Best Buy has pulled GTA:SA off their shelves

[Everlost_MI]

TeamXbox (http://www.teamxbox.com/) has the posted (http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/8800/Best-Buy-Removes-Grand-Theft-Auto-San-Andreas-From-All-Stores/) the official statement from Best Buy regarding the removal of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas from their shelves. This is of course in reaction to the ESRP rating of the game being changed from Mature to Adult-Only.

Best Buy Co., Inc. In compliance with our policy not to carry adult-only (AO) games, Best Buy is immediately taking steps to remove all copies of the now AO-rated game “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” from all of our North American stores.

So...if I sell my Xbox copy on Ebay in the next week or so I'll make some decent coin?

[Justin_McElroy]

Yet you can buy Playboy DVDs there. Enjoy the irony.

[kizke]

God this world can be stupid.

[jeffool]

Copies of San Andreas seem to be going for about sixty bucks.

http://search.ebay.com/grand-theft-auto-san-andreas

[Cpt.Justice]

I for one am glad my 17-year-old will have to wait another year to play this filth.

[fitbabits]

Here's something interesting - it seems as though EB Games is still selling their copies of San Andreas, although you do have to ask for it and you will be carded. I stopped by my local EB yesterday and the associate told me that they have returned NO copies (the EB HQ had not mandated such action). So, if you're 18 or over and don't want to pay an inflated price on Ebay, head to your local EB Games.

Oh, and used copies are still being sold at EB as well.

[Cpt.Justice]

So does anyone really think the M-Rated versions of SA are going to become some sort of collectors item? I really don't see why they would.

[Everlost_MI]

So does anyone really think the M-Rated versions of SA are going to become some sort of collectors item? I really don't see why they would.

I didn't mean to infer that they would be collector's items but that I might get more for my used copy is all.

[Tyrant]

Considering that there's millions of copies in circulation, I'm guessing it won't be worth more than it should, before this whole Hot Coffee scandal.

[Klade]

It is very funny that you can buy playboy at Best Buy but not GTA.

[Neirin]

I for one am glad my 17-year-old will have to wait another year to play this filth.

Haha man its people like you that this moron thompson ever gets anywhere :rolleyes:

[Fubl]

I can understand the PC version but dammit you cant really access it on the ps2 and Xbox unless someones got some sort of program loader which is Even more off the beat than the Mod.

[Klade]

Its a cheat device thats sold in most every video game store both on and offline was what I was told. Could be wrong but it doesn't seem to hard to do. This is obviously just a publicity move so I wouldn't try to find the logic in it.

[CyCo23]

Fred Meyer, a North West retailer, has also pulled GTA:SA from shelves, and no you can't get it even by asking.

We are sending back the current copies and will be getting in the "edited" version.

Funny, the hidden sex is taken out but the gratuitous violence and language stays. I'm not on the games-cause-violence band-wagon, but I think I'd rather hear about kids having sex, than killing. There's a bigger lesson to be learned in caring for a life than taking one.

[GunnyMo]

Once again, it proves our twisted American "moral" viewpoint that sex/nudity is much, much worse than even the most heinous violence you can imagine. Sometimes, I really hate America.

[31 Flavas]

I can understand the PC version but dammit you cant really access it on the ps2 and Xbox unless someones got some sort of program loader which is Even more off the beat than the Mod.Ok, so you want all console publishers to be able to get around an AO rating by just not making the content accessable except with a pro action replay? Or for that mater let a T game get around an M rating.... Remind me why is GTA in trouble?

[bait]

This "recall" is really, really, really stupid on multiple levels.

[Cpt.Justice]

This ia only the start. These politicians get a taste of power and they go batshit crazy with legislation. I'm just glad I'm an adult.

[Cyotik]

I work at EB Games in Canada and we were ordered yesterday to take the game and not to sell it to anyone whether they be 18 or not. We have an interesting situation though because in my province as of June 1st this year, ESRB ratings are now legally recognized. Word is that we're going to recieve a new print of the game with the sex scenes removed from the disk.

[Heretic Machine]

This ia only the start. These politicians get a taste of power and they go batshit crazy with legislation. I'm just glad I'm an adult.

Why? You can't buy games that don't exist, and you better believe the market for adult games will dry up real quick if they can't be sold in Wal-mart anymore.

[Mister Pie]

I think I'd rather hear about kids having sex, than killing. There's a bigger lesson to be learned in caring for a life than taking one.

I wholeheartedly agree. That's not to say I WANT to hear about kids having sex since unplanned parenthood and all that could potentially lead to far worse things, but side-by-side, violence is a much worse thing in and of itself.

[ezzkmo]

after smoking a joint, i can take the money i got from a guy i just shot in the face and bang a hooker then take a chainsaw to her sorry ass and get my money back 5 seconds later, and that makes the game M. but now that CJ gets a little action with his girlfriend, they wanna jack up the rating.

what the fuck is wrong with people???

[appel]

I don't live in the us, but I wouldn't be impressed by a politician that thinks it's okey to rape, murder and so on.. but having sex, oh my, we can't have that. Maybe he's an alien who wants humans to stop procreating so we'll die out and they can come in and take over without us blowing their shit up with some mac or so. ;)

[kizke]

Wait a tic. I just thought of something.

You can still sleep with and murder prostitutes within the comfort of your stolen car, yes? But a woman in a constant relationship, when you go inside to have intercourse...oh no. Horrid.

Maddox posted a good article pointing out the stupidity of the scandal, by the way.

[AspectVoid]

You can still sleep with and murder prostitutes within the comfort of your stolen car, yes? But a woman in a constant relationship, when you go inside to have intercourse...oh no. Horrid.
Maddox posted a good article pointing out the stupidity of the scandal, by the way.

Okay, the government lost their fight against violence in games back in the early 90s when they tried to take on Mortal Kombat because of the Blood Code in the Genesis version. They lost the battle, so there isn't much point in fighting and loosing it again.

As for the prostitutes in GTA3, the reason that that didn't get blasted as hard (though it did get attacked back then) is because Rockstar didn't make a Minigame about it. If GTA:SA was fine rated as it was until the whole Minigame thing came up. Jack would have bitched, but the ESRB wouldn't have done anything, just like GTA3.

[vanlandw]

I disagree with all these sellers pulling the title. Clearly BB sells movies and content that has worse content then a silly videogame. The sexual content will only be viewed by a small section of the people who buy it. I'm a 25 year old man with a IS degree and I have no desire to go though all the effort to view this and I'm sure a good portion of the people who want to buy this game won't apply a mod to their game as well. I have the x-box version and I"m glad I got it when I did and I'm glad I didn't buy it at BB. They sell NC-17 movies there right. An AO game I would assume would be in the same demographic...what a bunch of wussies...

[Kelegacy]

we have to band together and make a movement against this kind of bullshit. Why do people still insist on saying that this game is for children? It is Hillary's favorite quote every day, as well as every other videogame naysayer. "we need to keep these games out of childrens' hands!!" Well how the fuck are they getting in their hands in the first place? Dont people know that there are hookers and blood and murder and guns and ultra-violence? A hidden scene with boobies instantly makes it not for kids.

This is really getting disgusting.

[fitbabits]

Barbie and Ken dolls should be recalled immediately from all retailers. It's simply too easy for children to remove the clothing from these 'dolls' and have them engage in sexual relations (no coffee required, hot or otherwise). Not only that, but the same kids can even (gasp) have two Ken dolls bugger each other in full view of their parents. When will this madness end?

[Kelegacy]

Though God of War doesnt show the acts of sex, it DOES hint at them. And shows huge mammoric tits, whores laying in bed with your main character. The camera pans away during the minigame while you are having group sex, but you can still hear the moans and see the bed/furniture move in sync with your phallus thrusting.

Does God of War deserve an AO rating now? Also, if GTA deserves an Adult rating, I think many of the movies at Wal-Mart deserve re-ratings too. Sex scenes and boobies? That isnt PORN, but neither is the GTA stuff either. If GTA had an insertion shot with a penis going into a quivering vagina, or even a messy money-shot, then maybe I'd reconsider.

[Goronmon]

Does God of War deserve an AO rating now? Also, if GTA deserves an Adult rating, I think many of the movies at Wal-Mart deserve re-ratings too. Sex scenes and boobies? That isnt PORN, but neither is the GTA stuff either. If GTA had an insertion shot with a penis going into a quivering vagina, or even a messy money-shot, then maybe I'd reconsider.
GTA:SA getting the AO rating isn't about the content in the game. Its about punishing Rockstar for making the ESRB look silly by hiding content from them. I mean, have you actually read the differences between a Mature game and an AO game? Its almost laughable how close they are.

Adults Only isn't a rating, its a label given to games so that they won't sell well, because hardly any retailers will even carry AO games.

[Mondopest]

For me, it's not that they are up in arms over the sex. I mean, if that is really how people feel then by all means, sell the game only to adults. What really irks me is that while everyone has a problem with the sex, no one seemed to mind the game when it was just full of killing police, car jacking, residential burglary, and good ol fashion murder. Oh yeah, everyone is glad their kid wont play a sex game that teaches to be more caring about the woman's orgasm but they let their children watch television, movies, and even play violent video games.

Sex is a great thing (responsible for our even being here to begin with) and I believe our inherently militaristic society (I say 'our' because I am one of you gun loving nutjobs) has it's priorities extremely scrambled.

[Expugnare]

And yet we can still get games like the guy game and playboy mansion.....what is wrong with this world?

[mister_slim]

Fred Meyer, a North West retailer, has also pulled GTA:SA from shelves, and no you can't get it even by asking.

And yet Fred Meyer will continue selling the satanic and hormonally charged Harry Potter books to children. For shame.

It's funny, but I remember FM being criticized a couple months ago for large Left Behind displays, but none of those critics seem to have noticed the large Harry Potter displays.

[Kelegacy]

For me, it's not that they are up in arms over the sex. I mean, if that is really how people feel then by all means, sell the game only to adults. What really irks me is that while everyone has a problem with the sex, no one seemed to mind the game when it was just full of killing police, car jacking, residential burglary, and good ol fashion murder. Oh yeah, everyone is glad their kid wont play a sex game that teaches to be more caring about the woman's orgasm but they let their children watch television, movies, and even play violent video games.

Sex is a great thing (responsible for our even being here to begin with) and I believe our inherently militaristic society (I say 'our' because I am one of you gun loving nutjobs) has it's priorities extremely scrambled.

This IS a game that is only sold to adults...or in theory it is. An M rating is for ages 17 and up. AO is for 18 and up. When I think of an adult game, just as I think of an adult movie, i think of porn. I think of fellatio, cunnilingus, penetration, and other physical acts of "love" performed on one another by adults. Tasteful sex, where coitus is simulated and not depicted in detail, should be allowed in R rated movies and M rated games, complete with boobs and scrotum. If genitilia comes into contact and that contact is shown onscreen, that is the typical gray area where R rated flicks become NC-17 or X-rated.

San Andreas simulates life in the city. The sex scene is very small in comparison to the rest of the game. Rockstar was making the game for adults (and secretly hoping youngsters will get their parents to buy it for them) so what's wrong with a little boobie action with a tad bit of unpolluted sexual clips?

I am against it as a LAW because it could issue in a whole new shitbag of censorship laws and cause me move to Canada where real freedom exists, but why not restrict the selling of games to their specific age groups, making it a pseudo-law for retailers. Does Walmart sell R movies to children? If they do, they should be investigated and a pie chart should be drawn up by Jack Thompson about how evil Walmart is for corrupting the youth of the world. Restrict M rated games to 17 year olds and up and ENFORCE it, meaning employees check ID and can be punished for not doing so. Underage kids who then play the games will have an adult for us to put the blame on for buying it for them.

That way, kids who get ahold of the game can watch their parents being flogged in the city square for being fuckwads. Yes, I believe that should be a law, too.

[mister_slim]

That way, kids who get ahold of the game can watch their parents being flogged in the city square for being fuckwads. Yes, I believe that should be a law, too.
I'm always in favor of more floggings.

[Spigot]

The EB near me has sent back all of their copies to the warehouse. I'm not sure if that's to have them re-stickered or to wait for the new Mature rated version. I'm still kind of ticked at this as the actual game is the same. You just can't hack it to unlock the silly sex stuff. Sigh. I'm wishing I hadn't traded in my PS2 version now.

The EB guy explained the difference in procedures between M and AO games. Supposedly if you're under 17 and want an M-rated game, you can have your mom say it's ok, give you the money and then buy the game yourself (as long as your mom/dad/parental unit says to the clerk that it's ok). For an AO game the parental unit themselves must buy the game. You can't say that it's ok for Little Johnny to buy it. Frankly, I think that it should be that way regardless. If it's M or AO, you should have to be the appropriate age. If you want to let your kid play an AO game or an M-rated game, you should have to buy it for them.

Granted, I think they should also just get rid of the M rating. If the M rating is so soft, as some people say it is, why bother with it? If anything, I find games rated higher than they need to be.

Ah well. If anything this whole debacle may open up the possibilities of game developers actually having the freedom to do games that are truly Adult Only and not be afraid of retailers. I think that there should be a different rating that separates games like GTA or Manhunt from something like a Hentai sex game that is true porn. It's like if they just got rid of every nude scene in any R-rated movie since some people might think it's porn. There's a huge difference in my books..

Ah well. I'm sick of this whole thing. I'm just hoping it ends up having a positive influence (since it was a huge flagship title) rather than ending up in people cracking down on everything that might be the slightest bit controversial.

[Spigot]

The EB near me does still sell used copies of the game though. Figure that out...

Come move up here Kelegacy! We're still pulling the game from a lot of the major retailers' shelves, but I think you can still get it at the smaller stores. Meh.

[Spigot]

And yet we can still get games like the guy game and playboy mansion.....what is wrong with this world?

GTA is always an easy target. You still have people who think of it as the hooker killing game. Trying to explain the nuances and freedom of the series takes too long and isn't listened to when you can say, "HEY! THERE'S SEX! THERE'S NAKED PEOPLE! THERE'S HOOKERS AND COPS BEING KILLED!"

Heck, Manhunt should have been rated as AO if they're going to rate anything that way.

[Kelegacy]

GTA is always an easy target. You still have people who think of it as the hooker killing game. Trying to explain the nuances and freedom of the series takes too long and isn't listened to when you can say, "HEY! THERE'S SEX! THERE'S NAKED PEOPLE! THERE'S HOOKERS AND COPS BEING KILLED!"

Heck, Manhunt should have been rated as AO if they're going to rate anything that way.

Most of the people condemning the games havent even played them. Hell, I'm not sure they have even seen video footage of the games in action. I hope in the next-gen, the cop slayings and hooker beatings are so graphically realistic that it is mind boggling. I hope the GTA gameplay is as amazing as ever, but let the graphics really give politicians the finger.

Then again, the government might see it fit to shit in our mouths and make Rockstar change the cops to walking ice cream cones and the hookers into fudgesicles.

[Kelegacy]

The EB near me does still sell used copies of the game though. Figure that out...

Come move up here Kelegacy! We're still pulling the game from a lot of the major retailers' shelves, but I think you can still get it at the smaller stores. Meh.

I complain about Maine winters, so I dont know if Canada would satisfy me weather-wise. I thought about moving south for awhile, but I hate the south and the oppressive heat. Plus, I dont own any NASCAR shirts, own a tractor, or enjoy grits and Pabst. And barnyard animal sex.

So I'm stuck here for now.

[fitbabits]

I complain about Maine winters, so I dont know if Canada would satisfy me weather-wise. I thought about moving south for awhile, but I hate the south and the oppressive heat. Plus, I dont own any NASCAR shirts, own a tractor, or enjoy grits and Pabst. And barnyard animal sex.

So I'm stuck here for now.

Jeez, the heat here in NC is fucking minging. I moved here from Scotland some 5 years ago and I'm still not used to it. It takes all of five minutes for the oppresive heat to reach my ass crack and give me severe swamp ass...

[Eric_T_Cheng]

I complain about Maine winters, so I dont know if Canada would satisfy me weather-wise. I thought about moving south for awhile, but I hate the south and the oppressive heat. Plus, I dont own any NASCAR shirts, own a tractor, or enjoy grits and Pabst. And barnyard animal sex.

So I'm stuck here for now.

Move to Vancouver. In the summer 25C is considered hot. In the winter -2C is considered very cold. The mountains are to the north, the water is to the west and the States is to the south...okay two out of three ain't bad! ;)

[Kelegacy]

Move to Vancouver. In the summer 25C is considered hot. In the winter -2C is considered very cold. The mountains are to the north, the water is to the west and the States is to the south...okay two out of three ain't bad! ;)

I think Canada should be very proud to be such a progressive country. While the United States is making law after law taking away rights or straight up restricting people from having the same freedoms as other people (ahem, gay marriage bans) Canada goes ahead and becomes the 4th country in the world to allow gay marriage all over. Also, P2P sharing is legal too, right? And prostitution?

Maybe Canada should start calling itself The Home of the Free instead. Seriously, some of you in Canada better consider harboring me if the United States draft is ever reinstated, if I'm not a resident by then.

Kelegacy the Expatriate has a certain ring to it.

[Eric_T_Cheng]

I think Canada should be very proud to be such a progressive country. While the United States is making law after law taking away rights or straight up restricting people from having the same freedoms as other people (ahem, gay marriage bans) Canada goes ahead and becomes the 4th country in the world to allow gay marriage all over. Also, P2P sharing is legal too, right? And prostitution?

The Supreme Court of Canada said that P2P is legal (for now). However, the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) has managed to get the government to impose a tariff on almost all recording media (ie CDRs, DVDRs). The CRIA says the money will go back to the artist but not one cent has.

Prostitution is technically legal in Canada, however, soliciting is illegal. The grey area are the massage parlours and escort services. We don't have the "window shopping" red light district like in Amsterdam or brothels in Nevada (they would be considered soliciting).

The federal government almost decriminalized (albeit still fineable) for possession of small amounts of pot but that died after the 2004 election (the ruling Liberal government lost A LOT of seats and became a minority government).

We have four major federal political parties -- the left-wing New Democrat Party, the middle Liberal party, the right-wing Conservative Party and the Quebec separatist Bloc Quebecois party. We have laws that limit donations to candidates and the influence of lobbyists.

You have to remember we're taxed a lot up here in order to pay for all of our social programmes like universal healthcare. We also have our share of corrupt politicians and cops using excessive force. And sadly we don't put enough money to our military's budget (our aging fleet of 40 year old helicopters and second hand British submaries is a sad joke).

[Spigot]

Heck, we have more submarines (that work) in the West Edmonton Mall than in our actual navy. That's what we get for buying second-hand :)

[Dirty Harry]

Heck, we have more submarines (that work) in the West Edmonton Mall than in our actual navy. That's what we get for buying second-hand :)
Last i heard they are trying to sell em now, heh.

[Shodan2020]

I for one am glad my 17-year-old will have to wait another year to play this filth.

I got news for you. He's probably already played it at his friend's house.

[Atrapas]

Absolutely the best write-up I've seen so far about this situation. Love him or hate him, Maddox rules ;)

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=ticket_to_hell

[Squigly]

You all seem to be forgetting something. VIDEO GAME RATINGS ARE USELESS! Hear me? USELESS! Anyone can go to a store and buy a mature game. Anyone. And IF there's one instance where the clerk says no, they underage person can pay some hobo, or a friend to go buy it for them. The "M" rating is pointless. I have a few "M" rated games, and I've been playing "M" rated games since I was a small child. Mortal Kombat, Legacy of Kain, GTA, just to name a few. I can go to Alco and buy ANY mature game I want, they don't care. People bitch about mature games being to graphic, and kids playing them. But there's no way to stop kids from playing them. And the only way to stop it is to censor all games, so that the most graphic thing we could have would be "T". But then we'd have to censor music, movies, TV, radio, etc. It just wouldn't work. The U.S. is full of bitchy people, who don't know what they're talking about, who just want to bitch so these people can get publicity.