the Virtual Sex Life of the Adolescent Male, as raw material for the Economic Activity of a publicly traded NASDAQ corporation

Notice the really sexy spikes

early and right now in January 2006.
These are not spikes in Value,
but rather spikes in Trading Volume.
As far as Vleeptron comprehends
such things, People are
Dumping this Hot Potato.

Hot Coffee mod
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

This article is about a modification that unlocks a controversial feature for the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. For the beverage, see Coffee.

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Video game's secret sex scenes spark outrage

The Hot Coffee mod is a mod created for the personal computer port of the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (GTA:SA, 2004/2005, Rockstar North). When installed, it unlocks a hidden part of the game which involves having sex (featuring oral sex with an "invisible" penis and dry humping) with the main character's girlfriend to try to improve the relationship between the two.

Contents

* 1 Mod overview
* 2 Controversy
* 3 Response
* 4 Hot Coffee spoofs
* 5 References
* 6 External links

Mod overview

Screenshot from the controversial sequence.
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Wikibooks
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Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas/Appendices/Hot Coffee

During the course of the main plot of the game, the player (as main character Carl "CJ" Johnson) may date up to six girlfriends, carrying out various "date missions" in order to improve his relationship with a particular girl. Once Carl has become particularly close to a girlfriend, she may end a successful date by inviting him into her house for "coffee" — a euphemism for sex. Improving relationships with girlfriends through successful dates and other related activities will eventually reward CJ with new items (vehicles, weapons or special wardrobes) and benefits during gameplay (e.g. cost-free visits to the hospital after dying).

In the unmodified version of San Andreas, the player sees an exterior view of the girlfriend's house while hearing the muffled voices of Carl and his girlfriend as they engage in coitus. However, the Hot Coffee modification enables a minigame which allows the player to actually enter the girlfriend's bedroom and control Carl's actions during sex. None of the six possible sex scenes involve any nudity. However, an updated version of the "Hot Coffee" mod swaps the girlfriends' partially-clothed textures with modder-created, flesh-toned bitmaps. This third-party addition, like most nude patches, can only be applied to the PC version of the game, and does not incorporate visible genitalia.

Rockstar Games, the publisher of the Grand Theft Auto series, initially denied allegations that the minigame was "hidden" in the video game, stating that the Hot Coffee modification (which they claim violated the game's End User Licence Agreement) is the result of hackers making "significant technical modifications and reverse engineering" to the game's source code.1

The creator of the mod, Patrick Wildenborg (under the Internet alias "PatrickW"), a 36-year old modder from The Netherlands, rejects Rockstar's claim that the mod required significant technical effort, pointing out that he only changed a single bit in the installed game's "main.scm" file, and that there is absolutely no new content that he actually created - every piece of the required code was already in-game, just not available to the player.2 The mod itself is actually just edited copies of the main.scm and script.img script files. Mods for the Grand Theft Auto series are nothing new. The mod community has flourished for years creating additions to the map, new cars, and even a mod for multi-player gameplay. All of this is possible because Rockstar left the scripts open for mod makers to edit in order to have user created content. These mods do violate the license agreement that comes with the game and until recently were partially encouraged by the company.

There is evidence demonstrating that the content had already existed in the game, confirming that Wildenborg's statement that his mod merely "unlocked" the hidden code is true. The PlayStation 2 version of the game, which cannot have content added to it because it is stored on a read-only DVD, was discovered to also contain the hidden sex minigames. The Hot Coffee minigame can be accessed on the PlayStation 2 version of the game by entering a short sequence of codes using the Action Replay Max or Gameshark cheat disc. It is also possible on the Microsoft Xbox either by installing the mod on a modchipped Xbox or by using an Action Replay Max.

This shows that the sexual intercourse content is part of the game's original code, rather than something inserted into the game by the mod. However, it is not possible to access the sexual content simply by playing the game as intended by the developers.3 The sexual minigame may well have been abandoned before completion, as suggested by the fact that one of the six girlfriends, Michelle, is flagrantly mistextured.

Controversy

The introduction of the Hot Coffee mod has now sparked a fair amount of controversy around GTA:SA, with some politicians firing harsh words at both the game's developer and the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB), the organization which establishes content ratings for video games in the United States. It has also rekindled the debate over the influence of video games in general with new protests against several other games such as Killer 7, The Sims 2, and Bully.

Jack Thompson, a lawyer and anti-video game activist from Florida was one of the first to attack the game for its recently found content. Thompson believes that violent media such as video games are one of the main sources of violent crime in America and has lashed out against Rockstar on several occasions for previous games they have developed. Thompson has gone to some extremes in his battle by insulting gamers and comparing the head of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), Douglas Lowenstein, to Hitler. He has also dared the video game industry to create an ultra-violent game of his specifications and has done some verbal sparring with the game-related webcomic, Penny Arcade.

U.S. senator Hillary Clinton has jumped into the fray by suggesting new regulations be put on video games sales 4. The ESRB is also conducting an investigation into whether the game's publisher lied about the game's content in an attempt to avoid the Adults Only 18+ rating. Also, Congress just passed a resolution to have the Federal Trade Commission investigate whether Rockstar intentionally undermined the ESRB by having the content in the game5.

In New York, a class action lawsuit has been filed by Florence Cohen, an 85-year old grandmother who purchased the game for her 14-year old grandson (it should be noted that even according to the old rating, the game is typically considered inappropriate for this age). Cohen's lawsuit claims that Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive, the publisher of the game, are guilty of deception, false advertising, fraud and abuse. The accusation of deception is based on the change from M-rated to AO, meaning according to the lawsuit that the original rating was a deceptive practice6.

There was also a recent protest that occurred at Rockstar's headquarters. A protest group known as the Peaceholics organized a protest on August 4, 2005. The group organized against San Andreas as well as the upcoming game Bully, which they want cancelled because of fears that the content could inspire children to become bullies themselves. The protesters had signs that read "Put the Cuffs On Rockstar", "Prosecute Rockstar Games; they are felons", "Hey hey, ho ho, Rockstar Games has got to go" 7. Peaceholics had several demands for Rockstar:

1. Not to release Bully under any circumstances

2. Volunteer to sell its violent and sexually explicit games in adult video stores only.

3. Let parents return Grand Theft Auto for a full refund until they do a national awareness campaign to educate parents of content and possible effects.

4. Create a fund for victims of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and car-jackings, etc.

5. Make a national apology for misleading and lying to children, parents, and legislators about their intentions and causing insurance premiums to sky rocket.

6. Give a written response within five business days of receipt of these demands.8.

However, there are several people who disagree with these critics and feel that the attacks on video games are unfounded. While not as organized as the anti-gaming groups some gamers have decided to fight back against the anti-game backlash. A few sites have emerged as beacons of pro-game activism such as GamePolitics [1] and Gamerandy [2]. Gamerandy even has a petition to combat Jack Thompson and the other anti-video game activists.

These sites provide a lot of ammunition for their counter arguments. One particular article being spread around by video game proponents cites the diminishing crime rate as one of the major distortions that have emerged in the new fight against violent and sexually explicit video games. This recent article details how the overall crime rate has actually gone down since the fighting game, Mortal Kombat, caused a major controversy in the early '90s. The youth crime rate has diminished as well9.

GamePolitics has also launched some attacks of their own directed at Jack Thompson because of distortions he has made about their reporting, putting Thompson's credibility into question. Thompson has taken information out of context from GamePolitics to claim that Grand Theft Auto: Vice City also has a sex minigame.

Some have also argued that the code is not as pornographic as claimed, since no genitalia are shown. Many people claim that the content unlocked by the mod is no worse than what someone would see in an R rated film. Indeed, the mechanics of the minigame could be compared to a rhythm game such as Dance Dance Revolution.

Response

On July 20, 2005, the ESRB announced that it was changing the rating of GTA:SA from Mature to Adults Only 18+. Rockstar stated that it would discontinue manufacturing the current version of the game, and produce a new version that would not include the content that is unlocked by the Hot Coffee mod. In the fourth quarter of 2005, Rockstar released this "clean" version, with a Mature 17+ rating. The company also released a patch for the PC version on August 9 to remove the content.

The day after the rating change, several North American chain stores pulled GTA:SA from the shelves, including major chains Blockbuster, Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, and Electronics Boutique. Rockstar has given some retailers ESRB Adults Only rating stickers to put on their copies of GTA:SA, should they decide to keep selling the original product.

On July 29, 2005, the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification revoked the MA15+ classification originally given to GTA:SA and changed it to Refused Classification (RC), therefore banning the sale, hire, advertising or exhibition of the game within Australia. All stores selling the game or offering it for hire were required to immediately remove the game from their shelves. As the sex scenes in the Hot Coffee content were not permitted under the MA15+ classification, a "clean" version of the game was submitted for re-classification, and is made available for sale again in Australia.

eBay has been removing copies of GTA:SA that have been reported by the eBay community. eBay claims that GTA:SA violates the terms of the eBay seller policy and cannot be sold unless it is located in the Everything Else > Mature Audiences section. This section requires a credit card to validate the age of the eBay user. Since eBay relies on the community to police itself eBay users have to report a game before eBay staff will remove the listing. Several games have been unreported and have sold for extremely high prices.

In December 2005, Senators Hillary Clinton, Joe Lieberman and Evan Bayh introduced the Family Entertainment Protection Act, which calls for a federal mandate enforcement of the ESRB ratings system in order to protect children from inappropriate content.

There has, of yet, been no reaction in Europe, perhaps because each country would have to reclassify GTA:SA in order to have it taken off the shelves. It is already only available to adults 18 or over in most European nations, so no further action is necessary.

Some commentators have anticipated a product recall of San Andreas once the "clean" version is available, although given the high value of the "uncensored" versions, it is doubtful that many gamers will return their copies voluntarily.

On January 26, 2006, the city of Los Angeles filed a lawsuit against Take-Two Interactive, the game's publisher, accusing the company of failing to disclose the game's sexual content.

Hot Coffee spoofs

Jak X: Combat Racing features an unlockable dubbed "Hot Coffee" that stars Daxter and his girlfriend Tess. Instead of having sex, however, they are seen drinking coffee, ending with Daxter looking at the camera and saying "What?".

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (2005), the next installment of the Grand Theft Auto series following San Andreas, features the character Maria Latore asking Toni Cipriani, the game's protagonist, if he wants to "go to her house and have some coffee" to which Toni replies "I'm not interested", alluding to the controversy surrounding the Hot Coffee minigame in San Andreas.

Other media on have also feature spoofs of the Hot Coffee feature. A recent Comcast television commercial has featured a woman asking her alien boyfriend if he wants to come in for some coffee after a date.

References

* Note 1: Baertlein, Lisa: "'Grand Theft' maker blames hackers for sex scenes", Reuters, (July 13, 2005)
* Note 2: Hot Coffee mod developer's statement
* Note 3: Thorsen, Tor: "Confirmed: Sex minigame in PS2 San Andreas", GameSpot, (July 15, 2005)
* Note 4: Feldman, Curt: "Clinton calls for federal game regulation", GameSpot, (July 14, 2005)
* Note 5: Feldman, Curt: "Take-Two sued, confirms FTC investigation", GameSpot, (July 27, 2005)
* Note 6: Berardini, César A. "Grandma Sues Rockstar Over San Andreas", TeamXbox, (July 27th, 2005)
* Note 7: Ransom-Wiley, James "March against Bully", Joystiq (August 4, 2005)
* Note 8: Crecente, Brian D. "Group Releases Rockstar Demands", kotaku (August 4, 2005)
* Note 9: Ferris, Duke "The Truth About Violent Youth and Video Games", GameRevolution (July, 2005)

External links
Wikibooks
Wikibooks has more about this subject:
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas/Appendices/Hot Coffee
Wikinews
Wikinews has news related to this article:
Video game's secret sex scenes spark outrage

* PatrickW's Website (creator of original mod)
* Hot Coffee download (also available here and here)
* "Cream For Your Coffee?" controversial video download
* New York Times article about Hot Coffee Mod controversy
* Igniq.com article on the code's existence in the PS2 version
* Spong article about code in PS2 version
* USA Today article about the Hot Coffee Mod
* JoyStiq article about the new rating of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
* Website named Hot Coffee covering the scandal and fallout
* The Ballad of Rockstar Games (Hot Coffee Parody)
* Sarcastic response to the controversy by The Best Page In The Universe
* Petition Against Jack Thompson by Gamerandy
* Site About Videogames and Politics by GamePolitics
* "Coco Beans in Warm Water", a VG Cats comic strip
* IGN: Keeping Kids from Hot Coffee
* IGN: Rockstar Responds to GTA: SA's AO Rating
* IGN: GTA Hot Coffee: Video Tips
* The "Hot Biscuits" Mod, a parody of the Hot Coffee mod with dogs from the Nintendo game Nintendogs.

Grand Theft Auto series[ Hide ]
Games
Grand Theft Auto-era Grand Theft Auto - GTA: London 1969 - GTA: London 1961
Grand Theft Auto 2-era Grand Theft Auto 2
Grand Theft Auto III-era Grand Theft Auto III - GTA: Vice City - GTA: San Andreas - GTA Advance - GTA: Liberty City Stories
Soundtracks GTA III soundtrack - Vice City soundtrack - San Andreas soundtrack - Liberty City Stories soundtrack
Locations Liberty City - Vice City - San Andreas - London
Protagonists Claude Speed - Tommy Vercetti - Carl "CJ" Johnson - Toni Cipriani
Other characters GTA III characters - Vice City characters - San Andreas characters - Liberty City Stories characters
Miscellaneous topics List of vehicles - List of gangs - Multi Theft Auto - Grand Theftendo - Hot Coffee mod
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Coffee_mod"

Categories: Computer game mods | Grand Theft Auto | Moral panics