I don’t know if you’ve heard already, but the powers that be — those that decide whether a video game is fit for a certain age group — recently deemed Grand Theft Auto San Andreas too risque for the public’s eyes due to the potential (on the PC version only, not Playstation or Xbox) to see a simulated sex scene between the game’s lead character and a female character.
They have changed the games rating from an “M” (Mature) to an “AO” (Adult’s Only). This is the equivalent of changing a movie’s rating from R to NC-17, nearly guaranteing financial failure. Why? Because now, no retailer will stock the game with an “AO” rating.
They said that the sex scene is what gave it the AO. This sex scene isn’t even viewable in the console version of the game, you have to have the PC version.
What they apparently didn’t find objectionable is the massive killing in the game, which is essentially the goal. I love the game, and I’ve owned all the GTA games in the series. However, no one seems to have a problem with killing; via knife, hand, kick, pistol, shotgun, machine gun, or AK-47. You can take someone’s head off in the game and walk all over their limp corpse, getting their blood on your shoes and then walk away, leaving blood-prints on the ground. Nope, that’s not objectionable they’ve said, it’s the sex.
What the hell is going on? Time and time again something in this country is being “banned” or otherwise incorrectly labeled for sex, but violence is given a free pass.
And now, I have to get it on Ebay for an inflated price (nearly double what I paid for it 6 weeks ago) due to the controvercy. You know what they say — any publicity is good publicity.
It’s time to start banning the people that kindly decide what we should and should not see.