GTAIV DLC features male nudity

By Tom Bramwell Published 17 February, 2009

Hottest coffee yet.

Word sweeping the internets is that Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned features full-frontal male nudity in one of its mission cut-scenes.

Christian Donlan mentioned it in one of the captions for his 8/10 Lost and Damned Eurogamer review last night, but for the sake of completion we returned to the source for a fuller explanation.

Naturally, the following is a minor spoiler.

"It's the first time you meet Stubbs, the congressman at his gentleman's club," Christian told us. "He's in the steam room wearing a towel, and the scene basically uses the dynamic of will-they-or-won't-they-show-it? They do.

"My initial reaction, for what it's worth, was, 'Well, there's one caption sorted.' More disturbing than male full-frontal nudity, of course, is the creepy way GTAIV's character's shoulders work - they sort off hinge upwards and outwards like the door of a DeLorean, and they make me feel right weird."

Nobody appears to have captured the exact moment in the cut-scene yet, but Kotaku has a shot of similar circumstances involving Johnny Klebitz and Stubbs, if you're that way inclined.

"As for why it's in there," Christian added, "I suspect it's to get a second PR hit after the game's been released, in which case: mission accomplished." Quite.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (49) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Skooch #1 3 years ago

    Starbucks anyone!

  • ecureuil #2 3 years ago

    The video has been captured, it's on GameVideos.

  • DFawkes #3 3 years ago

    That's disgraceful, I for one am outraged. Delorean hinged freak shoulders shouldn't be allowed in todays society.

  • awb83 #4 3 years ago

    http://www.1up.com has the footage of the scene.

  • Darren #5 3 years ago

    There's no-one does real-time cutscenes quite like Rockstar, that's for sure! :D

  • Monkey_Puncher #6 3 years ago

    It's only a willy, no wonder gaming is seen as immature by most. You don't see film sites flagging up everytime someone gets their wonka out.

  • Rodchenko #7 3 years ago

    It's only a willy

    and a lot of pubic hair.

  • robg #8 3 years ago

    http://www.1up.com has the footage of the scene.

    This really must be highlighted as possibly the nerdiest thing I've ever seen. On the Internet. Pop the gaming microbubble, and try imagining saying this to someone in a bar:

    I've found a video on the Internet of a controversial moment in a computer game where you see a computer-generated man is completely naked. FROM THE FRONT.

    Sorry to pick on awb, but...seriously guys, what?

  • Darren #9 3 years ago

    He isn't a very big boy... is he?

    /is disappointed after waiting 10 minutes for the video to load

    Seriously though... I agree with the comments about this whole PR reeking of immaturity somewhat. I mean since when has Rockstar ever sold something on the strength of the game alone, they always have to have some controversy to go with it.

    And I'm not quite sure how this is supposed to sell the DLC to a predominantly heterosexual male audience... that bit is lost on me somewhat.

  • Les #10 3 years ago

    "I've found a video on the Internet of a controversial moment in a computer game where you see a computer-generated man is completely naked. FROM THE FRONT."

    Sad thing is this might garner more negative attention in the mainstream press than the fact that you can kill Liberty City inhabitants in numerous ways... Am I the only one that thinks it's ridiculous that people are more offended by showing a computer generated nude character than by computer generated characters killing each other?!

  • Vanmunt #11 3 years ago

    Allen-Spawn will be happy... he likes looking at winkey's.

  • barat #12 3 years ago

    "He isn't a very big boy... is he?"

    Bigger than me :(

  • AllenSpawn #13 3 years ago

    @ vanmunt

    Yes.... But it would take about 6 hours and the Hubble telescope to find yours

  • lavalant #14 3 years ago

    I can just see the devs at Rockstar giggling like school boys while modeling his balls and arguing over the size of his cock, but I think this is a first for console games. Had to happen sometime, kudos to Rockstar, hopefully Mass Effect 2 will follow suit with Liara or Ashely.

    This won't go down well in the general media, nor in America.

  • robg #15 3 years ago

    @Les

    No you're not the only one, that's what everyone says, quite a lot of the time. Probably because they all read the same websites written by the very pro-gaming...gaming press. I think it's faulty logic (and incorrect: Manhunt got lots of press due to violence), but you're certainly not alone.

  • Cadence #16 3 years ago

    They should have given him a monster cock. That would have given the media something to froth about.

  • Spiral #17 3 years ago

    Does DLC get covered by the rating boards? Seems like a bit of a loophole if it doesn't.

  • Les #18 3 years ago

    "Probably because they all read the same websites written by the very pro-gaming...gaming press."

    The pro-gaming gaming press doesn't get upset much about either the violence or sex in video games so that can't account for the difference.

    "I think it's faulty logic (and incorrect: Manhunt got lots of press due to violence), but you're certainly not alone."

    GTA SA got much more bad press over hot coffee than over its violence. True, it was the third 3d GTA so the public had gotten a bit used to it by then but it's really crazy that people got upset about sex scenes in a game in which you play a gangster killing people.


  • Flabio #19 3 years ago

    No BBFC record on their website for Lost and the Damned at the moment.

  • Frandroid #20 3 years ago

    As far as I am aware, DLC is expected to conform to the rating of the original game. In the case of GTAIV, I don't see it being a problem.
    It's the reason why Rock Band DLC can't feature explicit lyrics as it would require the whole game to be re-rated. I believe there was a game that was re-rated due to DLC last year, but I can't recall the details. Maybe someone else can help my failing brain?

  • SBfistfun #21 3 years ago

    COCKATTACK!

  • thes #22 3 years ago

    Now if it were the bikers in the buff, then I might be more interested...

  • roz123 #23 3 years ago

    They should get people complaining about this to play dragonball origins on the ds

  • Whizzo #24 3 years ago

    No BBFC record on their website for Lost and the Damned at the moment.

    As it's for an 18 rated game I don't think seeing some virtual tackle, especially in a non-sexual manner, would have them too worried.

  • robg #25 3 years ago

    @les

    The pro-gaming gaming press doesn't get upset much about either the violence or sex in video games so that can't account for the difference.

    I think you misread :) I mean that the gaming press say what you say, which is probably why everyone says it.

    Anyway, the difference between sex and violence is this:

    Walk into a room and two people are fighting. What do you feel? Now walk into a room where two people are having sex*. Feel the same? No, because by societal custom sex is private and violence is not. They both require an adult mind to think about correctly, but they are different. The "discrepancy" that you and everyone else mentions relies on the following fallacy:

    1) Violence is considered "mature content".
    2) Sex is considered "mature content".
    3) Therefore, sex is the same as violence.

    Remove this fallacy, and you remove the discrepancy. Sex and violence are not the same (it's disturbing that people need to be told this...:) While they can both be used to good effect in art, I think that the artistic benefit of depicting sex decreases the more graphic it is, something that is not the case with violence (showing the horrible after-effects of violence is useful education).

    Now, while this digital appendage thing may make some press, it'll be a flash (hah) in the pan because it's new and unusual.

    * this isn't actually an order, despite the phrasing :)

  • Spiral #26 3 years ago

    As it's for an 18 rated game I don't think seeing some virtual tackle, especially in a non-sexual manner, would have them too worried.

    The BBFC probably won't care, but I can see the ESRB getting a bit annoyed about it. They were annoyed at Rockstar when San Andreas was modded, and this time they've done it on purpose.

  • coojam #27 3 years ago

    Which poor bastard had to research, model, texture and animate that?!

  • stevetuck #28 3 years ago

    GTA: Sexy Beach?

  • theindustrialone #29 3 years ago

    robg, good points, only slightly flawed in that a flaccid wang hardly (hur hur) counts as sex.

  • Les #30 3 years ago

    "I think you misread :) I mean that the gaming press say what you say, which is probably why everyone says it. "

    If by everyone you mean a subset of the population that frequents gaming internet forums (or do the English use the proper fora as a plural) then I agree. :)

    "Walk into a room and two people are fighting. What do you feel? Now walk into a room where two people are having sex*. Feel the same? No, because by societal custom sex is private and violence is not."

    No, I would not feel the same. In the first case I would be disturbed or scared, in the second case I wouldn't be. Might feel a little uncomfortable though.

    I'm not so sure about the distinction between privacy of the two though. In general, people tend to perform acts of violence in relative privacy as well. Probably more out of fear for retribution by the law but surely also out of concern for the social position. While sex happens in private mainly for biological reasons: It's not a very good procreation strategy to have sex out in the open as others might want to get a piece of the action. But 2,000 years of repression of sexuality by religious groups hasn't helped much either leading to a riduculous culture of shame and all its excesses.

    I never meant to imply that violence and sex are the same. One is a harmless act (when performed with mutual consent) while the other is a harmful act. But the harmless act is more taboo than the harmful one. Surely that isn't right.

  • robg #31 3 years ago

    @theindustrialone

    Yeah, although I'm talking about sex because that was what was mentioned. That's why at the end I said the rather more on-topic:

    Now, while this digital appendage thing may make some press, it'll be a flash (hah) in the pan because it's new and unusual.

    @Les
    I think that - as you even acknowledge - the similarity in terms of privacy is completely superficial; violence can be private, but it's generally only this way coincidentally (people are more likely to be violent to people they know; they are more likely to be alone with people they know) or for nefarious purposes. Not because of any inherent private nature of violence. And if you were present you would probably feel the standard fight or flight impulses. If it were sex, as you say, being there would be uncomfortable. I would suggest that that is because you're present during a private act.

    This has nothing to do with shame (in fact while sex and shame are sometimes conflated by some religious groups, outside perception of this attitude is probably badly over-inflated; God's first command was "Go forth and multiply"...) and everything to do with intimacy. But I'll leave that there; I only mentioned it to start with as a societal attitude and while I personally believe it to be true as well, that opinion probably lies outside of these comments.

    Yes, while one act is harmful and another isn't, the depiction of said could be almost the opposite. The most graphic depiction of sex - pornography - is generally a very ideal-looking form, not necessarily corresponding to the normal ability of the man (fnar) or the reaction of the woman, or vice versa (for brevity we'll stick to hetero; it makes no odds). This can lead to incorrect/damaging expectations due to lessons learned onscreen which need to be unlearned before a couple can then learn about each other. Conversely, while violence can be glamorised (and that is a separate bad issue) its most graphic depiction is generally sickening, offputting and educative. For example following some cool gunplay early on in the film A History of Violence, the camera lingers on the other side of a (now) dead man's head, showing the horrific damage that it just suffered. That's graphic violence, but done well and responsibly. There may be a way of graphically depicting sex that doesn't negatively affect the viewer, but I remain unpursuaded.

    Anyway, this is probably the wrong forum for this. Hope I didn't come across badly in all this; typing at work doesn't leave one much time to check whether things read as they should. Certainly no hard feelings far as I'm concerned :)
    Edited by 1 at 17/02/09 @ 14:06

  • AphoticCosmos #32 3 years ago

    Which poor bastard had to research, model, texture and animate that?!

    Surely he just looked down his trousers? :)

  • Fab4 #33 3 years ago

    I hope for the character's sake that he's a grower and not a shower :)

  • dr_faulk #34 3 years ago

    zzzZZZZzzzzZZZzzzz

  • metalangel #35 3 years ago

    Remember the intro movie for Syndicate? When the new agent is in the Leonardo Device having his leg augmented, you can see his wing dang doodle.

  • Les #36 3 years ago

    "The most graphic depiction of sex - pornography - is generally a very ideal-looking form, not necessarily corresponding to the normal ability of the man (fnar) or the reaction of the woman, or vice versa (for brevity we'll stick to hetero; it makes no odds). This can lead to incorrect/damaging expectations due to lessons learned onscreen which need to be unlearned before a couple can then learn about each other."

    I'm personally convinced the damage done by pornography is the result of society's taboo on sex resulting in pornography often being the only way for growing up kids to learn about sex. Pornography 'glamorizes' (for want of a better word) sex in a similar way to how violent movies glamorize violence. But because children are confronted with violence in an educational manner from a young age they acquire the tools to see past that glamorization while in the case of pornography they are not.

    But I appreciate a discussion. Much more interesting when people have a different opinion then when we all agree. So no hard feelings from my part either. :)

  • neilka #37 3 years ago

    Between this and Noby Noby Boy it's looking to be my kind of week!

  • Rodchenko #38 3 years ago

    Anyway, this is probably the wrong forum for this

    After an extensive debate on sex, violence, pornography and the arts -- spawned by a pixelated dick -- this is some astonishing conclusion one can come to.

  • metalangel #39 3 years ago

    I think it was Dara O'Brien who said this generation (grew up with easy access to porn) will struggle to conceive as they will think proper sex is bj, top bum, front bum, back bum, hand-finish across face and chest. "We've been trying for months, she must be infertile!"

  • Spekingur #40 3 years ago

    You know, had it been full frontal nudity of a woman it would have been all over the news. Everywhere. But of course, if it is a male, then it is okay. Right?

  • alpha-0ne #41 3 years ago

    "You know, had it been full frontal nudity of a woman it would have been all over the news. Everywhere. But of course, if it is a male, then it is okay. Right? "

    Err no lots have games have had female nudity, lots of films have had male/female nudity

    Get out from under your fluffy shell
    Edited by 1 at 17/02/09 @ 20:00

  • alpha-0ne #42 3 years ago

    Seriosuly though if he had a hardon that you if been a no no there haev been male/female nudity on tv after 9pm

    ##THIS IS A 18 RATED GAME##

  • PrivateFloyd #43 3 years ago

    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

    Best comment ever

  • basalarmageddon #44 3 years ago

    Daily mail shit storm in 3...2....1.....

  • Antwandemarco #45 3 years ago

    I think this is the most constructive discussion to take place on eurogamer

  • Spekingur #46 3 years ago

    @alpha-0ne: This is GTA we are talking about. Each iteration of the game spurs up "dumb talk" from ill-informed news stations.

    As for full (frontal) female/male nudity from games, by all means, give an example. Preferably from some recent games. And I'm talking full visual nudity.

  • metalangel #47 3 years ago

    Plenty of naked chicks in the recent Conan game.

  • smelly #48 3 years ago

    plenty of naked women in any god of war game too

  • Spekingur #49 3 years ago

    There was never complete nudity in AoC. Nor do I think they were completely naked in God of War.
    Plus, as I said, GTA always creates more buzz in this area than most others (as in, stupid tv-time-hungry people like to bash it and thus create more interest in it).
    :D