Hot Coffee
Ok I saw G4Tech TV’s ‘special’ about sex in video games in general and GTA’s ‘Hot Coffee’ in specific.
My feelings, short answer: It was a Mature rated game to begin with. Kids shouldn’t be playing it.
Longer Answer: First, Rockstar lied to the ratings board about the game. They had this content in the game cd. It was roped off from the rest of the game, but they should’ve realized when they released it for the computer that someone would find it… I’ve been amazed on Sims 2 forums all the stuff people have found embedded in Sims 2 and I’m not a hacker.
Rockstar was wrong to lie. However in their ‘defense’, the people in Hot Coffee are dressed and I saw more nudity in Wedding Crashers- which is an R= Mature rated movie.
One and 1/2, staying on the defense, this is ONE misstep for the ESRB. The gaming rating board, which is self regulating like the movie rating system, did nothing wrong here. They shouldn’t be keelhauled because Rockstar hid something from them. ESRB can not play all the games and find all the content of ALL the games, they just don’t have the time and resources and it’s wrong of the government to blame them because Rockstar hid something. I haven’t heard of any other game that parents feel have been misrated.
Second, if parents are concerned about what their kids are playing; they should take a more active role in their kid’s life. On the G4 show they asked a member of the retail industry, how many stores sold inappropriate games to minors? He said that there were two answers, as he was there as a member of a retail collation, IEMA, and they had about a 30% rate of minors getting M rated games, however he pointed out that Senator Clinton and their ‘parental’ guest from Parents Television Council, would cite a 2 year old 50% rate.
The guy from IEMA, and a reporter from the Times, cited that a 30% non compliance is about equal to the amount of kids that sneak into R rated movies… However in my mind, there’s a big difference because with the video game as the kid is playing it AT HOME. If the parent was doing their job, they’d notice that their 12 year old was playing Hot Coffee and then decide what THEY should do about it. This is my big problem with the Hot Coffee debate, if parents were doing their jobs they would know if their kids were playing GTA and figure out actions they consider ‘appropriate’- be it just talking to the kids about how GTA rewards ‘bad behavior’ to taking the game away from them and trying to return it for a game that is more appropriate.
I felt a burning need to blog about this because of comments from the Parents Television Council. First she compared selling a Mature rated game to a minor, to selling the kids cigarettes and alcohol. So she’s comparing lung cancer and damaging your liver to inappropriate content. However she’s then asked by the host, what’s the harm? And that’s when I just lost it. First, as Middle America, she complained ONLY about sexual content and not about violence. Like, it’s ok for her kid to be stealing cars and killing people in GTA but not have sex. She then blamed ALL MEDIA, lumping TV and movies into her argument. She said and I quote “They [kids who play video games] are more likely to have multiple [sexual] partners over the course of their lifetime.” I was like Huh? She then went on and said that because of the multiple sex partners these kids were more likely to contract STDs and unplanned pregnancies.
I truly did NOT know that having multiple sex partners was a BAD thing. Likewise if a parent is concerned about their kids having ‘unplanned’ pregnancies and STDs, I think talking to them about birth control and rubbers is gonna do them much better then leveling fines at Gamestop because a clerk sold a 12 year old GTA.
In conclusion: I'm adult. I want to be able to buy adult ( M and Adult Only rated) games... Just like I feel I have a right to see R, X and unrated movies. That's my right as an adult. If you don't want your kid to see Wedding Crashers, Saving Private Ryan or the Aristocrats- that’s your business. If you don’t want them to play GTA; Conker: Reloaded or Mortal Kombat, that’s cool too; but don’t you say that these things can’t be made because you can’t control your child and ‘children might watch/play something’.
Oh and I think that anyone that blames movies, TV, and video games for their kid being sexual active, shouldn’t be allowed to have kids.
My feelings, short answer: It was a Mature rated game to begin with. Kids shouldn’t be playing it.
Longer Answer: First, Rockstar lied to the ratings board about the game. They had this content in the game cd. It was roped off from the rest of the game, but they should’ve realized when they released it for the computer that someone would find it… I’ve been amazed on Sims 2 forums all the stuff people have found embedded in Sims 2 and I’m not a hacker.
Rockstar was wrong to lie. However in their ‘defense’, the people in Hot Coffee are dressed and I saw more nudity in Wedding Crashers- which is an R= Mature rated movie.
One and 1/2, staying on the defense, this is ONE misstep for the ESRB. The gaming rating board, which is self regulating like the movie rating system, did nothing wrong here. They shouldn’t be keelhauled because Rockstar hid something from them. ESRB can not play all the games and find all the content of ALL the games, they just don’t have the time and resources and it’s wrong of the government to blame them because Rockstar hid something. I haven’t heard of any other game that parents feel have been misrated.
Second, if parents are concerned about what their kids are playing; they should take a more active role in their kid’s life. On the G4 show they asked a member of the retail industry, how many stores sold inappropriate games to minors? He said that there were two answers, as he was there as a member of a retail collation, IEMA, and they had about a 30% rate of minors getting M rated games, however he pointed out that Senator Clinton and their ‘parental’ guest from Parents Television Council, would cite a 2 year old 50% rate.
The guy from IEMA, and a reporter from the Times, cited that a 30% non compliance is about equal to the amount of kids that sneak into R rated movies… However in my mind, there’s a big difference because with the video game as the kid is playing it AT HOME. If the parent was doing their job, they’d notice that their 12 year old was playing Hot Coffee and then decide what THEY should do about it. This is my big problem with the Hot Coffee debate, if parents were doing their jobs they would know if their kids were playing GTA and figure out actions they consider ‘appropriate’- be it just talking to the kids about how GTA rewards ‘bad behavior’ to taking the game away from them and trying to return it for a game that is more appropriate.
I felt a burning need to blog about this because of comments from the Parents Television Council. First she compared selling a Mature rated game to a minor, to selling the kids cigarettes and alcohol. So she’s comparing lung cancer and damaging your liver to inappropriate content. However she’s then asked by the host, what’s the harm? And that’s when I just lost it. First, as Middle America, she complained ONLY about sexual content and not about violence. Like, it’s ok for her kid to be stealing cars and killing people in GTA but not have sex. She then blamed ALL MEDIA, lumping TV and movies into her argument. She said and I quote “They [kids who play video games] are more likely to have multiple [sexual] partners over the course of their lifetime.” I was like Huh? She then went on and said that because of the multiple sex partners these kids were more likely to contract STDs and unplanned pregnancies.
I truly did NOT know that having multiple sex partners was a BAD thing. Likewise if a parent is concerned about their kids having ‘unplanned’ pregnancies and STDs, I think talking to them about birth control and rubbers is gonna do them much better then leveling fines at Gamestop because a clerk sold a 12 year old GTA.
In conclusion: I'm adult. I want to be able to buy adult ( M and Adult Only rated) games... Just like I feel I have a right to see R, X and unrated movies. That's my right as an adult. If you don't want your kid to see Wedding Crashers, Saving Private Ryan or the Aristocrats- that’s your business. If you don’t want them to play GTA; Conker: Reloaded or Mortal Kombat, that’s cool too; but don’t you say that these things can’t be made because you can’t control your child and ‘children might watch/play something’.
Oh and I think that anyone that blames movies, TV, and video games for their kid being sexual active, shouldn’t be allowed to have kids.
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