GTAIV has been out for no more than 5 days now and every day since, a new story has come to fruition, remarking on how disturbing this game is, how it is ruining youth, that it is a terrible game and the themes involved are not gaming material. It is a sick, twisted, maniacal game that caters only to potential psychopathic, drunk driving, prostitute raping, murderers who like death.





From Jack Thompsons causing the games ads to be pulled, obviously being a direct violation of the Constitution, people talking about how GTAIV has made them sick, to psychiatrists being baffled about why people would want to play this game, there are tons of stories out there, and like I said before, it hasn't even been a week since it's release yet.


Here's a taste of some of the absolute tripe being peddled to everyone:




Blogger Concerned About Violence Against Women in GTA IV

"In GTA 4… not only can you pick up and have sex with prostitutes, but then you can kill them: with you[r] car, a gun, or whatever you have lying around. The sex is graphic… and the killings have great tag phrases.

In general I don’t have a problem with violence in the media, in movies, etc. In this game however… you can make what you want to happen. Meaning you are choosing to pick up the prostitute and kill her, as opposed to driving your car…

After watching… on youtube, i felt sick, sad and angry."

That is the friggen point! It is meant to make you feel that way, it's called immersion. If you feel bad for killing someone, or feel sick from seeing a dead body, then good! It means Rockstar have achieved what they wanted to do. To create a deep story that uses a realistic simulation of crime life in NYC to progress itself. And graphic sex? Please.



Knoxville Shrink: Can’t Fathom Why Adults Play GTA IV

Yes, [games like GTA IV] are for mature audiences. But why would adults even be playing them? I have no idea. You get rewarded for going to the prostitute. You get more health benefits, and then if you steal her money, beat her up and steal her money, you get more.

Just going to church on Sundays isn’t going to necessarily negate hours and hours of raping, pillaging, and murdering. [In playing Superman, Batman, and G.I. Joe] there was morality. There was a sense of justice. There was a sense of right and wrong in that. [GTA IV has] totally flipped that.

GTAIV is all about choices, and morality plays an enormous part of the gameplay. That is what the friendship missions are all about! To build your connection to the world and the people in it, and to react how a person like Niko would react. Being able to kill and mame prostitutes is a choice, and the player is rewarded accordingly. You don't just keep getting over 9000 points for every single hooker you kill. You are chased by police, you are a wanted criminal and the police want you in jail, or dead. You are not simply constantly rewarded for killing everything.


MADD Gets Mad Over Drunk Driving in GTA IV …Calls for ESRB to Re-rate as Adults Only

Drunk driving is not a game and it is not a joke. Drunk driving is a choice, a violent crime and it is also 100 percent preventable. MADD is calling on the Entertainment Software Ratings Board to reclassify Grand Theft Auto IV as an Adults Only game

I'm sorry, what? You can kill cops, hookers, fire fighters, doctors and pedestrians; you can rob banks, cause pile-ups, buy illegal firearms and plenty of other crimes. But they want GTAIV rated AO because of a wobbly camera and some drunken stumbling? Seriously, GTFO.





NYC Mayor, Slain NYPD Officer’s Mother Criticize GTA IV

For some people, it’s a game. But for me, it’s not funny. It was for real. It was my son. This game teaches children to kill, then they wonder where criminals come from.

Being involved in a shootout in a video game has no consequences and that is the wrong message to send to young people.



New Zealand, Politician Calls for GTA IV Ban

A recent study has indicated that, on a per capita basis, New Zealand is now twice as violent as the USA…

Simply stated, it is time to reverse the tide of violence in New Zealand. We have to have the courage somewhere, sometime, to say “no” and I agree with kiwi parents and the police, that this is not a bad place to start.





Video Game Biz Vet: GTA IV is Pornography

If adults want to do it, that’s their choice. But that’s not where the problem is… Personally, I think it’s sick and twisted… They should be putting this stuff behind the counter so that the adults that want it can come in and ask for it, like they would an adult magazine…



Philly Police Union Official Slams GTA IV …but Fellow Officers Are Buyers

People don’t seem to have a problem turning guns on cops, and this game — I know it’s just a game, but people sometimes have trouble separating reality from fantasy.


Obviously.



L.A. Times Media Critic Kneecaps GTA IV

Where earlier generations of youthful art crossed boundaries… they also affirmed something else, some alternative or countercultural value…

What “Grand Theft Auto IV” affirms is the pleasure of eschewing decency for obnoxious violence…

Whats great about this one is that he goes on afterwards, slandering "mindless American action films, by post-apocalyptic Euro-American fantasy fiction and Japanese graphic novels…"





Honestly.... just look at that bullshit. If this were a movie, or a book, this controversy would not even be an issue. Just think about how the violence in GTAIV compares to that of one of these titles:

Scarface
Donnie Brasco
Miller’s Crossing
Casino
Resevoir Dogs
The Godfather


You would find that there is no more "disgusting" events in GTAIV than there is in Casino or Scarface. So if it isn't the content they have a problem with, then it must be the medium, right? That "interactive" feature that video games have, that input that the player has; it makes all the difference apparently.

When you watch a movie like, say Casino. Do you sit there going "Oh my god, Joe Pesci just stabbed someone to death with a pen! I am going to tell the directors that I do not approve of this, it is horrible and my husband was killed in a freak pen accident. It offends me and I do not agree, therefore I shall try to petition against it"

Fuck no you don't. You say "Fucking awesome, Joe motherfucking Pesci just crowned some cunt with a godamn biro!"





It's awesome to watch violence, action and intense scenes in a movie. It makes them memorable, gives them a depth and feeling that other movies just don't touch on. Compare the movie "Scream" with the likes of "Prom Night". One has some of the scariest and intense moments in a horror movie, and the other is just a bland line of events that involve teens being murdered in a bunch of lame and clique ways.

One is a lot better, and more renowned because it is graphic, intense and unique. It draws from a lot of conventions, but makes them it's own with the characters and personalities in the story; which is exactly what GTAIV does. It is leaps and bounds beyond any other game in terms of scope and realism, and it really shows in everything that you do, because it is in your face and attempts to give you a world of crime and relationships in an open environment.

So like I was saying, if it isn't the content, then it's the medium they hate. And it all comes back down to people thinking that video games are simply games for people to play and have fun with. Even though that is the main draw, video games are also used for interactive story telling, like in the case of GTAIV or Fahrenheit. It's like people aren't ready for video games to be a medium of entertainment yet, they just want them to keep the kids out of their hands.





A couple of things that would really help would be a rating system that incorporates all ages, and is legally enforced everywhere. A world-wide "informational" on videogames, maybe pamphlets given out at schools or something like that, that has information on how to be involved with their kids gaming and entertainment etc etc. A large part of the problem at hand is misinformation and sensationalist "news". There is no source of information for these people, and they aren't going to buy a book or bother reading about it, it needs to be force fed to them.

I'm going to stop now cos I am just irritated and angry and ranting endlessly hahah

blah!