By Lester Haines for The
Register
This article has been reproduced from The Register, with
permission.
The shocking truth was discovered by Dutch modder Patrick
Wildenborg. His "Hot Coffee" mod reportedly unlocks the game's
"censor flag", thereby allowing access to the XXX material. That's
to say, Wildenborg claims the material was already written into the
game, and that he just unlocked it.
According to the Boston Globe, Wildenborg asserts: "All the
material that is used during the sex scenes of the 'Hot Coffee' mod
are on the official San Andreas release."
Wildenborg continues: "If the censor flag is set, all the
sexually explicit scenes are blocked from the normal flow of
events. That makes a difference in a game scene when the hero
visits his girlfriend's house for a cup of coffee. In the censored
version, the game shows the exterior of the house while suggestive
sound effects are heard. If, however, the censor flag is cleared,
all the explicit scenes are tied into the normal gameplay."
Phwoaar! Naturally, while nicking cars and shooting people has
gained games such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas a modest M
(Mature 17+) rating, the alleged rumpy-pumpy may earn the game a AO
(Adult Only) classification if the Entertainment Software
Rating Board (ESRB) decides GTA is just too steamy for
impressionable young minds.
That's unlikely, said ESRB prez Patricia Vance, because she
agrees with GTA producer Take 2's assertion that "Hot Coffee" is a
mod and "not an inherent feature of the game". She added: "He
[Wildenborg] actually had to change underlying code. It's not a
cheat. It's not an Easter egg."
This applies even if the smut was on the disc when it left the
factory, said Vance. "Game developers have been known to deactivate
parts of their code without removing them from the finished
products," she explained. "Oftentimes changes are made toward the
end of development, and they program workarounds." In summary: if
Take 2 didn't intend the porn to be "playable content", then "the
company may not be at fault when ambitious modders discover
it".
Mercifully, though, Vance conceded: "I think it certainly raises
issues about what's considered playable content," although she
would not be drawn as to whether games manufacturers should be
obliged to disclose all content on a disc.
© The Register
2005
