Washington, DC press conference Thursday will see the New York Senator call for a Federal Trade Commission inquiry into the San Andreas mod. Tomorrow in the country's capital, Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) will call on the Federal Trade Commission to launch an inquiry into the "Hot Coffee" mod, sources have told GameSpot. Clinton, a vociferous critic of violence in the media, will be joined by David Walsh, president and founder of the National Institute on Media and the Family; Mary Bissell, fellow at the New America Foundation; and Kiersten Stewart, director of public policy for the Family Violence Prevention Fund. Clinton is expected to call on the FTC to determine who is responsible for the Hot Coffee mod, a modification that unlocks sexually explicit minigames in Rockstar's recently published PC version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. While the game is rated M, and therefore not readily sold to those below the age of 17, the mod is easily available online. A statement distributed by the Senator's office this afternoon sets the scene, stating that "following recent reports revealing that the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has graphic pornographic content which may be unlocked by following instructions on the Internet, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton will hold a press conference to discuss legislative solutions to keep inappropriate video game content out of the hands of young people." The statement makes no mention of asking the FTC to step in, but sources tell GameSpot that this request will be the centerpiece of the Senator's plea tomorrow. Although there are far more outspoken politicians when it comes to regulating game content inappropriate for children, this is not the first time Clinton has looked into the issue. On her official Web site, Clinton lists "fighting the culture of sex and violence in the media" as part of her platform, and in March, she joined with Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT), Sam Brownback (R-KS), and Rick Santorum (R-PA) to cosponsor legislation seeking $90 million over five years for research into how viewing different types of media (television, video games, and the Internet in particular) affects children's development. Clinton plans on holding the press event at 10am in Room 485 of the Russell Senate Office Building. Source: GameSpot
BS...again. So they are getting all bitchy about a game with sexual content and that it might upset children.. It's rated 18 for a reason. And shouldn't these caring people be more concerned with several MILLION explicit sites on the web, rather than a single stupid video game. If they were responsible. under ages wouldn't play it, and there'd be no fuss. And last time I checked wasn't Hilaries hubby in a little sex scandal...hm. She might want to make a website about that, rather than something that doesn't concern her.
Man the last two posts crack me up, nice guys. I see what you mean waffles, it's just like all this "violent act linked to video game" crap. It's not the games fault, they had a target audience and theres a big ol' M right on the box in several places. If a parent can't figure that a game called Grand Theft Auto is going to be a tad inappropriate for little Jonny then it's their fault, not the game. I guess everyone wants to shove the blame away from home. I also see what you mean about porn, but there's not much you can do about the porn industry, gets bigger everyday. Though if parents care that much they can just get one of those blockers or whatever, if the kids are stupid enough to "relive the game" then they won't figure out how to disable the blocker most likely.
This is a farce. If you can buy porn when you're eighteen then you can buy an 18 rated game that could get raunchy. The case would be a lot different if the gae was a lower age rating, but its an eighteen, previous GTA games have been so.
Yeah M is 17. But considering NC-17 is supposed be the worst rating a movie can get besides X, I think a 17 year old can handle it. After all if they can see Showgirls why can't they see a little animated action in a video game .
Hehe, Yeah I know, maybe their thinking it's different because you're actually the one doing it? I always thought that X was NC-17 from the 70's and 80's? Or was X 18 and above? The whole rating thing never really made sence to me as is there really that much of a difference between what a 16 year old can handle vs. what a 17 year old can (R vs. NC-17)? Then there's unrated which can either mean it simply was never rated (duh) or that it's unrated and really explicit and implys being uncensored but that might as well be NC-17 anyway I guess.
R is supposed to be 18+ which is why the NC-17 rating never really made much sense to me. NC-17 basically kills a movie at the box office but yet you should be able to get into it younger than an R rated movie which to most people tends to be acceptible. But I guess this type of stuff keeps politicians in the news and money rolling into Rockstars coffers since sales will go up as people who own don't own the game or own the PS2/Xbox version have to buy the PC version to see what the big deal is about.
The thing that annoys me, is when news stations show GTA on the news, they put on codes and glitches to make it seem as violent as possible. I was watching the news, and everytime two cars bumped together, they exploded. This never happens in the real game, so it looks like someone at abc put on the tank cheat to make the game seem more "intense"
R is supposed to be 18+!? Now that would be crazy, there are tons of movies that are rated R for language only. 17 year olds just can't handle the f-word I guess
Whoops guess it's only 18A in Canada, in the US R is under 17 requires a guardian, NC17 is noone under 17 permitted.
in the UK, GTA has an 18 rating like movies do. You do get ELSPA ratings but they're not followed as much.
