Rockstar's parent company, New York-based Take Two Interactive Software Inc., has admitted that the explicit sex scenes in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas were built-in to the game by Rockstar programmers. Rockstar's statement came after the scenes were found in a PS2 version of the game. Rockstar said the company had not intended the scenes to be viewable by players. The scenes are in the PC, Xbox and PlayStation2 version of the games. The company had previously stated that a modification was created by hackers. However, many bloggers and gamers did not believe the company's report about the modification. MSNBC.com also reports that the video game industry rating board, the ESRB, has changed the rating for the game from Mature (M) to Adults Only (AO).
Take-Two spokesman Jim Ankner acknowledged in an Associated Press interview that the questioned scenes were created by Rockstar programmers. "The editing and finalization of any game is a complicated task and it's not uncommon for unused and unfinished content to remain on the disc," he said.
In a statement, the president of the Entertainment Software Rating Board said the sex scenes were programmed by Rockstar "to be inaccessible to the player."
But ESRB chief Patricia Vance also acknowledged that the "credibility and utility" of the industry-run board’s initial "M" rating had been "seriously undermined."
Many retailers sell "M" rated games, which "may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older,” according to the Entertainment Software Rating Board, but won’t sell "AO"-labeled games at all.
Some blogger discussions on the news can be found here, here, here, here and here. A Technorati search also brings up many more blog entries.
