OK first off before the essay I want to relay a couple thoughts on Grand Theft Auto IV after 3 hours of play. I like that it feels like a completely different game. It all starts with the control-play. The guy doesn't move the same, nor do the cars and you have to go slow to really learn, almost as if being re-born into a new GTA world. Pretty Awesome. Nuff said, I'm hooked. I won't be able to sit down without clearing 3 hours of time for this game.

10/27/05 - America: The Grand Theft Auto Culture

Can it really be possible for a child to grow up in a quiet home with two parents in a nice neighborhood, yet be submerged in a world of murder, deceit, prostitution, and greed? When a video game captures the fancy of young and old people alike, and completely transcends the marketing and production of the video game industry, there is an important factor at work. There is an appeal reaching beyond strategy or fun and games. Americans see more than just a shoot-out game with sex, drugs, and violence at their disposal.
They see more than a few hours of high-speed shootouts and drive-bys, followed by casino gambling and air plane hi-jacking. Americans are seeing the mirror image of themselves and their society being hailed and glorified in a game that is specifically rated “M” for Mature Audiences, yet can be bought by any eleven or twelve year old with thirty dollars in his or her pocket.
Grand Theft Auto is the video game franchise that continues to spawn an infinite amount of kill or be killed games. Highly publicized for its graphic content and record sales, Grand Theft Auto has become the Super Mario Brothers of the 21st Century. The children who grew up in the 80’s played video games that immersed them in fantastical worlds with characters that fought or searched for a goal with a moral purpose. A great majority of the children growing up in the present day are playing murder and shooting games which place great emphasis on getting the most money, killing the most people, and having as much sex possible. No longer is the moral right the ultimate goal or reason to play the games, for that kind of chivalry isn’t cool anymore and won’t sell out in stores.
Americans need not blame a lack of censorship or a degenerative video game industry. They have no reason to place bans on violent material or sexually explicit content. Every American has a choice. They can choose whether or not to utilize these forms of entertainment. However they cannot choose to deny our culture.
We do in fact live in a battleground world. People are being killed and raped all the time. High speed chases and prostitution all happen while being filmed and are provided for us on basic cable. The business world is a constant and ever thriving animal that encourages competition on a global scale. And that word “competition,” is the key. Everything is one big competition, one big fight. The world is one large place of constant competition, but why? Is it for survival? For some people, yes. People who have to kill other people to survive are living the competition. People who bomb other countries are living the competition. People who would rather work than spend time with their family are living the competition. People who need money for survival are living the competition. In all, that is a lot of people in this world. Third world countries, civilized and successful countries, and who really isn’t living life in a capitalizing way?
Take a look at one of the latest fads in America. Poker has made a huge comeback in the gambling industry. Now more than ever before Poker is being televised and publicized nationally. Poker tournaments and events are popping up in casinos and bars everywhere. The Internet has also been taken full advantage of by twenty-four hour Poker gambling sites(Not in America anymore as of 2007).
What exactly does all this Poker hype mean? To know is to know the game of Poker. Poker is a game of strategy. It is a game of numbers. In Poker you must consider your opponent as well as your self. And of course the ultimate goal is to win. Hmmm… sounds a lot like war doesn’t it? It is no coincidence. The fact that the biggest Poker boom in history has coincided with the War in Iraq is no matter of circumstance. America’s state of mind is in battle mode. Sitting at tables in Poker rooms everywhere, Americans are finding out that Poker is not just about luck, but more about strategy and guile. Deception and aggression are also apart of a winning Poker strategy. Americans fell in love with the SUV, the tanks of our roadways, and now they’ve fallen for Poker, the game of war and an American cultural institution.
Though America’s culture continues to perpetuate Darwinism and remains a society driven by power, wealth, and status, there is still an overwhelming vulnerability in the collective mind of Americans. Terrorism and war have become apart of our everyday lives. The World News covers the War in Iraq and the other major conflicts happening daily throughout the world. We find the competition is taking place globally. America may be the model for the rest of the world to follow, but then again we don’t want another nation to gain the kind of power the U.S. has do we. We want to spread democracy, but nuclear weapons are for the U.S. only. We want the world to follow us in business and economics, just as long as we have the power to regulate most of the resources. Grand Theft Auto and Poker seem to be the perfect tutorials for learning how our world works. Since it is one great big competition, maybe GTA and Poker should be taught and utilized in our schools. They would provide an honest educational experience for the students, the future. People gripe about explicit content on television and in video games. They complain that Poker should not be so easily accessed or widely publicized because it teaches unethical practices. Last I checked the world was filled with explicit material and unethical practices. And as long as the competition exists so will the wars and terrorism. It has been debated that the extinction of the human race will be due to disease. However, I question if there is enough time left for disease to take hold. Humans will destroy themselves before disease ever gets a chance.