What is the big deal?

Sex scenes force re-rating of best-selling game - Jul 20, 2005

From CNN...there's been quite the hubbub over the game Grand Theft Auto San Andreas because of some content in the game that's only accessible if one has an "unauthorised" mod. The content is apparently sexual in nature. My husband has the game, but I've not seen anything relating to what has caused the uproar. Maybe he doesn't have the mod in question...I don't know. But honestly, I don't see what the big deal is.

This game is violent. There are ladies walking the streets that you can hire for favours. It already carried a M rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), but that was changed today to AO (Adults Only) under pressure from the National Institute on Media and the Family and others.

I don't understand the big deal over the difference in the rating "Mature" vs "Adults Only" except for possible lost sales because some retailers won't sell AO material. Check out the descriptions of each rating from the ESRB website:

MATURE
Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content, and/or strong language.

ADULTS ONLY
Titles rated AO (Adults Only) have content that should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.

It appears to me that the differences are prolonged amounts of violence or sexual content, and that if there's nudity involved, it would apply under AO rather than M.

If the content is on the disc but can't be accessed unless you go out of your way to download another file, I don't think that should change the rating. And if parents or whomever is actually using the rating system when buying games for their children, they wouldn't have bought this for a child under 17. Seventeen-year-olds can go to R rated movies by themselves, can get into NC-17 movies, and have probably seen more graphic images in the movies than what they'd see in an animated segment from a video game.

Maybe I'm a bad mother, but my honest reaction to all the crap related to this game is that it's stupid. The answer is not to change the rating, but for parents (and that's who's making the fuss) to actually take the time to see what their kids are doing, get involved, and don't buy the stuff if they're not old enough to handle it.

It's a boy

I had another routine prenatal checkup this morning. As always, everything's fine. Blood pressure is normal, baby's heartbeat is fine, my rash is minimal. My blood work from last time was fine, my blood sugar is normal, so no gestational diabetes. No need for the long test this time. Yeah!

I found out today from the doctor that since the second ultrasound wasn't covered by my insurance, that it's being discounted from $215 down to $75 and I can make arrangements to pay it off over time if need be. That's one thing off my mind.

But the big news:

I asked the doctor about the possibility of finding out the gender of the kiddo and my wish was granted. Since we were already in the exam room with the ultrasound in it, I got to lie down again and he did a quick scan. The baby's head is down already, and it's a boy. I am out-numbered 3:1.