AfterDawn: News

GTA: San Andreas banned in Australia

So the story continues now on an international scale. Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is being pulled from shelves in Australia as ordered due to the game being stripped of its MA15+ rating. Of course this is linked to the "hot coffee" modification which unlocks sexual content hidden in the game. The mod was not created nor distributed by Rockstar Games or parent company Take-Two Interactive; it was the creation of a third party.

"Businesses that sell or hire computer games should remove existing stocks of this game from their shelves immediately," said the director of the ratings board, Des Clark. "Parents are strongly advised to exercise caution in allowing children continued access to the game, particularly if they have might have access to the 'Hot Coffee' modification." Game hacks and mods are not uncommon, but the problem in this case is the mod simply unlocks existing code in the game, it does not actually add the extra content.



Due to the availability of the mod alone, Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification revoked the games earlier MA15+ rating. You have to question whether such a move is justified considering the sex content is hidden in the game and the developers gave no way to access it. Warning are going out to parents about the Hot Coffee mod just in case their children can access it. However I'm sure children could find sexual content on the Internet much faster than they could find the mod.

GTAS: San Andreas was one of the biggest selling games in 2004 and it's packed with violence and other content that is not suitable for kids. Frankly, I find it hard to believe that the developers of this ame are getting trouble from ratings boards over content that as hidden in the game when you can so easily shoot a police officer in the face using non-hidden content. Maybe it's time for Hillary Clinton et al to open their eyes and realise they are taking this way too seriously.

Source:
BBC News

Written by: James Delahunty @ 29 Jul 2005 11:03

• Previous article

• Windows Genuine Advantage beaten again

• Next article

• Eight charged with copyright infringement in the U.S.

• 54 comments

• venomX05

  Well, I can't say that I have played or am an avid fan of the GTA series, but this is ridiculous...
  
  The game only came out like 20,000 years ago, and now they are starting to get a hissy fit because there are some sex scenes and what not in there.
  
  How ridiculous!
  
  

  29.7.2005 11:10 #1

• mystic

  in this country the right wing needs a soap box to stand on and saving our children ( who are 17 by the M rating)from sex oh my god give me a break how about saving our children from a war run by a mad man named G.Bush so they can have sex in a year when they turn 18 then all would be good, but no they have a fit over one year and pixal sex really sad if you want sex go to www.whitehouse.com and this is what Hillary should be looking at not a video game that alows you to act like an ass and kill people.. hell G.Bush kills peopl everyday and everyone watches it on CNN and noone complains and the soapopreas are just as bad... this is the end of PC game as we know it....... sad but true...

  29.7.2005 11:20 #2

• Jasper44

  For all you kids out there, when your about to have sex, just remember that it would be better if you went out and shot a police officer with a bazooka instead.

  29.7.2005 12:03 #3

• eLiguL

  Seriously though, they are now starting to ban the game cause of sex? What about the random acts of violence in the game? The whole game idea is about 10,000 times worse then a little sexual content.

  29.7.2005 13:09 #4

• Ofnir1

  "For all you kids out there, when your about to have sex, just remember that it would be better if you went out and shot a police officer with a bazooka instead." LMAO
  
  You would think they would be concered about the rare .10% of kids who turn out to be killers from video games, even though it may be 1 in a million lol. We are ruled by a herd of jackasses I tell you!
  
  ........But everyone already knows that.

  29.7.2005 13:42 #5

• Doggy_Bot

  lol! this is starting to get funny yet very stupid!

  29.7.2005 14:53 #6

• RagePro

  I hate esrb

  29.7.2005 15:26 #7

• jaehomo

  I reckon that this some insane, guerilla marketing ploy by Take-Two Interactive. Operating jointly as a covert study into global media propaganda. Don't rise to this bait. They're trying to distract us from something else... focus people... Don't let the barstewards get you down

  29.7.2005 15:31 #8

• jaehomo

  They are just trying to distract us from the 765 civil cases they have filed against innocuous file-sharers.
  
  Sorry for the double post..... I got distracted :$

  29.7.2005 15:36 #9

• Alien13

  Man that sucks, luckily i have mine :)

  29.7.2005 17:02 #10

• RagePro

  LOL i have 1 2
  

  29.7.2005 17:11 #11

• Alien13

  Heheh, cool. Im going to start looking on the shelves to see if its been taken off.

  29.7.2005 17:19 #12

• gozilla

  what's this, another grand theft auto game has been banned in australia??
  
  anyone remeber the fuss they made when GTA3 come out(again, due to the prositutes, NOT the violence)
  
  funny world we live in, blowing up half a city, killing millions of people, OK.
  
  picking up a prositute, BAD!!!!

  29.7.2005 18:00 #13

• Phoenix21

  Thats So ridiculous cause i was ganna buy it crap

  30.7.2005 02:14 #14

• arcanix

  Oh ffs! This is really stupid, it's only a game! At first listening to rockmusic was considered as an act of satan worshiping, but now it's considered mere entertainment. Same thing with games nowadays. We'll see who they blame next. How about parents?

  30.7.2005 05:49 #15

• simpsim1

  I think the point eveyone's trying to get across here is about this tired old cliche about cencorship in this world. We ban things because of explicit content (Be it sexual content, swearing etc) but we advocate graphic, gratuitous violence without hesitation. A large bulk of blame for this culture has to go to the media itself (Particularly the tabloid media), who constantly condradict themselves with mixed moralistic views, giving the general public a conflicting idea of what's right and what's wrong. This is the sort of behaviour that gives our extremist neighbours plenty of fuel to add to their political fires (Where would the likes of Mr Bin Laden be without a healthy media to "Promote" his cause).

  30.7.2005 09:01 #16

• Razor89

  Seriously!!
  
  Here's an idea...San Andreas comes with a warning label right on the front right?? Think about the plastic bag it comes in! You are more likely to choke to death on that bag then to go out and kill people because of the game, so let's ban plastic bags instead. LOL, this reminds me of the chat in GTA3: "You shut down the schools, you shut down the problems." Maybe we should ban gloves too, they allow criminals to commit a crime and get away without leaving fingerprints!!
  
  PO'd RAZOR!!

  30.7.2005 09:42 #17

• Ofnir1

  LMAO. Totally, let's ban the plastic bags!

  30.7.2005 09:57 #18

• RagePro

  lol i got the bags

  30.7.2005 10:44 #19

• john179

  What a load of crap as most people in Aussie land who wanted the game had it months ago.My wife ant has just packed up and moved to Aussie i feel sorry for her.Great place to live but crappy rules and regulations i think will spoil the place.Its a game and a bloody good one this is bloody ridiculous.

  30.7.2005 11:15 #20

• Phoenix21

  over in adelaide (in aus i live ova hear) they have totally baned plastic bags it happen like 3 or 4 months ago now

  30.7.2005 15:01 #21

• Alien13

  In Port Pirie theyre just startin to do it now(plastic bags)

  30.7.2005 16:38 #22

• Razor89

  Yeah, I knew it was coming to banning plastic bags but already?! Here in Colorado its just an age restriction pretty much, must be 18+ to buy a plastic bag. I heard about this one guy, he was arrested and sentenced life in prison for bag trafficing...Be careful my partners in crime!!
  
  *Runs down the street with shirt stuffed with plastic bags*
  
  Razor$!

  30.7.2005 19:08 #23

• borhan9

  This is weird cause correct me if im wrong but there have been games in the past e.g LARRY that was full of adult content and they did not find a prob with that soo go figure i mean cant parents or the shop keeper figure out if the person purchasin it is of age or the parents makin the right choice...

  30.7.2005 20:32 #24

• gtarocks

  wat a load of crap
  cant somebody make a petition to get it back
  anyway if a kid was that desperate to see a sex seen and downloaded it they would hav 2 hav the internet and there is pornography all iva the internet
  so come on im a fan of gta myself and its the only 1 i dont hav at da moment
  GET IT BAC ON DA SHELVES

  30.7.2005 21:59 #25

• gozilla

  in regrads to the above post.
  
  all that kid would have to do is watch late night SBS movies.

  30.7.2005 23:29 #26

• Alien13

  Yeah SBS has alot of those type movies.

  30.7.2005 23:52 #27

• justice05

  I live in central vic and the council have just allowed a criminal to open a brothel, that kids walk past blah blah blah bit of a fuss but would this not be more improtant than a damn video game.
  If they r so worried about the sexual content then they need to clean up the streets first before taking over peoples private lives, its ridiculous

  31.7.2005 01:13 #28

• m_towell

  Hey, I gotta get me this game now. If they didn't say anything, I wouldn't have known anything about it! LOL!
  
  And, oh, if it aint in the stores, I wonder where I might be able to get it *ponders for about a millisecond* I know *ding, light bulb shines above head* off the Internet via BitTorrent or something.
  
  Nah! The Aussie censors have a VERY VERY strange idea of what to ban and what not to ban!

  31.7.2005 18:05 #29

• Phoenix21

  yer i live in vic as well,not 2 far from were i live there is a sex shop now i see kids walkin past it and lookin in to it, now if they ban a video game cause of some sex scenes that the kids wouldn't even be able to work out how to get it to work anyways, why don't they ban sex shops from the public areas

  31.7.2005 18:12 #30

• whoozhe

  Well what do expect from a government hell bent on blowing up innocent people, allowing TV networks to advertise violent shows during children viewing time then kick up a stink because some goose shows his willie on Big Brother.
  The Howard motto: Make war not love.
  The same can be applied to the US
  

  31.7.2005 23:22 #31

• jp10jp10

  Speaking as a liberal minded individual from the US, I support the attacks on the game. Just as the violence and low mwntality in the game attacks the fabric of social civility in our culture, attacks on the game are justified.
  
  I didn't support the invasion of Iraq, and I don't support the current cell of nasty extremist leadership that our national "51%" has installed in our whitehouse. They suck.
  
  I support an ecclectic moderate middle ground based on guided by individual freedoms, not guided by corporate freedoms.
  
  Respectfully,
  John P

  1.8.2005 04:01 #32

• gameguy11

  its a god dam game let ir be good lord dont you have some prostites to arriest or some sh*t

  1.8.2005 10:18 #33

• james111

  i think the problem is with the people that are selling it not the ones buy it because my some bout area 51 witch in toronto you have to be 18 over my son is 15 he looks 12 and he just walked up with the game she asked if he was 17 over he said yes and she let him buy it

  1.8.2005 11:29 #34

• Ryanm1311

  Well why dont we compare the GRAPHICS in the game(s), to what we actually watch in the evenings on TV at say 7 in the evening onwards, ok so then why not ban TV all together, cause it shows a more REALISTIC version of the graphic that govs are making a big fuss over!
  Its actually rather pathetic!!

  2.8.2005 08:23 #35

• Wild9

  I find it ludicrous that this game is being pulled.
  
  Are parents now going to remove their children from the filthy propaganda being broadcast on local as well as national television? This kind of material is far more dangerous.
  
  No, let's instead pick up on a computer game - it's much easier to morally digest..

  2.8.2005 09:57 #36

• Ballpyhon

  This ban is ludicrous. although i am a U.S. citizen, i think that it is rediculous that they ban the game in australia. I am 30 years old and i love GTA:SA. I allow my 8 year old son play the game with the audio turned off due to the harsh language. In my opinion no Parent should be allowed to buy any game for a child unless they have actually played the game before hand. I have played the game prior to allowing my son to do so. I know what is in the game and i know that it is an adult based game. more and more games are being made for adults to be playing and not children. parents should realize this, so bans like this dont happen. It disappoints me that parents are so uninvolved with thier children that an entire country has to suffer.

  2.8.2005 15:18 #37

• need_for2

  k, what the heck are those guys thinking banning the game? are they f'n retarded or what?
  
  Are they going to ban it in the usa and canada?

  2.8.2005 15:51 #38

• wolf23

  you now man they r always taken away our shit n you know wat its not our foult thatsom tiht ass perents get pissed off if they dont want their kids to pay the ame then dont buy it 4 them !bitch! for us that watch porn and like stripers its an every day thing (the game) so they sholdn't take it away from them basterds it there right to buy it.
  
  thats wat i think dam hillary clint0n im sure her and her husbn watch porn to so they should stay out of it

  2.8.2005 21:48 #39

• whoozhe

  Censorship is always going to bring about different opinions.
  I believe people have the right to choose, view, read, act, think and say what they like. What one does in the privacy of their home is thier buisness as long as their actions do not harm anyone. No one has the right to to impose their beliefs on everyone else. Governments do enough of that already.
  Granny and all parents have the right to decide if the game is or is not suitable for thier younger family members. Prior to her mouthing off to the world only a few people knew about the hidden sequences. Now the whole world knows. The authors of the game would have quietly removed that part of the game if it's existence was going to affect sales.
  Oh well the lucky ones who already have the game will make a nice profit auctioning the game on ebay.
  There is no sense in censorship.
  

  4.8.2005 04:19 #40

• Phoenix21

  i still can't belive it i thort it was only the pc version getting banned but none of em are on the selves any more i wanted ta get the pc version oh well, do ya recon it will come out agin??

  4.8.2005 20:38 #41

• Razor89

  Funny you say that....It's almost like they are inviting you to break the law...If you can't get the game off the shelf, even though you are willing to pay for it, the next best thing is to DL it, correct??
  
  Raz0R!!!

  8.8.2005 15:02 #42

• CJ_GTA

  Join the petition for an Australian R18+ rating for games

  8.8.2005 18:20 #43

• CJ_GTA

  Join the petition for an Australian R18+ rating for games at:
  
  http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/AUSGAME_R18/

  8.8.2005 18:20 #44

• runner121

  They shouldnt ban this.This is a good game.I usually dont play that much,but this one is good.

  12.8.2005 11:38 #45

• Phoenix21

  what can we do lol im just hoping that it might get released agin, If they ban GTA;SA y don't they ban games like the sims there mods that are pritty much the same as the hot coffee mod
  

  Amd athlon xp 2.6GHZ overclocked 2 3.0GHz | 512 ddr RAM | Gigabyte TEC K7 Triton Series Mother Board | Sony DRU - 720A 16X DVD -/+Rw | Maxtor 60GB 7200rpm |Nvidia Geforce NX6600 |

  12.8.2005 22:51 #46

• runner121

  This is one of the best to come along.It's hard to believe they would keep it down for long.This is big money for them

  13.8.2005 02:41 #47

• hotcofee

  i think that is bull.they spend more time trying to stop video game sex and not enough time stopping real prostitute sex.pretty stupid.if they try to ban it in usa,it wont work becuz the constitution won't allow it.

  18.11.2006 18:41 #48

• hotcofee

  and another thing,parents who get mad when their kids play this...stfu,you let them buy it.it even says on the box that it has adult content.and hilary clinton needs to stfu too.she's only trying to boost her ratings and one day become president.i can't even imagine a life with her as president.

  18.11.2006 18:46 #49

• ZippyDSM

  hotcofee
  the US is as fcked
  
  bible thumping,corporate loving,war mongers on the right
  
  Utopians threw censorship that are intolerant threw tolerance,elites that have never been in the real world,philanthropy of the worlds poor by stepping over our own on the left
  
  We sir are screwed 0-o

  19.11.2006 12:29 #50

• marvin3 (unverified)

  Originally posted by venomX05: Well, I can't say that I have played or am an avid fan of the GTA series, but this is ridiculous...
  
  The game only came out like 20,000 years ago, and now they are starting to get a hissy fit because there are some sex scenes and what not in there.
  
  How ridiculous!
  
  hell right mate i was enjoiying the game completed it then cd gets frozen and wanted to play the completed version BUT CANT GET ANOTHER COPY edited by ddp

  1.1.2012 05:52 #51

• aussiegamer (unverified)

  its not banned in australia at all i was able to buy it recently at
  my local games shop for just twenty dollars no questions asked

  12.4.2012 02:03 #52

• JOHNSTARR

  This thread is only 7 years old :)
  

  No time for Leap frog!!!

  12.4.2012 06:45 #53

• coralpinkgirl (unverified)

  You know what I find ironic (after now reaching legal age to play it, even though I'd been playing it since it came out anyway) is that the big hullabaloo happened and they pulled it, but at the end of teh day, if you didn't install the mod and mess with the script, the script for the hot coffee minigame never was active, and just remained as inactive dead script on the disk.

  18.8.2012 02:45 #54