As yesterday’s news about the change of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas’ rating settles across the land, major retail chains scrambled to pull the hacked version from their real and virtual store shelves.
CNN/Money reported last night that Wal-Mart and Target, two of the nation’s largest retailers, were both in the process of pulling the now “Adults Only†(AO) game. The Entertainment Software Rating Board changed the rating after an investigation revealed that sexual scenes had been included as part of the Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Games game’s original code. Those scenes, though not meant to be accessible to players, were exposed to the public eye after a “mod†released to the Internet by a hacker a few weeks back made them playable.
Besides the Wal-Mart and Target chains pulling the game, Best Buy and Circuit City both said they were immediately removing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas from their inventories as well.
“We take our responsibility to the public and our shareholders seriously,†said Phil Schoonover, president of Circuit City Stores, Inc. through a press release, “and as soon as the company learned about the ESRB action, we started the process to stop the sale of this title.â€
A Best Buy spokesperson, also through an issued statement, said removal of the game was in keeping with their “policy not to carry adult only (AO) games†and that their “decision reflects the commitment we have to our customers to help them make informed decisions.â€
