From Seattle writer and consultant Matt Rosenberg...

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Unlocking The Porn In "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas"

July 08, 2005

A downloadable modification to the popular video game "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" unlocks porn that appears to have been built in from the start. Or so it is alleged. More from the SF Chronicle:

A media watchdog group denounced the maker of the hugely popular video game "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" on Friday after learning that graphic sex scenes can appear in the game with the help of a freely available Internet download.

The game's plot was already objectionable to many: its main character seeks bloody vengeance on gang-filled streets, firing automatic weapons and picking up women along the way.

After downloading and installing a modification to the game — one of many "mods" available on Web sites maintained by videogame enthusiasts — a new world opens up in which the girlfriends appear nude and engage in explicit sex acts, according the mod's author.

The new content fills in what publisher Rockstar Games left to the imagination in the rated M (Mature) version sold in stores. Sexual content of this kind generally earns videogames an AO (Adults Only) rating, which very few retailers are willing to sell.

Rockstar spokesman Rodney Walker refused to say whether or not the New York-based publisher created the sex scenes. The controversy has prompted an investigation by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, which determines the rating on every video game sold.

The mod's author — Patrick Wildenborg of Deventer, Netherlands — told The Associated Press Friday that his code merely unlocks content that is already included in the code of each off-the-shelf game, the latest edition of the top-selling "Grand Theft Auto" series.

"If Rockstar Games denies that, then they're lying and I will be able to prove that," Wildenborg, 36, wrote in an e-mail. "My mod does not introduce anything to the game. All the content that is shown was already present on the DVD."

...Within the game's official storyline, the main character earns the chance to have "coffee" with "girlfriends." Wildenborg says his "hot coffee" patch merely toggles a single value in the game's main script — a "censor flag," he calls it, that appears to have locked up several hot and heavy scenes.

"Lock me in a room with a computer, an original San Andreas DVD and a binary-file editor, and I will be able to unlock the stuff in a matter of minutes," he said defiantly.

(National Institute on the Media and the Family founder, David) Walsh said the "hot coffee" scenes are pornography by anyone's definition, and called on Rockstar to "come clean" on whether they programmed the scenes into the game. "This is about kids," Walsh said. "Can you imagine the impact of 13-, 14- and 15-year-old boys literally enacting this scene?"

Oh yeah, I forgot. As David Brooks explained not long ago, controversy over this kind of stuff is merely "kabuki" posturing, and has no bearing on real life, where kids are "raunchy on the surface" but "wholesome within" despite all the hyper-sexualized and criminal-themed entertainment they ingest.

But a recent study by Indiana University medical school researchers suggests violent TV and video game imagery can foster aggressive behavior.

Individuals cannot always count on their free will to avoid certain risks, such as, say, suddenly and horribly violent pit bulls. But they can easily sidestep cigarettes or "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas."

So in this instance, as in MOST others, I would not support regulatory intervention (beyond the current labelling scheme for mature-content video games, and actual enforcement of same).

Yet I wonder how any parent could be sanguine about their kids playing games like this. Columnist Sandra Paterson, writing about "San Andreas" in the New Zealand Herald, is struck by the game's heinous content, and what it might mean to its many underage players.

On TVNZ's Sunday programme last week, a reporter went to a Wellington boys' high school and asked how many of them had played an R18 video game called Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

According to enthusiastic reviewers, who say things like, "this game will own you" and "it feels totally real", it is head-and-shoulders above any other game on the market.

The player takes on the role of a criminal and earns points by decapitating police, raping prostitutes, shooting or slitting the throats of innocent bystanders, stealing cars and beating people with baseball bats, in between visiting strip clubs and crack dens and living a glamorised gang lifestyle.

Anyway, in the senior year, it looked like every hand in the class went up. They had all played it, despite the fact only one of them was 18. The same thing happened at every level, right down to what used to be called the third form.

A survey found 87 per cent of boys aged 15 to 17 had played R18 games and 35 per cent said their parents bought the videos for them.

The programme also featured a young mum who said she was quite happy for her 7-year-old to play it. He "didn't have it in him" to be violent, she said, and she was confident those sorts of games would not affect his behaviour.

Maybe I am over-protective, but I cannot fathom how parents could encourage children to play a game where they pretend to beat people to a pulp and take part in pack rapes, let alone kids so young they are still learning to tie their own shoelaces.

.....The question I found myself asking was: which kids are more likely to grow up aggressive - those who spent hours in a fantasy world committing virtual rape and murder or those whose parents gave them a quick whack on the backside for dishonesty, disrespect or dangerous behaviour?

...if we're serious about reducing violence in society, we should be taking a good hard look at the games our kids are playing.

Yes. But this goes beyond societal penetration of the unfathomably blithe moral relativity that harrumphs about "judgemental" takes on stuff like "San Andreas." I know I am impossibly old-fashioned, but I think there's a crucial distinction to be made between direct and mediated experiences. Pick live thrills (hiking, skiing, kayaking) over simulated video game thrills; pick playing poker versus watching those idiotic telecasts of poker; pick cooking your own food versus drive-thru dyspepsia or microwaved mediocrity; pick Marrakesh versus the DisneyWorld simulation; and choose to blog and critique the news versus simply ingesting it. (Yes, you!)

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at July 8, 2005 06:42 PM

Comments:

GTA:SA wouldn't be the first game with a censor flag that could be turned off by a mod. Honestly, I'm far less concerned with "hot and heavy" content you've got to go out of your way to unlock than with the main content of the game itself.

Posted by: Nathan Azinger at July 9, 2005 10:09 AM

Matt great piece...hope to be back at the blogging soon -SpinDaddy

Posted by: SpinDaddy at July 10, 2005 11:36 PM

Matt, the mod likely simply removes the clothing layer. The layers of the game's characters are built one on top of the other. Alternatively you could have disabled the skin layer and really offended the Pro-Ghost lobby out there who is for less demonization of floating clothes and ghouls.

Posted by: bmvaughn at July 11, 2005 03:01 PM

Yeah, is there any bits to turn off the violent sadistic sociopath part of the game?

"That's right junior, shoot that old lady's face off and steal her Buick. All right, that's my boy.... now pistol-whip that hooker. OH, MY SWEET JESUS, are those are pictures of NAKED PEOPLE FORNICATING?!"

Posted by: missinthepoint at July 11, 2005 05:53 PM

bmvaughn--actually, if you read the article itself, the hack changes the "fornication" scene from one that just shows the outside of the house along with "suggestive" noises, into a full-on pornographic display. My guess is that the programmers were planning to put the porn in, but someone decided that it was just a bridge too far, so they turned it off and turned on the other scene. Why they didn't just remove the code entirely is beyond me, but I'm not a (perverted) programmer.

Posted by: Timothy at July 11, 2005 06:56 PM

i think that if it has to be downloaded to make the porn work then there is no point to point the fingure at grand theft auto. just because everyone is a pussy in this world. everyone cant take anything without suing or putting some one else in jail. and what is the big point it is just a video game. IT IS NOT REAL.

Posted by: corey at July 14, 2005 05:24 PM

I grew up watching Sunday Night horrors and Im not running around biting peoples necks, or trying to coat people in wax and then exhibit them in a wax museum. Same thing different format, but same old hippy shit from people that have too much time on their hands - let videogames be violent and focus on the homeless guy thats jus down the road from where you work.

Posted by: kinetik at July 14, 2005 06:40 PM

I grew up watching Sunday Night horrors and Im not running around biting peoples necks, or trying to coat people in wax and then exhibit them in a wax museum. Same thing different format, but same old hippy shit from people that have too much time on their hands - let videogames be violent and focus on the homeless guy thats jus down the road from where you work.

Posted by: kinetik at July 14, 2005 06:41 PM

You cannot commit rape in GTA. There is no way to commit gang rape, single rape, child murder, child rape, or any other kinds of sexual assault in GTA.

All of the "sex" in the games are "consentual" between the characters on screen. I want to know where and how everyone seems to come up with the idea that rape is in these games.

It's late right now, and I do not feel like disproving every single asinine thing that holds no weight against the series.

I'll do that later.

Posted by: Quintin Brown at July 15, 2005 12:47 AM

There is playboy there is playgirl there is hustler there is muslim there is cathloic there is jew so the fuck what !!! Let the game maker do their bits and we the tax payer want games and have fun with games !!!! so every shut up and leave us the player and the maker alone !!

Posted by: Rory Fraser at July 15, 2005 07:00 AM

Look at our society then look at the Japanese. They are much bigger on videogames and less censored material. They have WAY less violence and shootings then us. I do not see how getting rid of videogames will solve violence issues. We have troops who were sent to kill thousands of iraqi's. The understanding I have of the war was that it's ok to go into a country you have nothing to do with and kill them to force democracy upon them. Nuclear weapons?? I hear theres lots of other crazy ass countries that have them but we just so happened to pick on the small one. Sex in GTA? Kids have complete free access to extreme dirt sex on the internet. I'm sick of these goddamn psychologists who think getting rid of videogames will solved everyones problem. They are insane and just a bunch of bullies who want things there way.

Posted by: Chris at July 15, 2005 09:22 PM

yehh!!!!!
as the amigo's said that it shouldn't be closed or hided from the game as we have puchased with some real money we are legally laible to get all the stuff they produced

Posted by: vamsi at July 15, 2005 09:49 PM

I always say this but Americans are brutal and spoiled people. We always want the biggest and best thing. We have freedom of speech but everyone also wants there point of view to be right. It just so happens Hillary Clinton has alot of power and her point of view is heard. She can also push it because she is involved in government. Even if all the gamers banded together to fight her or other politicians anything the rest of the american people would see would be a hashed up argument totally in favor of the politicians. The media is so skewed. This is probably one of the biggest problems now a days. The media controls all, whoever pays the media the most will get what they want. We may be in a democracy but it is in no way perfect.

Posted by: Chris at July 16, 2005 01:02 AM

A few things:

1. The GTA games *are* a helluva a lot of fun.

2. If you're a parent, and you wouldn't want your kid watching "Pulp Fiction", you should not let them play this game.

Posted by: Scott at July 19, 2005 02:41 AM

What is the code for the Porn? Thats the only thing I want to know, forget everything eles.

Posted by: steve at July 21, 2005 01:30 PM

I always say this but Americans are brutal and spoiled people. We always want the biggest and best thing. We have freedom of speech but everyone also wants there point of view to be right. It just so happens Hillary Clinton has alot of power and her point of view is heard. She can also push it because she is involved in government. Even if all the gamers banded together to fight her or other politicians anything the rest of the american people would see would be a hashed up argument totally in favor of the politicians. The media is so skewed. This is probably one of the biggest problems now a days. The media controls all, whoever pays the media the most will get what they want. We may be in a democracy but it is in no way perfect.

Posted by: Json at July 21, 2005 08:59 PM

How can we disaprove all of GTA San Andreas saying it has porn. People want even give the code to back their claim. Further more games do not kill people. PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE! I have played the all of Grand Theft Auto videogames I never shot, robbed, or wanted to kill anyone. So do not blame Rockstar blame the parent who do not raised their children right and to know real from surreal.

Posted by: QuietStorm at July 21, 2005 09:41 PM

Does anyone remember The sims? and the easily exploited code that you could remove the pixelated censors when they showered or had sex on the heart shaped bed? BAN IT BAN IT!!!! BAN THE EVIL SIMS!!! those godless hethens!!! ........lol

Posted by: mrmcgoo at July 21, 2005 11:54 PM

what is the code to get sex

Posted by: Adam at July 22, 2005 01:45 AM

Go kill someone and blame it on Grand Theft Auto. Works well for americans.

Can someone post the download site for the mod

Posted by: sfkat at July 22, 2005 10:08 AM

ledgend game,only for this game i would be takin all my frustration out on da street,its good for stress and a bit of porn in it would only help,americans are only lookin for sumtin ta blame if der kids do sumtin fucked up,they would be happy in der own minds for these kinda games ta be around,fuk em!

Posted by: keano at July 22, 2005 11:38 AM

throughout time, children have played the classic game of cops & robbers or cowboys & indians, or Americans versus Nazis, etc.

kids who play the criminals or gangsters, be it from the 1920s, 1930s or 1990s, have just as much fun as those who play the cops. and they do outrageous things like beat things with baseball bats and use their bicycles to pretend that they are stealing cars and being chased.

here is a videogame that does just that. it allows the player to bring those fantastic games to life, minus the fresh air, sunlight and excercise. (is it any wonder why we have a fattening population?)

The game's original

children can separate reality from fantasy. the average 14 year old knows right from wrong, sees all the same news I do, and watches the same TV cop shows like Law & Order and CSI that I do, where these same themes are presented from the perspective of the "right" side. the imagery there is just as graphic.

it's original rating was Mature 17+. this is just 12 months shy of when we allow our children to vote, pay taxes, and serve in our military. it is also just 12 months shy of when they they can go to a strip joint, have sex without fear of statutory rape laws, and even star in a porn flick if they want. just a reminder: the AO rating is not a 21 or 25 rating - it is 18.

I think that the lack of parental responsibility in controlling access to these materials is the real issue here. personally, I do not believe that we should censor issues about sex or crime from children. it is the taboos of the household and schools they grow up in that make such things so attractive in their rebellious teens. (and that many of these "bad" sex taboos feel damn good because we're programmed by our creator to enjoy it precisely at the age we want to start doing it).

Posted by: anonymous at July 23, 2005 08:41 AM

I have to say, I think that this entire dispute is bullshit. Maybe parents need to be more supervisial on what their children are playing. Just because you don't have the heart to tell your child that he/she can't play a certain game does not give you the right to complain about what is on the market. OK, maybe your kid did go behind your back and bought the game without your permission, well you need to falt your child for not listening to you, not the company for producing the game. Also I know that there are places that you can take the game to exchage it. If you care that much then you need to take the time out to do so.

Posted by: Eddie at July 23, 2005 01:43 PM

I belive that Gavin DeGraw is the best R&B singer ever. SpinDaddy is gay and so r u Nathan Azinger u hoe bag. Michael Bolton is Hip Hop royalty. P Diddy is a girl

Posted by: susan b anthony at July 23, 2005 10:20 PM

you are a dumb person

Posted by: big wang at July 24, 2005 01:24 PM

You can get it from this page

http://www.ic-games.co.uk/index.php?location=4&&articleid=3032

Posted by: theactualmod at July 24, 2005 02:13 PM

HAHA! I'm fourteen and I own a copy of grand theft auto! There's not a fucking thing that you politicians can do about it!!!!! HOHOHOHOHOOOO

Posted by: jacko at July 24, 2005 02:35 PM

Oh God, shut the fuck up all you censor-crazed pussies. Fucking fanatics that feel they have to censor every thing that "could make kids violent" grew up sheltered. The real world is violent. Get used to it. Faggots.

Posted by: Mike at July 25, 2005 04:04 PM

OMFG!! That is sooo gay I'm 11 I play it my mom and dad bought it for me and my bro's! If people dont want it DONT BUY IT! Dont take it off the fucking selfs! Really the sims is the SAME thing! (except the blood) But really! MY GOD PEOPLE GET A LIFE AND DONT PLAY IT THEN!!

Posted by: Kendra at July 25, 2005 11:49 PM

i've downloaded the software but does anyone know how to get it onto my PS2 so it works?

Posted by: d at July 26, 2005 05:38 AM

u bitch give me the mother fucken code now i need porn bad i need to Jack off

Posted by: pimp at July 26, 2005 08:50 AM

Heh. Must've been linked by a gaming site, Matt. To be honest, I really wasn't terribly concerned either by the mod or by the game itself, but if this is what passes for intelligent thought among its players, maybe I should be.

And for the record, I have no clue what a hoe bag is. Perhaps a sack for carrying gardening implements? I'm certainly not one of those.

Posted by: Nathan Azinger at July 26, 2005 11:06 AM

Also for the record, If any of you kids would like to know what I actually think about violence and video games before you go hurling insults, you might check this post from last March.

Posted by: Nathan Azinger at July 26, 2005 11:15 AM

Forgot about Matt's anti-spam efforts. Try this:
http://pajamajihad.blogspot.com/2005/03/violence-inherent-in-system.html

Posted by: Nathan Azinger at July 26, 2005 11:18 AM

who cares about the games kids should b smart enough to know that ur not aloud to shoot some one and im sure kids have watched or looked at porn on the computer so no nude cartoons are not serious..........they should not stop making gtas thats one of the top rated and best games there is

Posted by: tony at July 26, 2005 10:14 PM

LEGALIZE MARIJUANA THEN ASSHOLES..FUCKING UNITED STATES IS SO FUCKING STRICT ON EVERYTHING....NO ONE HAS KILLED A PERSON BECAUSE THEY PLAYED A GAME

Posted by: brad at July 26, 2005 10:21 PM

I have the code and it i for sale

Posted by: bill whilinds at July 27, 2005 02:49 PM

Some people are just that gullible and fragile, I guess. Blaming video games, that's some funny shit. Don't people realize that stupid people will probably always be pretty damn stupid no matter how old they are or what they watched when they were 15. It's either genetics or poor parenting that causes your stupid kids to be stupid their whole life. Old people who blame games were probably fucking geeks when they were young and have never gotten over their paranoia. Violent video games is not a new concept. Mortal Kombat, Mike Tyson's punchout, Super Mario Bros., fuck, pretty much every game involves some sort of shooting or hitting. Kids are smarter than that. When I was 12, my whole damn grade school class had heard "fuck the police", by NWA, and we loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Randy "do I make u Randy" at July 28, 2005 06:58 PM

there isnt any rape or gang rape in GTA you retards. And the hookers arent the only people you can kill. you can kill everyone. you worrying parents are so concerned about what your kids see on video games that you dont care about whats happening in the real world. you can turn on the TV and put it on the news and see people being shot and killed and blown up any time of any day, or change the channel onto a porno or watever. this shit is animated and not real and you think your kids are gonna go out and kill people and get hookers? no fucking way. its a game. get the fuck over it. and if it says 17 and up you so you know you shouldnt buy it for a 12 year old kid anyway. FUCK BUSH

Posted by: bob at July 30, 2005 09:34 PM

Now let me get this straight... The GTA series has been bad forever, right? Yet we only notice these "bad" video games when someone is killed or there's sex in them... AND that these are the only games that people ever reenact. I don't see any plumbers eating mushrooms, do you? If we can recognize the obvious difference between fact and fiction, then why is it so hard to do with these games? The way I see it, the government is just looking for an excuse to look like they're doing something while they just sit back on their fat, money-patted asses and do nothing.

Posted by: Dan The Man at August 1, 2005 09:41 AM

In order for somebody to download this mod, the kid has to be oriented with a computer. Now if a kid has ever accessed the computer, they should know how to use a search engine. What is to stop them from looking up porn via searching? There is no difference except one is animated and the other is composed of real images. Fucking faggots who try and band a game because content can be downloaded. Look on your kid's computer and I'm sure you'll find some interesting pictures of you and the dog.

Posted by: SrTstcls at August 1, 2005 11:47 AM

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