it's M rating (on par with God of War, BMX XXX, etc).

But I do agree this pushes the envelope about as far as it can go (at this point in time, anyway). And I applaud Rockstar for it. It's about time we had a real discussion regarding sex in video games. And we all know it's going to take a major publisher/title to start the dialog. Rockstar and the GTA series is the perfect launching pad.

And not to over state the obvious, but I, for one, think it's ridiculous that the discussion isn't over the rampant and grizzly violence that's already in the game, but about sexuality, the seemingly last taboo in videogames. Politicians have more or less given up the fight over one, it's only a matter of time before the fight is over on the other.

That all said, I'm a big fan of the GTA series, San Andreas included. None of this changes that.