Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Ratings Change

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has officially changed the rating on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The game, which was originally released with a rating of Mature, has been reclassified to have an Adults Only rating.

The change came in response to a modification that gamers could make to the PC version of San Andreas that unlocked an explicit sex scene. While the modification involved a code change and was not easily accessible to the average gamer, the ratings board felt the hidden content on the disk warranted the adult rating. In a somewhat baffling move, the board changed the rating for all of the versions of the game (it is available for the PC, Playstation 2 and Xbox) even though the sex scene could only be viewed in the computer version.

While games have had their ratings changed after release before, this is the first time a game has made the jump from Mature to Adults Only.

In response to the ratings change, several major retailers have pulled GTA 3 off of the shelves. Chains that have stopped selling San Andreas include Walmart, Best Buy, Circuit City and GameStop.

While the publisher was instructed by ESRB to request that retailers stop selling the Mature-labeled game until an AO sticker was available, the game has been spotted on retail shelves at stores including Fry's Electronics. Amazon has GTA 3on sale through various third-party vendors and currently shows San Andreas as the number one selling PC game on their charts. Other online retailers such as Chumbo still have the game listed for sale, too.

GTA's publisher, Take Two, has indicated that the ratings change will cost them millions of dollars in sales. However, some analysts speculate that the press over the change will move even more copies of the best-seller.

Australians will have trouble getting their hands on the PC version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification, which is responsible for video game ratings in that country, has taken away the GTA 3's classification altogether. As a result, the game cannot be sold in Australia, since the sale, distribution and advertising of unclassified games is forbidden by the government. Take Two has indicated that the ban will not have a dramatic impact on their current sales projections.

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