Hmm, so some creative hackers found a sex mini-game in GTA San Andreas. Now the whole country is up in arms about a hack of a video game... In the latest Penny Arcade article, Tycho argues that the code is in their, so to some degree it is Rockstar's fault for all of this. But this whole "uncovering" is a bit puerile, don't you think? It's like when a little kid is able to descramble the porn channels on their cable set.
I think of at least three other "famous uncoverings" in videogames: The first being some programmers finding the words "KILL BITCH" in Duke Nukem 3D code. Though this was minor in comparison to the actual game content, people were up in arms about this regardless.
The next would be the infamous "Two men in speedos holding hands" controversy in Simcopter. The programmer, who was gay, was fired from the project and sought his revenge by adding these two gentleman into the game. Of course, this would be something more for religious conservatives than the current attackers, but valid nonetheless I suppose.
The last one belongs to the PSX version of Tiger Woods. Why? Because some genius put the first episode of "South Park" on the CD for all to see if inserted into a normal computer.
To be honest, I'm more surprised at how audacious these attackers are. Didn't we argue over this same topics when movie production began? Are people more angry about the fact that kids are engaging in interactive entertainment rather than going outside? Would they prefer that they just sit and watch the idiot box, never thinking, never reacting?
If anything, this all comes down to a matter of taste. To be honest, while I liked the first GTAIII and Vice City, I grew tired of its puerile humor and I also felt that the cities in each game felt fake, like Potemkin villages. Surprisingly, though, I am finding SA to be much more well thought out, the story and dialog to be actually fairly well written (without be parodic), and the city (at least the first one, I am not very far in the game) to be quite believable. For the first time, I actually want to participate in the story, rather than just go on a killing spree (which I think is a great improvement). I've only jacked one car in the game, but that was because I thought I needed a car, and.. (ok, bad excuse...). I've felt no need to be a real gangsta in the game. I give kudos to Rockstar North for that.
If people want to see games mature in content, they have to be willing to mature themselves and demand more sophisticated wares. The average gamer is now around 27, many years older than most of us at SX. I hope to god that in those twenty seven years, they've read classical literature, watched interesting films, and generally grew in taste and culture. While it's interesting to see the mechanics for dispensing violence become more sophisticated and complex, it would also be nice if stories and presentation developed.
I think of at least three other "famous uncoverings" in videogames: The first being some programmers finding the words "KILL BITCH" in Duke Nukem 3D code. Though this was minor in comparison to the actual game content, people were up in arms about this regardless.
The next would be the infamous "Two men in speedos holding hands" controversy in Simcopter. The programmer, who was gay, was fired from the project and sought his revenge by adding these two gentleman into the game. Of course, this would be something more for religious conservatives than the current attackers, but valid nonetheless I suppose.
The last one belongs to the PSX version of Tiger Woods. Why? Because some genius put the first episode of "South Park" on the CD for all to see if inserted into a normal computer.
To be honest, I'm more surprised at how audacious these attackers are. Didn't we argue over this same topics when movie production began? Are people more angry about the fact that kids are engaging in interactive entertainment rather than going outside? Would they prefer that they just sit and watch the idiot box, never thinking, never reacting?
If anything, this all comes down to a matter of taste. To be honest, while I liked the first GTAIII and Vice City, I grew tired of its puerile humor and I also felt that the cities in each game felt fake, like Potemkin villages. Surprisingly, though, I am finding SA to be much more well thought out, the story and dialog to be actually fairly well written (without be parodic), and the city (at least the first one, I am not very far in the game) to be quite believable. For the first time, I actually want to participate in the story, rather than just go on a killing spree (which I think is a great improvement). I've only jacked one car in the game, but that was because I thought I needed a car, and.. (ok, bad excuse...). I've felt no need to be a real gangsta in the game. I give kudos to Rockstar North for that.
If people want to see games mature in content, they have to be willing to mature themselves and demand more sophisticated wares. The average gamer is now around 27, many years older than most of us at SX. I hope to god that in those twenty seven years, they've read classical literature, watched interesting films, and generally grew in taste and culture. While it's interesting to see the mechanics for dispensing violence become more sophisticated and complex, it would also be nice if stories and presentation developed.
