We know all that's going on from what we're told by people who heard it from someone else.
The year was 2005. Breakfast was delicious.
However it was incomplete for millions of people without a favorite beverage. That beverage was coffee. Now we were not yet completely enthralled with drinking old coffee put on ice. No, it was a simpler time when people still enjoyed hot coffee. Strangely enough, hot coffee became Hot Coffee and was actually discussed by the employees of the United States tax payers.
It is time to share a story about two very different titles and my little visit to a large toy store chain.
"...and in local news three gang members in a speeding vehicle collided with an ESRB rating and died upon impact. Film at 11."
The first title is Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (GTA:SA). This was an innocent little game that had nothing in it to concern parents, until someone figured out how to mod the game to open up the aforementioned Hot Coffee. Now this modding is what every child sits around doing all day, instead of actually playing games. This mod would show a thrown away game play element that was as lame as it sounds. It was the player character engaging in poorly animated relations with one of his girlfriends. This caused an uproar which went all the way to the US Senate for review.
The next title in my little tale is God of War. This game also received an M rating but seemed to stay off the radar of the United States government, since no children could possibly own or even play a game that their parents were not warned about on the nightly news. Oh wait, their parents may have been more likely to buy the fantasy game full of mythical creatures and wild slaying action, since they had never heard of it.
For those of you that never played through God of War, here are some interesting tidbits: there is a mini-game involving sexual relations and there are scenes with bare-breasted women. Without modification.
Now do not get me wrong, both of these are fantastic games and I will leave the game buying choices up to the individual consumer. I just think an interesting thing occurred a few years ago and it could still impact the industry we enjoy so much in the future. I do not like it when the choice is taken out of the consumer’s hands. That is exactly what happened with these two games. I went to a store (which, being a toy store I understand), that stopped selling GTA:SA on all platforms it was available for.
There on a lunch, probably convincing my friend to buy Star Wars figures he didn’t need, I spotted God of War. So I decided to engage the clerk in some friendly conversation.
I convinced J that he needed this.
The discussion began innocently. After all the kid was just doing his job and some bald guy must want a game for his kid. I asked, “Do you have GTA:SA?”
“Oh no, we can’t carry that game.”
Puzzled I asked, “Well why not?”
“It contains a scene that is sexual in nature.”
“Oh my. I thought it was violent too.”
“Oh it is, but that’s not why we pulled it.”
“Oh ok, I see you have God of War?”
“Yes.”
“Why do you have that?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you aware that God of War has scenes of a sexual nature too, and you don’t even have to mod anything?”
“No.”
After that he was annoyed with me, but you get the picture. I was messing with him to prove a point to myself. Its not the actual content that offends as much as what people have heard of it. My fear for the future is that gamers do not speak out and support their politicians that want them to be able to buy what they want or allow developers to make games without possible censorship. Instead they may sit idle and think it is not their problem. Well it is.
So next time you get carded for a game do not give attitude for the employee doing their job. If you are a parent and you are concerned about what your child may be asking for, read the ESRB rating. If you are a parent and a store refuses to sell your child a game that they are too young to buy, do not give the clerk a hard time. Instead you might ask them why the game is rated that way. Our industry is under scrutiny and we should be reasonable for control, but willing to fight to keep it going.
By the way, when I bought an M rated game at a major chain recently the register prompted the employee to card me. When I asked if it did that for “R” movies, they said, “No, why?”
*Every Wednesday, Fanky Malloon trips down memory lane and waxes nostalgic over the innocent, and not so innocent, games of old. If you enjoyed this article, check out our other Retro Confessionals.
