Just after 7:00pm on Capitol Hill today, the House of Representatives voted 355 to 21 to support a Federal Trade Commission inquiry into Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The purpose of the probe will be to determine if Take-Two Interactive and its publishing subsidiary Rockstar Games deceived the voluntary Entertainment Software Ratings Board when it submitted Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Today"s vote advanced House Resolution 376, introduced by Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI). In Upton"s words, he is "leading the congressional effort to determine if a best-selling video game maker intentionally deceived the industry"s ratings board to avoid an "Adults-Only" rating."
In a statement, Upton recently said he was "outraged by the brazenness of Rockstar Games in their effort to do an end-run around the ratings system... Rockstar Games" deceit has severely undermined the integrity of the ratings system."
The game initially received a rating of M for Mature but has since been slapped with a rating of AO for Adults Only, becoming one of only a handful of games to bear the retailer-scorned label. Rockstar is in the process of manufacturing new game discs that have the hidden sex minigame removed. Those versions of the game will be rated M.