G-pinions: We Formulate Opinions, So You Don't Have To

10/06 Update: Since we no longer write for the Edmond Sun, this section is temporarily housing our podcast links for our iTunes feed. All of the columns are in the archives menu if you feel like exploring.

These columns (as well as the 'releases') come from weekly content that we write for the Edmond Sun, out of Edmond, OK (though we live in Chicago). This page contains the archives for said column, many of which are in their pre-published, unedited state. Some titles and editing by Brendan Sinclair.

Column Archives:

GTA Aftermath

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

I would never have imagined video gaming would be such a controversial hobby while I was playing Pitfall and Mario as a child. While Grand Theft Auto and its subsequent sequels were popularizing the mass execution of virtual police officers, I have been forced to listen to morality watchers deem this game the anti-Christ, responsible for warping our already demented children even more. You may think that I would jump in the fight on the side of gaming, but I actually support the outcry many outraged parents have voiced in regards to this issue. While violent games most likely don't cause youths to commit crimes in the real world, I feel that overly violent media - be it television, movie or games - should be kept out of the hands of the most impressionable members of our society. However, as the gauntlet has finally come down on GTA, I fear that opponents of my favorite entertainment medium will not stop there.

Because of a modification created by a computer hacker, players have the ability to unlock a softcore sex scene in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. While the massive amounts of violence and reports of copy cat crimes kept the franchise in the spotlight these past few years, it took a sixty second sex scene to finally convince the Entertainment Software Ratings Board to reconsider its Mature rating and bump GTA:SA up to the almost unheard of Adults Only. While I would have appreciated this move much earlier - GTA is one of the most violent games on the market and should not be played by children - I was shocked a sexual encounter, one that is both extremely
short and quite difficult to unlock, is the thing that finally pushed the rating to the point where children aren't allowed to play it.

I was hopefully that, upon finally getting what they've desperately wanted for so very long, anti-video game activists would finally move on to something worthwhile. Unfortunately, it seems the war has only just begun. On July 25, the House of Representatives voted by an overwhelming 355 to 21 margin to allow the Federal Trade Commission to investigate if Take Two Interactive and Rockstar intentionally deceived the ESRB to avoid an Adults Only rating. This is getting completely ridiculous.

First of all, I do not like the idea of my government getting involved in the entertainment industry. Censorship in any form is a terrifying prospect. This is a matter that needs to be resolved within the industry. Furthermore, there is no way Rockstar committed fraud in this instance. It is the responsibility of the ESRB to completely play through every game and ensure that all objectionable material found on the disc is clearly stated on the back of the box and is reflected in the rating. Unless Rockstar submitted a different version of the game to the ESRB, one that did not contain the sex scene in question, and then released the full version to retail, Rockstar cannot be blamed for this mess. Yes, it is wrong that they programmed a juvenile scene in this game and then tried to bury it where no one would find it rather than simply remove it completely. That does not mean they committed fraud. As much as I would like to see Rockstar punished for pandering to the lowest common denominator, I would simply hate to see the government have a say in what sorts of games can be made.

Unfortunately, the only hope gamers have in seeing these mindless attacks stopped in the near future comes from a company I have been actively boycotting for more than six years: Electronic Arts. I may not agree with the majority of their business practices but I will firmly back them in this case. After the hammer finally came down on GTA last week, Miami attorney Jack Thompson shifted his sights to EA's own Sims franchise. He claims that The Sims 2, one of the most inoffensive titles on the market, features full frontal nudity. He wishes to bump the rating from the Teen it now holds to the utterly ridiculous Adults Only. He is not a gamer in the least, so when someone directed him to a website which featured naked pictures of Sim characters, he blindly believed what he saw and began his short-sighted fight against the video game behemoth.

Yes, it is possible to have nude characters in The Sims 2, but not because of something programmed into the game. When your character removes their clothes, as this is a life simulator this happens quite often, a huge blur appears over their naughty bits. Using an in-game code it is possible to completely remove these blurs. According to Thompson, this reveals a fully-formed naked Sim. This couldn't be further from the truth. If he had bothered to play the game he would have seen a similar likeness to that of a naked Barbie doll - completely smooth and family friendly. However, it is possible to download a user made patch, known as a skin, which will allow the Sims to appear nude. The ability to create your own levels and skins in PC titles has been a feature for years and years. While some great ideas have sprung from this, there is the occasional user who wishes to waste their talents making naked people. That is what the first amendment allows us to do. EA did not program this in the game and I'm sure they don't condone it, but they are powerless to fight it. This is akin to a person borrowing a book from the library, writing in a bunch of dirty words by hand, and then trying to ban the book for being offensive. To try to curb what people do with their own property goes against a fundamental right in our country. I eagerly await word of how EA will fight this. Surely, they can sue Thompson for slander if they chose which will hopefully quash this video game outrage once and for all.

I may seem ridiculous in my hardened stance about what seem like such minor issues, but I fear restriction in any form. With a strong ratings system already in place there is no need for any outsiders to change how the industry is running itself. There are a lot more pressing issues in our country than naked polygons. I wish the people with power would realize this.