I know, that happens on a regular basis, but this caught my eye while reading my news feeds this morning:
Australia Outlaws “Grand Theft Auto” (AP)
Australian officials effectively banned the computer game “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” and ordered it removed from stores Friday because it contains hidden sex scenes that can be viewed with a special Internet download.
I guess they’ll be banning Internet Explorer and Safari next, since they can display pictures and videos of sex acts with certain Internet downloads. For that matter, email programs should be banned, too, since all manner of filth comes into peoples inboxes, some of it labeled SEXUALLY EXPLICIT thanks to US Federal legislation. Sheesh.
I’m going to disagree on this particular case. GTA:SA was marked with a rating of “M”, meaning for mature audiences; however, anyone under 18 could still legally purchase the game. The explicit content was clearly in the realm of “A” rating, meaning adults only. The hidden content was revealed by an online programmer who deals with third-party programs designed to unlock “Easter eggs”. The company initially DENIED that any such programming existed, and that it was obviously an add-on put out over the Internet. Only after tremendous blog pressure and MSM investigation was the company forced to admit (in a sort-of read-between-the-lines PSA) that the scenes were first “not authorized” (later they backed off that assertion) and then “inadvertently” left in the distributed copy.
Clearly this was an attempt to circumvent existing laws in order to sell pornographic scenes to teenagers, complete with a reasonable “mea inepta” alibi. On that basis alone, they deserved everything they got. It’s one thing to market an “adult” game, it’s quite another to deliberately mislead the public in order to sell more games. That a third-party add-on was required is not an excuse; the programmers KNEW that such a program existed and was easily obtainable by any casual gamer. Consider the hours of coding needed to make those scenes; this had the approval of management. Their lame excuses just don’t fly.