Posted on 05/04/2008 9:39:13 AM PDT by 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,
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Umm... the CIA factbook kinda bears me out.
So, I’m not sure if you’re reading the same links that you posted.
I would much rather play Halo or Rainbow Six...at least you are going after bad guys or hostile aliens, not cops or hookers.
Nothing significant ever happens in the Balkans, anyway.
I had a copy of Castle Wolfenstein for the old Apple II — it was a 2-D game — I don’t recall any dogs in it. Years later, I saw that a lot of spiffy graphics had been added and it was a 3-D game.
Auf wiedersehn, schweinhund!
Ihave liked it because it is dozens of games within one game. And it’s fun to drive all the different vehicles. Regarding beating up prostitutes and innocent bystanders, that’s fun to see what they’ll do, but that part gets old fast.
The man is a Serb. Or a Croat. He is referred to as a ‘Slav’, which is to say, a man from the former YugoSLAVia. (Now of course, a bunch of different countries; Serbia. Montenegro. Croatia etc...)
World of Warcraft is by far the biggest selling entertainment title of all time with over 5 million people paying $15 (or euros)/month to play it plus another 5 million who pay through the weird Asian system with gaming cafes. I’m not sure how many boxes have been sold but probably upwards of 30 million of the original and 15 million of the 1st expansion, plus the monthly fees. GTA is big but WoW is the 800 LB Guerilla in the room.
On the otherhand you wouldn’t want somone else (say a friend) exposing your children to this filth would you??
Just a few words for you then:
Unreal Tournament.
Multiplayer.
Vehicle CTF.
Suspense.
Enjoy...
To be honest, though, I've never played this new GTA game. I've only tried the first two versions. So my assessment could be a bit out of date...but probably not.
Sure, I understand, but disagree. Each to their own i suppose. If its RPG’s you’re after, just wait until Fallout3 comes out in the last quarter.
Counting down the days already!
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:
Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of interest.
You look into things too much.
I actually capped a dude named Vladamir in the game the other day.
This is weird. I only see 60 posts, but the number of posts is stated as 51-76.
What the heck happened to this thread? 20 posts or so got chopped off.
There is such a thing as satire you know.
Sort of irony and sarcasm.
I don’t do any kind of PVP. If playing a game is going to be social then I want the playing to be in person and involve no silicon. Nothing about hunted or being hunted on a computer, where you’re actually perfectly safe at at zero risk, sharpens anything. Except maybe a false ego. It’s really amazing, and frankly pathetic, how addicted you are to insulting people. Every single thread I run into you on you’re insulting people, and for no reason. You just walk in and start throwing the insults. Grow up.
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