Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars isn't even near release yet, and British comic The Sun has already begun to cultivate its own controversy around the game. Having caught wind of the drug dealing aspects of Rockstar's portable title, The Sun has decided to report on the "Fury over drug dealing vid game," and cited Drugsline rep Darren Gold, who had this to say:
"Anything using drug-dealing as entertainment is sending out the wrong message. Glamorisation doesn't help our work trying to educate kids of the dangers of substance misuse."
GTA: Chinatown Wars promised that "tasteful" minigames would be part of the DS release, and then revealed that drug dealing was a major part of the proceedings. Personally, I find the idea somewhat tasteless and immature in theory, although I have not seen it in practice. Rockstar naturally has a right to put whatever content it likes in its game however, regardless of my personal taste.
What does interest me is both how this apparent outrage came to occur, and what it is about Gold's comments that even constitute fury. If anything, Gold's comments seem somewhat measured -- he clearly does not approve of what he's heard, but it's not like he's calling for bans or censorship. He certainly does not come across as furious, as The Sun's headline suggests. The story claims that charities have "blasted" the game, and then merely cites one man as flimsy evidence of this. I find that questionable.
To help me understand this "fury" and perhaps gain insight into how mainstream media reports on videogames, I have asked Mr. Gold for comment.
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
Likes
PS2, iPod Touch, Silent Hill 2, Metal Gear Solid, Dynasty Warriors 3
Meet the rest of the team
| BBcode help |
| [b]Bold text[/b] |
Bold text |
| [i]Italic text[/i] |
Italic text |
| [url]http://www.dtoid.com/[/url] |
http://www.dtoid.com |
| [url=http://www.dtoid.com/]Web link[/url] |
Web link |
|
| [img]http://www.example.com/robot.jpg[/img] |
 |
Post a comment! You can also post a photo below:
Comment with Facebook
Click connect and comment instantly!
|
Comment with Dtoid
New? SIGN UP - it takes 5 seconds
|
25 comments | showing # 1 to 25
|
Comment with Facebook
Click connect and comment instantly!
|
Comment with Dtoid
New? SIGN UP - it takes 5 seconds
|
Comments policy
Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just speak your mind. We respect differing opinions on the site, so have at it. Be smart, funny, insightful, clueless, or cute -- but back it up with substance. Keep your cool, keep it fun. We only ask that you act respectfully and above all: don't be a troll and ruin it for everyone else. Don't bring down gamers or we'll, you know, gently shoot you in the face and stuff you into a flaming mailbox. Each comment is your opportuntity to make this community awesomer. Is that even a word?
Avoiding the banhammer only requires common sense: spamming, trolling, racism, NSFW stuff, and other forms of sucking will not be tolerated. If anyone is griefing please report abuse. Be good. Don't suck!
Contest:
6:20 AM on 09.28.2008 | 
The best selling papers know that one gets the publics attention not by reporting news, but creating, or at the very least embellishing it. I bet the journalist, aka fiction writer, at the sun decided on an angle for the story and then had to inform people like Gold of how OUTRAGEOUS this was to garner a furious quote. It says a lot that the "furious" comment the sun backed their angle with was so measured.
Either way, it doesn't sound like that big of a deal. It's essentially Dope Wars, right, and that was put on calculators for fucks sake.
Millions of people. That's the problem.
Next Case.
Also, again, KIDS. Surely it'll have an 18 rating, or at least 15, so kids shouldn't be playing it? I'm guessing the angle there is that it's on the DS, so you can CORRUPT FRAGILE MINDS on the bus!
(*cough*like most tabloids can*cough*)
Theyd shit a brick.
k lets ban all drugmovies, drugshows ( weeds ), rapmusic, tambourineman from that classic group etc etc :-)
Nothing new, they are just announcing it to generate buzz.
That argument doesn't hold up at all. Those mediums use drugs only as part of a story. The viewer is entirely passive throughout. This game would, presumably, engage the player and have them "do" the "dealing." I'm not saying it's evil or anything, but there's a major, fundamental difference between the two. That argument would never fly.