Grand Theft Auto San Andreas Sex Controversy

In June, a Dutch hacker discovered a ''hidden'' part of the game accessible only by entering special codes — showing characters having sex.

At first Rockstar Games, publisher of the best-selling GTA series, denied such material existed, but later admitted it was aware of the content. ''We didn't want it in the final version,'' explains company rep Rodney Walker. ''So we followed the industry practice of breaking up the code and hiding it.'' Although Rockstar will ship a ''clean'' version later this year, the damage is done. The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), the gaming industry's MPAA, has slapped GTA with an Adults Only rating (the equivalent of NC-17), resulting in retailers pulling nearly all existing copies. With Rockstar standing to lose up to $50 million in sales, the government has entered the fray.

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) promised to introduce legislation setting fines for retailers selling violent or sexually explicit games to minors, and on July 25, Illinois became the first state to criminalize such sales. The same day, the House of Representatives asked the FTC to investigate Rockstar and its parent company, Take-Two Interactive Software. Rockstar, for its part, now seems contrite. ''We want the [current] system to work,'' says Walker. ''If it's weakened, we're all in trouble.''

The game is rated 17+. Most 17 year olds know what sex is and what it looks like. So they whole controversy is lame.

So shooting police officers, running over small children and massacreing old women is OK for a game to recieve a mature rating, but as soon as sex, the most natural of ALL human behaviours enters the equation, suddenly it get's taken off the shelves? Forgive me for finding this hard to understand...

Anyway, the only people who are going to find the code probably are the ones who don't get any anyway, so where's the harm?

And it's a healthy stress relief. After a hard day of school/work where everybody is just a total *******, this game lets you take your aggressions out in a safe manner.

I think this controversy is hilarious! I saw a video clip of the the sex scenes... they were hilarious!

Guess you don't have kids.......But seriously, if the killing the cops are okay, whats the big deal about a little rumping in the hay?

the whole GTA thing is just people getting upset over nothing. the only difference between an M rating and an AO rating is that the sex and violence is "prolonged" and "Intense". For some reason a bunch of people i didnt even vote for have decided to waste my tax dollars figuring out if a minigame feturing cleverly timed thrusts and a "pleasure" meter is so prolonged or intense that only the most mature gamers should have access to it. lord knows after the 20 plus hours of gang warfare, pimping, and doing hookers in the back seet of my stolen car i said thank god that was niether prolonged or intense.

bottom line more games should be rated AO and all this stigma is just the result of a scociety that likes to hear stories about pushing bounderies and yet cleverly scurries back to it's designated area when authority cracks the whip