'Sex, boys & videogames'

Let's see, what were the results of all the media coverage last summer of the sexually explicit "Hot Coffee" mod for one of the Grand Theft Auto videogames? It raised public awareness of videogame ratings (a positive result of the ESRB upping GTA: San Andreas's rating from "M" to "AO" because of the mod). It certainly raised awareness that there's sex in some videogames, which probably increased sales for gamemakers. It offered an opportunity for some politicians to take action – e.g., four senators sponsoring federal legislation against sales of violent games to minors (see this item). And Los Angeles City Attorney Rockard Delgadillo, who is running for state attorney general, announced last week he's suing GTA's makers Take Two for failing to disclose the explicit content, which had to be "unlocked" with code found and downloaded from the Web (better late than never, maybe – last August the game's rating was upped to "Adults Only," which meant removal from many retailers' shelves and Take Two released a patch that blocks the content, among other developments). Regardless, all media spotlights on ratings, content, legislation, and lawsuits are good; public awareness is needed (laws are often flawed and blocked in courts, but public attention moves the process along). Meanwhile, how does all this affect "17-year-old boys with advanced computer skills"? - what Los Angeles Times columnist Joel Stein looked at this week in "Sex, boys & videogames." "Now that kids can surf the Web, rent movies through online retailers, watch hundreds of cable channels and download gangster rap, it's impossible for society to restrict the flow of information to them," Joel suggests. "And even though they're a lot more jaded and harsh, it hasn't made them any more violent or sexually active." But it's good for parents to know what they're confronted with anyway. [For more on the above, see CNET's "Adult-oriented videogames prospering."]