The GTA "Hot Coffee" scandal has bloodied and bruised the mainstream image of the games industry in ways that most gamers, most non-game developers, won't quickly understand. The industry fights an uphill battle to be free of government censorship and regulation by maintaining a voluntary rating system, in the form of the ESRB. This senseless fiasco has cost us valuable ground in our efforts to win over the hearts, minds, and wallets of mainstream non-gaming America. Oh, and if it sparks any kind of blanket legislation against the retail sale of AO games I'm gonna pop a cap in Rockstar's... just kidding, I'm too busy making a sex game with enough guts to actually undress the avatars and show genitalia ;p

The following is my personal response to the situation and was originally posted on an IGDA mailing list (for an audience of mostly developers). I wanted to cross-post it in my developer's blog because although the ESRB is taking action against Rockstar and TakeTwo, there is still a looming threat of government intervention which could seriously retard the healthy development and distribution of responsibly-rated, adults only games (including our upcoming titles WTF?! Sex Trivia and Rapture Online). Whether you agree with my position or want to flame me for attacking the sacred cow of GTA games, drop by the forums and comment on the GTA Hot Coffee hoopla:

What Rockstar and Take Two did wrong was failing to disclose the inclusion of AO content to the ESRB to get an M rating. It matters not if they cut the feature and had it disabled- the ESRB is supposed to be informed of the content in the product and they might have mentioned this disabled feature and given ESRB a chance to advise them on whether they need to scrub it out and at least remove the graphic art assets. It was the deception (which they profited from in M distribution) that mattered- not the content.

And then to further foul things up they don't seem to have the brains between them to hire a decent PR firm (their statement after the scandal broke was ridiculous in its lack of remorse and utter failure to take responsibility for any part in the fiasco). In short, they made the ESRB look bad, brought down the ire of showboating politicians, and set back overall industry public relation progress with yet another high-profile scandal. But what good is it to complain about them, really? Do they care that Ernest (edit: Ernest Adams is a smart designer who frequently calls Rockstar out for their "bitch-like" behavior though he would never use those words, lol) and hordes of other devs (me included) will not be inviting them over for tea? Seriously, only the ESRB can take action on the behalf of the industry at this point.

I don't care if Rockstar or Take Two ever comprehends how the whole industry pays for their poor public image over these "edgy" games that frankly are not even edgy. If they think "hot coffee" was explicit, it's woefully juvenile and tame compared to the real AO titles- which typically have the balls to go AO and not try to be "cool and dangerous" in a mainstream game marketed to teens and sold through Wal-Mart... a rather *sleazy* market to try to be "edgy" in. Their brand image reminds me of the rebellious teenager who hangs out with younger kids so that he can be a badass and get respect even though all of his peers think he's a huge loser. If they want to make adult games, by all means do it and don't water it down just so some 17 year olds can get it for their Christmas present from Grandma ;p It would be cool if Rockstar actually did make AO games with sex etc. but that would take backbone and is a suggestion beyond the scope of this rant ;p

All I care about is what the final penalty will be from ESRB (the only law in the land that could actually make developers and publishers think thrice about pulling a stunt like this again). I'd love to see an industry-wide petition for some kind of suspension of privilege to get games rated for a certain period of time. Otherwise you end up with only a negligible financial hit from the revocation of the M rating and a company that didn't give a crap before and won't give a crap later.

The one thing you learn quickly working with kids is that if you give them an inch they'll take a mile. Rockstar and Take Two are probably full of ok people who are just testing the limits of the ESRB's authority and just as I wouldn't persecute a child for making poor choices, I don't want to hear Rockstar broadly scorned (the game IS fun and obviously most of the people working there were not directly involved in the poor decisions under discussion). But I think they need a time out to think about what they've done :)

PS Yes, I am biased because we are making mature, responsible games about human sexuality (both serious health games and entertainment titles!) and then *this* crappy mini-game is mainstream, non-gaming-America's first look at graphic sex in games. Thanks, Rockstar, for making sex in games look aesthetically retarded and far from erotic ;p

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