Adult games
The conventional wisdom about the "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" Hot Coffee scandal is that it will have a chilling effect on edgy and mature content in video games. As the politicans and lawyers circle, who will be foolish enough to further draw their ire by putting in explicit sex or giving customers a bit of the ol' ultra-violence?
For those not familiar with the brouhaha, Hot Coffee is the name of a mod for "GTA: SA" that uncovers a feature hidden in the game allowing the characters to have sex. Apparently the content was not meant to be unlocked. It's unclear what Rockstar intended, but it appears the feature was something they had originally designed in the game and then decided to disable at the last minute, which meant the code remained in the game. The Entertainment Software Ratings Board slapped the equivalent of an "X" rating on the game, leading to it being pulled from most major retailers until Rockstar can retool it to remove the objectionable content.
Despite the fact that only a small percentage of players are going to bother to figure out how to unlock the sex content, despite the fact that other games like "God of War" have bare breasts and sex mini-games, despite the fact that the content is about what you'd see in an R-rated movie, and despite the fact that truly explicit hardcore stuff is readily available on the Internet, Rockstar is now at the center of a political shitstorm.
However, I think the scandal will end up being a real boon to the development of adult games.
Unwittingly or not, Rockstar has forced the issue of video game content into the headlines and the forefront of public debate. More Americans are now aware that video games contain a lot of mature content and are no longer uniformly suited for young consumers.
One of two things will happen. Either the industry will get really tough on self-policing sale of mature content, or the politicians will do it for them. It may be a combination of the two if legal measures are rolled out on a state-by-state basis.
Either way, the result will be a clearer demarcation of content. Really violent and sexual content will be more clearly walled off from tamer stuff. Customers will have no misunderstandings about what they are buying.
So will this kill adult content? Far from it. With the lines more clearly drawn and enforced, game developers will feel more confident tackling adult themes, knowing that they will no longer be restrained by the thought of what general audiences and parents will think. If a developer is secure in the knowledge that what they are making won't be sold to kids, they will feel free to run wild with it.
I don't think this will happen overnight, if only because the ratings enforcement mechanisms will take some time to mature. It will take some time for big retailers to adjust. But it will happen. And it will sink in that developers have the freedom to safely create and market content focusing on adults without triggering a political and social backlash. It will also happen because the gaming demographic is maturing. I'm in my 30s and love playing games. "Tetris" and "Lego Star Wars" are great games. But sometimes you want a stiff cup of hot coffee.
For those not familiar with the brouhaha, Hot Coffee is the name of a mod for "GTA: SA" that uncovers a feature hidden in the game allowing the characters to have sex. Apparently the content was not meant to be unlocked. It's unclear what Rockstar intended, but it appears the feature was something they had originally designed in the game and then decided to disable at the last minute, which meant the code remained in the game. The Entertainment Software Ratings Board slapped the equivalent of an "X" rating on the game, leading to it being pulled from most major retailers until Rockstar can retool it to remove the objectionable content.
Despite the fact that only a small percentage of players are going to bother to figure out how to unlock the sex content, despite the fact that other games like "God of War" have bare breasts and sex mini-games, despite the fact that the content is about what you'd see in an R-rated movie, and despite the fact that truly explicit hardcore stuff is readily available on the Internet, Rockstar is now at the center of a political shitstorm.
However, I think the scandal will end up being a real boon to the development of adult games.
Unwittingly or not, Rockstar has forced the issue of video game content into the headlines and the forefront of public debate. More Americans are now aware that video games contain a lot of mature content and are no longer uniformly suited for young consumers.
One of two things will happen. Either the industry will get really tough on self-policing sale of mature content, or the politicians will do it for them. It may be a combination of the two if legal measures are rolled out on a state-by-state basis.
Either way, the result will be a clearer demarcation of content. Really violent and sexual content will be more clearly walled off from tamer stuff. Customers will have no misunderstandings about what they are buying.
So will this kill adult content? Far from it. With the lines more clearly drawn and enforced, game developers will feel more confident tackling adult themes, knowing that they will no longer be restrained by the thought of what general audiences and parents will think. If a developer is secure in the knowledge that what they are making won't be sold to kids, they will feel free to run wild with it.
I don't think this will happen overnight, if only because the ratings enforcement mechanisms will take some time to mature. It will take some time for big retailers to adjust. But it will happen. And it will sink in that developers have the freedom to safely create and market content focusing on adults without triggering a political and social backlash. It will also happen because the gaming demographic is maturing. I'm in my 30s and love playing games. "Tetris" and "Lego Star Wars" are great games. But sometimes you want a stiff cup of hot coffee.
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