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 ...
And you don’t think that satire can reveal a political viewpoint? I’m pretty sure Charlie Chaplin had a specific message in mind when he made The Great Dictator. If you don’t think that the satire in San Andreas reveals a far left worldview, then we just see things very differently.
Crazy people are crazy because of what they are, be it an imbalance in brain chemistry or whatever. Its certainly not because of an entertainment medium.
Coke, Pepsi, Arby's, etc..... Spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on billboards that you see for several seconds at a time, Radio commercials that you hear for 15-30 seconds, and Television commercials that you see for 30-60 seconds. Are they wasteing their money under the mistaken impression that this minimum exposure has no effect on you, That it does not influence youto buy their product. You might want to reconsider your premise.
While this game is an improvement I think we need to continue doing research on how to make better, more realistic graphics such as blood running down the screen and heads rolling off the screen and bouncing on your desktops. Also, when you are able to kill or wound an innocent civilian shouldn’t the sound of terror from those individuals be more realistic? I also have some ideas on some S&M sex graphics but i’ll hold back for now. Wouldn’t that be so much more fun? My kids are already bored with this latest game and are screaming for more sex and violence. I told them they could have the next release only if they are let out on early release or their shrink allows it. /sarc
I don't understand the fascination of video games, either. I have plenty of interesting things in real life to keep me occupied. Actually, I'm spending too much time on FR when I should be doing other things.
Sure, I concede!
A bit unfair to label an MMORPG in with the rest of the console games, but technically, you’re spot on.
If you like WoW, or if you hate it, search for ‘Leroy Jenkins’ on Youtube.
“Leerooyyy Jennnkinsss!!!!”
Oh no mate, I follow your point.
I’m just saying that if you can recognise the message, be it through satire or some other form, then you can choose to ignore it. Essentially, you can play the game at face value, and not get annoyed when a alternative political views pop up.
Hey, as you said, just lose the radio on the game and its fine. Although Radio Vladivostock is pretty good, as it Electro...
New here, take pity!!!
I see your point. Marketing. Advertising etc...
Your right, it has an influence. However, that influence is mitigated by the moral compass that a person will have. If they are decent people then they can differentiate between fantasy and reality. If they are unhinged, then they are going to perform terrible acts no matter if they are playing GTA, or watching a horror film, or porn.
Its a subjective medium, but there are no messages explicitly telling the gamers to ‘krush, kill and destroy’.
Cheers.
Manhunt.
You wrote:
“I actually capped a dude named Vladamir in the game the other day.”
Just as long as you know you would never stand a chance in real life! ;)
You wrote:
“I don’t understand the fascination of video games, either. I have plenty of interesting things in real life to keep me occupied. Actually, I’m spending too much time on FR when I should be doing other things.”
Me too. I’m spending too much time here. Sometimes I think I should walk away from the internet all together!
Okay, yeah. On that note, San Andreas is just about my favorite game of all time. I’m hoping the new one will replace it. I’m going to be buying a next-gen system just for it! Don’t know which yet. . . .
My other favorite game is the Gamecube Paper Mario. Quite a gulf between GTA and Paper Mario, eh? :)
For anyone who doesn’t like the violence and mayhem in GTA, Coke came up with an alternative where you go around being nice to people:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=JoMAqh1N29I
Great ad.
Advertising is a completely different thing. Ads are about product awareness and building name association. Pepsi and Coke want you to think of them when you’re thirsty, they want you to say “I need a Pepsi” when really you just want anything to drink.
There’s no product awareness or name association for violence. It simply can’t work the way advertising does. What are you supposed to think of instead of what else after playing the entire GTA series? What swaps for what? What product is there to be aware of? There’s simply no there there.
A commercial company took over the game and removed the dogs. The very early, primitive version of Castle Wolfenstein, which was available for free download, had German police dogs in some of the rooms, and if you didn’t shoot them they would jump on you and kill you.
We once had a German shepherd. He was a great dog. But the dogs in the game were definitely Nazis.
BTW, hunting deer is perfectly safe and zero risk. But it's still called hunting and it still sharpens everything.
The point I was/ am making as that it has an affect on you. I am sure that you remember the Rodney King Trial, The Police defense attorney's played that tape over and over again. Initially the Jurors were horrified by it, but eventually the became inured/ desensitized to it. It is the same thing with pornography, or anything el;se youget a vicarious thrill from. Eventually these kids will get desensitized to the violence and mayhem, they will accept it as normal. Steve Wood and James Dobson have both written on this extensively.
Thinking critically, that's the best line I've heard all day!
It’s a little more expensive than the others because it comes with the steering wheel, but he’s having fun. And more than one player can play — the rest can use the regular Wii controllers and hold them out in front of them like steering wheels.
The Onyxia Wipe video is even more funny to me but Leroy is definately a classic. Being a big PvPer, I also found the “Funeral” Ambush video by Serenity Now guild to be quite entertainining although many find it appalling. I quit WoW about a year ago though as it’s far to Raid-Centric of a game now which just requires far too much time involvement.
There is a big difference between commercials for food and a video game. The only time those commercials influence me is to make me aware of a product I wasn’t aware of. I’d actually say (violent) video games are a pretty good catharsis for relieving stress. I started playing Wolfenstein 3D in 5th grade, played shooters, hack n slash and RPGs ever since and I’ve never even been in a real physical fight in my life.
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