Attorney Takes On Electronic Arts For "The Sims 2" Naked Mods
Fresh from the fallout over some sex scenes hidden in a violent video game, an anti-game crusader is pressuring Electronic Arts to take action against those who modify another game, "The Sims 2,'' so that it can display naked characters.
Last week, a culture war erupted over a different video game, "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas,'' a violent game that hackers modified so that it played graphic sexual scenes. The game industry's ratings board, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, canceled the "mature'' 17-and-up rating on the game and restricted it to "adults only.''
The game publisher, Take-Two Interactive Software in New York, is under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission for the incident. The company had said the sex scenes were hidden on its disks, but hackers found them and exposed the scenes by creating programs, or "mods,'' that could display the scenes. In making its ruling, the game-rating board suggested that publishers should take action against third-party modders who alter game content.
On the heels of that ruling, Jack Thompson, a Florida attorney who has tangled often with the makers of video games, has written a letter to EA and a number of politicians alleging that teen-rated "The Sims 2'' game should be the next on the list to be re-rated as an "adults only'' game. That's because the game can be "modded'' to show naked characters.
