Shortly after the PC version was released Rockstar was caught up in a
controversy known as "Hot Coffee". Buried within the large mountain of
computer code was a little mini-game that allowed the main character to
actively please a woman sexually. This was supposed to happen when you got
far enough in the relationship of a Girlfriend to have sex with her. The
reason for the name "Hot Coffee" is because when she invited you into her
house it was for "coffee".
During development Rockstar felt that maybe that this mini-game might cause
too much trouble so they decided not to use it. However, instead of removing
the code, they decided to deactivate it but leave the code within the game.
Instead, when you go in for "coffee", you just see the outside of the house
and hear a lot of erotic noises.
When the PC version came out the mod community went to work to modify San
Andreas to suit their desires like changing landscapes, weapons, and cars.
But someone in Holland discovered the "Hot Coffee" mini-game and told the
gaming community about it. He showed them where it was and how to activate
it.
Glen T. Winstein wrote to me strongly suggesting that it was placed within
the code in such a way that it was meant to be discovered. Jay Versluis also
added that Rockstar knew it would cause controversy and would help them gain
publicity.
However, in some cases, the publicity can come at a high price as Rockstar
would soon find out.
Here in the United States our views toward sex are Puritan to say the least.
It didn't take long for certain activists to get their hooks into this
controversy. There was lawyer Jack Thompson (who I think is an attention
seeking troll) and Senator Hilary Clinton (who's no better) that made the
most noise about "Hot Coffee".
Rockstar's stance was that the modders created the mini-game and angrily
denounced it. The modders pointed out that the code was within the game and
that they simply unlocked it. Rockstar continued to point the finger at the
modders for creating the mini-game.
In the meantime, Xbox and PlayStation 2 users to begin trying to activate the
mini-game within their own copies. And thanks to cheat discs like ARMax they
were able to do just that. Since the PS2 and Xbox versions were nearly
impossible to mod, Rockstar's house of cards completely collapsed.
To make matters worse, the ESRB, which rates the games here in the United
States, retroactively changed the rating for San Andreas from M to AO (Adults
Only). This was despite the fact that you had to jump through a lot of stuff
just to activate "Hot Coffee".
There were two reasons, I feel, that the ESRB did this. First, this was to
punish Rockstar for some of the other stuff they did in the past. And second,
the ESRB wanted to get the message across to all the other developers that
you will not get away with intentionally circumventing the ESRB.
A lot of places here in the US will not carry any game with an AO rating so
they quickly cleared the shelves of San Andreas. Rockstar began work to put
out a "Hot Coffee" free version as soon as possible to help recoup the losses
they suffered, one report said that Take Two Interactive would lose as much
as $50 million, over this controversy.