While this approach might help keep the publishers out of hot water, it will alienate many thriving online mod communities. The result of the Hot Coffee controversy could have a chilling effect on after-market modifications of video games to avoid future controversies like this, publishers may opt to place more barriers between players and the game source code. Rockstar has denied that the scenes are in the official version of the game and blames HACKERS, saying, “so far we have learned that the ‘hot coffee’ modification is the work of a determined group of hackers who have gone to significant trouble to alter scenes in the official version of the game.”
Though it was originally thought that the sex scenes were only available on the PC version, it now seems that the Xbox and PlayStation 2 versions of GTA: San Andreas are also capable of showing the sex scenes, though user modifications and third-party cheat codes (using devices such as the Pro Action Replay). Clinton wrote in a letter to the head of the Federal Trade Commission, “We should all be deeply disturbed that a game which now permits the simulation of lewd sexual acts in an interactive format with highly realistic graphics has fallen into the hands of young people across the country.” The potential Presidential candidate went on to say, “The disturbing material in Grand Theft Auto and other games like it is stealing the innocence of our children… I believe that the ability of our children to access pornographic and outrageously violent material on video games rated for adults is spiralling out of control.”
UPDATE (July 19, 2005): Hillary Clinton chimes in on the affair.
Although with the game living at the top of the global charts for six months and having already sold many millions of copies, the phrase ‘closing the door after the horse has bolted’ springs to mind…īrace for a wall of updates. The US classification could rise from Mature to Adults Only, and given Australia’s ‘no sex in games’ policy, there is the potential for GTA San Andreas to be banned locally. Wildenborg’s statement is currently being explored by many classification departments, especially in the United States where the game was already under attack from politicians. If this is true, RockStar and Take-2 could find themselves liable for the content and as such, the game could be reclassified in various territories around the globe. Patrick carved his name in gaming folklore by unearthing this code and is adamant that Hot Coffee is not a modification (in that he altered none of the game’s original code), but merely unlocks the content that was already in the game. Take-2 don’t feel obliged to comment on the activities of the modding community, but they might find themselves in bit of trouble if the claims of 36 years old Dutchman Patrick Wildenborg prove correct. The Hot Coffee mod unlocks sex content that was coded into the original game but remained inactive in the final release because of the obvious classification implications. Yes, it’s big news – all over the Internet, news services and even newspapers – there’s hidden sex games in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas! Owners of the GTA San Andreas PC game have access to an unexpected bonus with the recent release of the Hot Coffee modification.