Grand Theft Auto Video Game

The video game Grand Theft Auto - San Andres has burst into the news this week when it was discovered that a tiny little hack named "hot coffee" will unlock x-rated content that was embedded in the game. Hillary Clinton has decided to take the game's producer, Rock Star Games, to task over this.

Now I love video games. And love sex and meaningless violence as much as the next guy. But I do think that RSG crossed the line here. I have no problem with either them, or someone else, producing a mod for the game. In fact, this sounds like an awesome hack. Hell, some of the best games I've ever played where user produced mods for Doom and other FPS(*) games. But this was deliberately installed, and then hidden, in order to deceive the game rating system. That was uncool.

I also can't help but think that people are going to run out and grab the PC versions of GTA now before a "cleaner" version is released into the retail channel. The resale value of the x-rated GTA-SA should go up as they become scarce.

*FPS: First Person Shooter is a computer or video game where the player's on-screen view of the game world simulates that of the character, and there is a high percentage of combat. Example, Doom. (More...)