Investigation, Denials And Outcry Over Video Game's Sex Scenes
San Francisco, California -- 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."
A "nationwide parental alert" was issued Friday by the National Institute on the Media and the Family, a Minneapolis-based group that monitors the entertainment industry.
"While San Andreas is already full of violent behavior and sexual themes, the pornographic sex scenes push it over the edge," said the group's founder, David Walsh.
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.
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?"
Rockstar Games issued a statement Friday, confirming the ratings board investigation and avoiding comment on whether its programmers created the sex scenes in the first place.
"We thoroughly support the work of the ESRB, and believe that it has an exemplary record of rating games and promoting understanding of video game content," the company said. "We also 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."
Game designers have long tucked away hidden elements in their works, some meant to be found and others not. Several gaming magazines routinely publish codes that allow players to jump to various levels, keep endless supplies of bullets in first-person-shooter games, or go into "God mode," becoming invincible.
One of the more curious hidden gems came in a game called SimCopter. A nefarious programmer designed some extra code in the game which allowed a player in-the-know to tap a sequence of buttons to reveal scantily clad men kissing each other.
A few 'questionable' screen shots
See additional story in 'True Crimes Forum':
ESRB Investigating GTA: San Andreas Sex Minigames