UK newspaper The Sun is trying their best to drum up some British outrage over Grand Theft Auto IV's inclusion of a child pageant site on the game's faux internet.
In GTA IV a little exploration at the game's cyber cafe yields LacySurprisePageant.com, when you visit the site a message pops up that it has been shut down by the game's police and that your IP address has been "cataloged" for possible future investigation. A visit also instantly maxes out your wanted level.
When I first noticed this, while playing through the game, I had a pretty good laugh, but at least one South Wales man was offended. And you know what they say: One person pissed off equals a story in The Sun.
Jason Deschoolmeester, 23, of South Wales, said: "I was looking on the internet for cheats and the name of this caught my eye as my daughter is called Lacey. This crosses the line. The makers have obviously sat around and discussed putting this in, and it's not on. What will they do next?
"It's disgusting. It could lead people to indulge in things like that. It is totally sick. I won't play it again."
While The Sun does go out of its way to point out that the game doesn't allow you to act out the role of a pedophile, they never explain how a single complaint by a gamer morphed into a story with the headline: A HIT computer game has sparked outrage by featuring a spoof paedophile website.
A HIT computer game has sparked outrage by featuring a spoof paedophile website. [The Sun]