Grand Theft Auto's heist of the American character

Minneapolis Star Tribune ^ | May 4, 2008 | KATHERINE KERSTEN

[rhema]

Grand Theft Auto IV hit the stores last week like a tsunami, and is expected to become one of the biggest sellers in video game history. Commentators agree that the game, with its sophisticated graphics, sets a new standard for realistic violence and sex.

News reports and game-related websites give the flavor of what avid gamers are getting for their 60 bucks. GTA IV opens with an S&M sex scene. Players can gun down ordinary citizens, beat up prostitutes, murder cops and enjoy lap dances from strippers. This mayhem is accompanied by what the Associated Press called a "nearly constant stream of filthy language."

"[T]eenage boys of America," wrote one reviewer, "... you can still kill and maim and plunder and screw until your heart is full," but now "the violence is no longer cartoonish." Thanks to GTA IV's new realism, when G-stringed strippers grind the main character's lap, the player's controller vibrates in response.

The launch of a game like GTA IV -- labeled "M" for sale only to buyers 17 and over -- always seems to provoke the same debate. Critics charge that the game harms children, who can easily get their hands on it.

Research confirms that violent media increase young people's aggressive thoughts and behavior and decrease their self-control and the inclination to help others. Adolescents who play violent video games tend to be more hostile, to argue more with teachers, to get into more physical fights, and to do more poorly in school, one national study reports.

Video game representatives make two arguments when faced with such data. First, they insist that parents are the gatekeepers for their children's play.

Sounds good, but ask any 15-year-old male if it's really true.

Second, industry spokespeople downplay the youth problem's relevance,

[KayEyeDoubleDee]

It follows Niko Bellic, a Serbian veteran of the Bosnian War[13] who comes to the United States in search of the "American Dream", only to find his cousin has lied about the wealth that was promised to be awaiting him.

Niko is said to be between 5'11" and 6'2", is 30 years of age, 190-200 lbs and is a Serbian veteran of the Bosnian war.

So is Niko Bellic a Serbian Christian or a Serbian Muslim?

[fight_truth_decay]

The average 32-year-old man who plays violent video games -- and spends his free hours fantasizing about murdering passersby and roughing up strippers -- is likely to be someone's husband and father. What qualities of character will the wife find when she looks to him for love, steadiness and fidelity?....."And when his young son looks to Dad as a role model -- well, that's the problem, isn't it?"

Grand Theft Auto will turn "average" 32-year-old hard working, faithful, loving family men (and moms, women play too) into A MONSTER??? YIKES!!! Where's the label!!!!

So, after reading all this I went on a mission, "obsessively" scouting for a cigarette health Warning Label to in part plagiarize, attach and start the ball rolling.
Suddenly! as if an Omen, what do I find:
"Computer games to get cigarette-style health warnings".

"The report, commissioned by the Prime Minister in response to a growing moral panic about video games, will conclude that they can harm the development of children’s beliefs and value systems and desensitizes them to violence. It will also recommend that retailers who sell video games to anyone under the age rating on the box should face a hefty fine or up to five years in prison".
On Xbox 360 there are parental controls. See Xbox 360 for Dummies.

"Oh, Nanny...Why, I?"

Source: My Obsession with Chess

;)

[iluvspongebob]

I completely agree. I’m an avid gamer (mostly RPG’s) & my kids play as well. If I buy a PS3, I’ll buy this. When playing games, it opens up communication with my kids on all types of subjects. I wouldn’t recommend this for children, but I don’t think this makes them want to go kill or maim people. It’s a game. I don’t feel like hurting someone because I’ve played one.

[mnehring]

So is Niko Bellic a Serbian Christian or a Serbian Muslim?

Neither, Niko Bellic is a Rorschach test.

[kromike]

I agree that it is probably not suitable for kids, but I don’t want to live in a country where the government decides which video games I can or cannot buy.

Agreed. Any technology has, in the most simplistic terms, the potential for both a productive use as well as a counter-productive use. I play violent games all the time and I've never been in trouble with the law, pay my taxes on time, vote, socialize with the neighbors, throw parties, etc.

Whether it's firearms, music, movies, books, etc., the bottom line is:

It all boils down to the individual that utilizes it. If that individual has an effective moral center to properly distinguish between fantasy & reality, then his or her actions in the real world won't ever be influenced by that in the non-real world.

[Cicero]

Castle Wolfenstein was pretty good for its time, and best of all, it was free.

But it got into trouble with the liberal establishment because it involved shooting those German police dogs. It’s OK to shoot the Gestapo, but not their dogs.

What’s somewhat comical about this is liberals whining about a violent, sexy computer game, when it was liberals and their twisted Supreme Court justices (with more recent help from McCain) who declared that pornography is a basic free speech right, whereas no one has a right to talk about politics near election time without a license.

Personally, I think pornography is destructive and dehumanizing, and that older people should not be watching it any more than kids. It is poisonous.

[montag813]

murder cops

But can you get your own NPR radio show afterwards? If not, then I guess GTA4 isn't that realistic after all.

[SolidWood]

Niko = Nikolaus, a Orthodox Christian name. Serbs as a people (not as citizens of course) are by definition Orthodox Christians. The GTA character is supposed to be a criminal like they come from all ethnic varieties from the Balkans.

[montag813]

GTA ViceCity helped my driving skills and overall reflexes big time. Great series. To date I have not murdered any prostitutes.

[MARKUSPRIME]

I play the game and im not a killer. I love it. :P

[Psycho_Bunny]

There's a lot of us out there: some people like first person shooters, some prefer MMOs, but people like me prefer FPS team play.

Unreal Tournament, Tribes Shifter, TFC....basically fast paced, strategic, multiplayer chess games.

Games against an AI, or requiring a long-term, online "life" bore the hell out of me. Give me a multi-armor-classed 12 against 12 game with a few hardcore capture the flag (or points or base) maps and I'm happy as a clam.

[mamelukesabre]

I never got it either. It seems to me that GTA is geared towards the mind numb zombies that sit in front of a TV for hours regardless what's on. They'll watch spongebob if that's all that's available.

I used to be an avid gamer. I was really into age of empires years ago when it first came out. I played AOE, AOE2 and AOE3. I lost interest quickly with AOE3 though. It's not the same game as the first two.

None of the gameboxes interested me much. I bought an Xbox360 when they first came out. I had it for about 3 months then gave it to my nephew. I really liked ghost recon on the first xbox. That game was pretty cool. But other than that, game consoles are kind of boring imo and overpriced.

[KayEyeDoubleDee]

Neither, Niko Bellic is a Rorschach test.

Well that is teh sux0r.

I don't know if Jim Robinson will allow me to say this, but if Niko Bellic went around busting caps in towelheads, then I could see rooting for him.

Which begs the question: If this title is so popular in the UK, is it because the caucasian Chavs are pretending to be Serbian Christians killing Serbian Muslims [i.e. killing UK towelheads vicariously], or is it because the UK towelheads are pretending to be jihadis killing infidels?

Or, for this very reason [i.e the inherent undecidability of the above question], does Niko Bellic represent the ultimate triumph of Rorschach test marketing?

[The Right Stuff]

I don’t think it is necessary at all to have filthy language or “simulated sex” in video games - UGH.

[mnehring]

does Niko Bellic represent the ultimate triumph of Rorschach test marketing?

Considering you are the first person I've ever seen make this connection, even though the war on islamic fascism is one of the biggest stories of the time, I doubt it.

[timm22]

My son's been having fun playing the latest Mario Kart on the Wii system. It came with the new wireless Wii Wheel. Good, clean fun for the whole family.... ... well, it will be ... as soon as I finally get a turn....

Be careful. Too much play may desensitize the boy, and sooner or later he'll take to chucking turtles at other cars on the freeway during the ride to school.

[dfwgator]

I don’t think it is necessary at all to have filthy language or “simulated sex” in video games - UGH.

I agree. Therefore, I will not purchase the game, and not worry if anyone else does purchase it.

[Psycho_Bunny]

"The average 32-year-old man who plays violent video games -- and spends his free hours fantasizing about murdering passersby and roughing up strippers -"

Katherine's a moron.

[fight_truth_decay]

DID U KNOW?

Space Invaders 30 years ago; then Pacman was considered 62% violent in game(I still have scary visions of a monster mouth eating everything in sight, right up their with "clowns"...am running, running, being chased!!!).

The classic board game of chess: (I mentioned above)

The goal is to assassinate, overthrow, or trap a head of state, using a combination of church (bishops), mercenaries (knights), and mobile military bases (rooks). Based on a medieval serf economy, with monarchs (kings) controlling serfs whose rights are so frowned up that are explicitly called pawns — to their faces! The game reinforces patriarchal model, with a man always holding the power (women cannot be head of state) — but with a weird twist: the sole woman, wife of the monarch, is depicted as having sweeping powers although she often must sacrifice her life for the sake of her husband. Even worse, even monogamy is denied in this game — when a pawn advances to the eight row, it can be promoted to a "polygynous status" as a "dual wife" of the male monarch.

It is racist too. One team is all white, the other all black.

What would Dr. Thompson AT SLASHDOT make of the risks to children of chess? This is not the worst of it. Other games? Go — a game about naked acquisition of territory. Backgammon — a game about isolating individuals and hitting them. Monopoly — don’t ask. Poker — doesn’t the name tell it all?

"Clearly, continues Doug Tygar, professor of Computer Science and Information Management at UC Berkeley (Yes, Berkeley), "if we value our children, we should isolate them from the adverse influences of these so-called games (not to mention literature and music — such as “operas” and that filthy filthy Shakespeare — they only promote poor family values).

"My recommendation: let them watch TV all day long."

[dfwgator]

I played Frogger as a kid, and it made me want go right out to the nearest interstate and try to run across five lanes of rush hour traffic.