Posted on 07/02/2002 5:31:31 PM PDT by Sweet_Sunflower29
M O N T I C E L L O, N.Y., July 1 — In the video game called Grand Theft Auto III, players enter a virtual world called Liberty City and assume the role of an escaped criminal who hijacks cars, guns down pedestrians, has sex with a prostitute and then earns extra points by killing her so he can take back his money.
It is as close as you can get to killing someone without being arrested or really killing someone," says 13-year-old Lawrence Jones, who played the game one recent afternoon with three schoolmates in Monticello, N.Y. The boys — all masters of the game, yell at the screen and make macabre jokes as they carry out a killing, carjacking, murder spree on screen that would place them on the nation's most-wanted list in real life.
"Sayonara hooker!," says Kevin Regan as he manipulates the joy stick so the convict on screen repeatedly shoots a prostitute in the head. Blood spurts from her body as she collapses to the ground. Between the staccato fire of gunshots, the players can hear her moan in pain.
"The graphics are more realistic. The sound is more realistic. Everything about these products is getting very close to life," says Matt Firme, executive editor of PC Gamer magazine.
So close that GTA-3, as it is commonly called, was banned in Australia and denounced by Congress here in the United States in the annual report card on video game violence. Despite, or perhaps because of such complaints, it is the nation's top-selling video game this year. It's a particularly big hit with adolescent boys.
"I just think it makes it more exciting 'cause you're not supposed to have it," says Robert Crawford, 13. "I think that's why a lot of people our age buy it."
Or, they talk their parents into buying it for them.
Lawrence Jones convinced his mother to buy the game despite a warning from the sales clerk about the game's "M" or "Mature" rating, meaning that it is not intended for anyone younger than 17.
Jessica Jones gave in, she says, because she thought her son could handle it. "I see Lawrence playing with it and he's not caught up in the quandary of moral issues over it. It's just a game," Jones says.
Are the Parents Irresponsible?
But James Oppenheim, who reviews video games and other software for children, says parents who allow their children to play such violent games are irresponsible.
"Parents have to not check their parenting skills at the door just because it's a video game," he says. "When you see that you get extra points for shooting somebody in the head, as opposed to shooting them in the body — you have to wonder exactly what the values are that we are teaching our children."
But a new book called Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Superheroes, and Make-believe Violence," makes a provocative argument. Author Gerard Jones argues that make-believe violence can actually benefit children.
"One of the functions of any kind of play, whether it's playing with toys or playing with a video game, is to help you make a little sense of your anxieties and get a little more control over them and be a little less troubled by them," Jones says.
"It's a very natural reaction of young people to want to play with the very thing that is disturbing to them and toughen themselves up, prove that they can look at the image, handle the content and not be too disturbed by it," he says.
Robert Crawford says the games do provide a release.
"When I get mad I just play these and get all my angry thoughts out of my head," Crawford says.
But these boys also admit that the line between fantasy and reality is not always clear.
"My palms get sweaty and I get like nervous if I'm about to do something hard in the video game...I get an adrenaline rush," Crawford acknowledges.
The phenomenal success of Grand Theft Auto-III has created a rush to match the game's shocking realism.
New titles such as Max Payne and State of Emergency allow players to enter realistic and disturbing situations.
In Max Payne, a police officer seeks revenge against a gang of thugs who killed his wife and child, and in State of Emergency players join a massive and extremely violent street riot.
All of these games carry a Mature rating but since there are no penalties for marketing or selling Mature games to minors, children are sure to be among the biggest fans.
As to games like this helping you get rid of your frustrations, that's kind of like saying that you can get all that strength out of your arms by lifting weights.
Unfortunately, this is one of those things that shouldn't be illegal, but it's really sad that someone should want to make it, and that so many people are willing to buy it.
It's one of the first games ever specifically designed to get a Mature rating from the ESRB... if parents give in to their children's desires to have this game, it's the parents' fault when the kid starts yelling, "And the winner by a knockout is..."
Ms. Jones sounds like she has a good head on her shoulders. She is not going to qualify for this year's "nosy, whiny busybody" award.
And for those that want to get "caught up in the quandary of moral issues over it", here's some advice:
DON'T BUY IT, AND MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS!
I hope your character isn't sitting in a car in Diablo turf. In the time it took you to write your post, you've probably been jacked.
Unfortunately, the problem is that PARENTS aren't teaching their kids the moral values they need, so they are unprepared for ANY moral quandary.
And people wonder why we have an entire generation of children who are borderline socio/psychopaths with little to no regard for others.
Guess what. The same thing was said
about Mad magazine in the 1950s. And
we made it okay.
Um... we did??
They banned it in Australia. For everybody.
Not to mention that particular
frame of Jessica in 'Who Killed
Roger Rabbit.'
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