'Grand Theft Auto' now officially adults-only

Take-Two said net sales could drop by more than $50 million this quarter, and lowered its financial expectations for the year to set aside funds for returns of the games. Guidance was reduced to $1.05 to $1.12 per share on $1.26 billion to $1.31 billion in sales from a prior estimate of $1.40 to $1.47 per share and sales of $1.3 billion to $1.35 billion.

The rating change is vindication for Patrick Wildenbourg, the Dutch programmer who developed the “hot coffee” modification and made downloads freely available on the Internet. Wildenbourg had told the AP that his “mod” merely allowed the user to gain access to pre-existing content in game.

Such “mods” are wildly popular among the hardcore gaming community, and have been shown to extend the retail longevity of games like “Half-Life,” which is still sold years after its first release because of a popular “Counter-Strike” mod that allows for detailed counter-terrorist shoot’em-up action.

Take-Two president Paul Eibeler said in a statement that “the decision to re-rate a game based on an unauthorized third party modification presents a new challenge for parents, the interactive entertainment industry and anyone who distributes or consumes digital content.”

The developments did little to appease Sen. Hilary Rodham Clinton, D-New York, who applauded the ESRB investigation but remained disturbed that the sex content appeared on store shelves in the first place.

“Apparently the sexual material was embedded in the game. The company admitted that,” Clinton said. “But the fact remains that the company gamed the ratings system.”

Clinton has asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate, and said the ESRB must do more to police content.

“I think that the rating board has to be vigilant and really make sure that it’s as thorough as it can be and not just take the game makers’ word as to what’s on there,” Clinton said.

Best Buy echoed that, saying it hopes its decision to stop selling the game will “send a strong message to game developers encouraging full cooperation with the ESRB.”

The Parents Television Council, one of several media watchdogs that have criticized Rockstar and the ESRB, called on the game publisher to voluntarily recall the game and offer refunds to purchasers. Instead, Rockstar has agreed to exchange unsold inventory with new, “M” rated versions that “have the hidden content removed,” the ESRB said.

“I tip my cap to that first step of showing responsibility,” said Tim Winter, the council’s executive director. “Phase two needs to be absolutely getting to the bottom of this coding issue. How did it get into that game? How did it get past the ratings board?”

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