>I bought GTA: San Andreas for PC today.
I heard about all the hubub regarding the Hot Coffee patch and then about week later they’re recalling the game, stamping an AO label on it, and everyone’s pulling it from the shelves. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get an original copy so I went out and snatched it up from EBGAMES, who by the way, still sells it only with proof of age (21) and valid driver’s licence.
(So if it’s suspended… tough luck?)

How many other games do you know of that only require a minor mod to unlock otherwise unaccessible material?
It’s a normal thing for publishers to do. Programmers do what they want, create the version they want to, and then the publisher restricts them. The content is unable to be accessed (look at the year+ that the game has been out for console… there’s been no way to access this content thus far) unless the code of the game is modified. Technically illegal, and certainly not the responsibility of Take Two Interactive or Rockstar (North) Games.

I’m very dissapointed that this has become such a high profile issue. Freedoms are becomming less of a reality, more of an ideal that can’t be realized for the safety of the majority. From “hot coffee!” (no pun intended, but… HA!) warnings, to cameras everywhere, random searches… it’s the principal. If you’re not doing anything wrong, if you don’t draw attention to yourself… you shouldn’t have to be worried that you’re not 100% pure, that someone going through your things won’t accidently find something they could charge you with, embarass you with, or make you late for something because they thought you looked shifty eyed.

I don’t like where things are headed. I’m ready to get in on an underground information exchange. It won’t be long before digital is not beyond the realm of “the man”. It’s already approaching there because other’s can’t take responsibility for what they don’t know.

“We fear change.” ~ Garth