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Besides being arguably the biggest gaming franchise of all time, theGTAseries is never short of controversies. Be it the complaints by the New York City officials regardingGTA 4‘s lack of proper portrayal of the violence and crime in the game’s version of New York, Liberty City or when Trevor tortured a man in the“By the Book”mission inGTA 5, the franchise has seen it all.
This is not the end of it though.GTA 3was once banned in Australia for showing s*xual content and violence against prostitutes.GTA Vice Cityfaced a lot of heat from the people due to its controversial dialogues citing hate crimes. The list controversy regarding this franchise doesn’t seem to have any end. But despite all of these, nothing beats the Hot Coffee Mod inGTA San Andreas.
“Hot Coffee”Controversy inGTA San Andreas
Rockstar chose not to include Hot Coffee, an incomplete mini-game inGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and it’s thanks to this mod that CJ was able to have sx with his girlfriend. Because CJ’s numerous girlfriends used“coffee”as a metaphor for“sx,”this feature was given this name.
The startling thing is that the player controls this activity rather than merely watching arbitrary cutscenes. Rockstar chose to remove this feature because they were aware that it could cause significant controversy. Nevertheless, modders discovered the incomplete codes and assets of this feature on the PS2, Xbox, and PC versions’ DVDs and download files, even though they weren’t in the game itself.
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They eventually figured out how to access the feature on all formats after sorting through the codes. Modders were able to gradually court multiple women and eventually have sx with them by taking advantage of this feature, which allowed them to manipulate the relationship mechanic. Additionally, this mod included a number of button commands that allowed players to assume various sxual positions.
This Mod Stirred Unreal Controversy Around the Gaming Fraternity
There have beenmany instances of controversial aspects in video games. But nothing shook the world the way the Hot Coffee mod ofGTA San Andreasdid. No one could ever think that a minor mod in a video game would make people demand an FTC investigation.
Yes! After the eruption of backlash due to the mod, Congress demanded an FTC investigation against Rockstar Games. As a consequence, Sam Houser, the President of Rockstar Games, was questioned by FTC and even the company emails were subpoenaed. About the situation, this is what Dan Houser, another co-founder of Rockstar Games had to say (viaVulture):
The scale of this stress always had the air of ludicrousness to me. It always felt like they were trying to find a reason to attack us. It was so drawn out. But I wasn’t directly in the line of fire. It took a greater toll on those who were than it did on me.
Even the involvement of US government officials caused things to spiral out of control.Senator Hillary Clinton continued to blamethis incident on both Rockstar and ESRB. According to a lot of people, the game has the highest rating possible—adults only. The game’s future would have been ruined by this.
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However, the“Hot Coffee”scandal marked a turning point for Rockstar Games. The business gained a reputation as a boundary-pushing provocateur—one that isn’t afraid to take chances and question the status quo—after the controversy.
The company’s identity would be defined by this rebellious image, which would also contribute to the success of later games likeRed Dead RedemptionandGrand Theft Auto IV.
Nilendu Brahma
Articles Published :690
A Marvel, Linkin Park, Cricket, and Barcelona fan who just wants to write and write about video games and stuff. If you want to meet me, you can find me in my room failing to hit the opposite Jett with the operator for six consecutive rounds.
