Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas (what do you think about the sucess of the "murder game"?)

TIMESDISPATCH.com ^ | 4/11/2004 | Doug Elfman

[red_is_beautiful]

This time, the blood spills in "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," which looks, feels and sounds a lot like its predecessors. That means you pull off drive-bys and other hard-core criminal goals, while killing cops, prostitutes and hundreds of innocent victims on the side. Some people complain that the game could desensitize children to murderous images. But it's rated M for Mature. Kids aren't supposed to have access to it, even though we know that many will. [...] There's sex in "San Andreas," as there was in "Grand Theft Auto III." For a small amount of money, you can pick up hookers and drive them behind a bush. The car rocks. Talk is exchanged. [...] The game is smart like that, but the characters aren't. The one thing I can't make happen is intellectual reflection. Characters point guns. Characters kill one another other. Not one stops to think.

[red_is_beautiful]

these games shouldn't be produced at all. the rating is not preventing from abuse but supporting it by making the game more than ever interesting for kids. it's absolutely hypocritical to rely on the impact of ratings. (http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/manhunt/news_6103718.html : Manhunt blamed for UK murder. Britain's top game retailer yanks the controversial Rockstar game after a teenage player kills)

Britain's top game retailer yanks the controversial Rockstar game after a teenage player kills.

[SunStar]

I was watching a movie the other night, where Mel Gibson hunted down and killed dozens of people. I'm sure glad it was rated R. That way, as an adult, I can make my own choices in life.

[finnman69]

As a gamer who enjoyed GTA III as well as other violent shooters like Half Life, Counter Strike and Team Fortress, I say, id it bothers you, don't buy it.

These games cost upwards of $60. The main way kids get these games is if parents buy them or the kids are going to cyber cafes (which also cost money).

It's up to the parents to decide the games are bad.

[Roccus]

Don't yank my "Twinkies"

[E Rocc]

these games shouldn't be produced at all.

Are you proposing that they be banned by law? Maybe then some liberal will try to ban the games they don't like.

Censorship is far more dangerous than any of these games.

-Eric

[newgeezer]

I like the ratings. The "M" rating convinced my wife Halo 2 is not appropriate for our kids.

Of course, they'll have opportunities to play it at friends' houses.

[Ex-Dem]

I would say that the responsibility here lies with the parents for not monitoring what their children are doing and instilling in them a sense of right and wrong. I played with these types of games as a kid and I still do.

[Gefreiter]

What do I think about the success of the game?

Well, they got my $$ for it. It's alot of fun.

For this writer who laments the absence of intellectual discourse and reflection in the game, play something else- chess, mah-jongg. Otherwise, bug off.

Unless of course it's up to him to decide what I spend my $$ on, that I legally earned, and buying a legal product, that I then enjoy in my own home.

[spetznaz]

I personally belong to the camp that asserts people are responsible for their own actions. For example the Columbine killings were blamed on the kids watching the Matrix, and that the movie somehow mixed with bullying incidents to produce cold-blooded killers! The only problem with that logic is that millions more watched the Matrix and did not try to shoot everyone up.

The GTA games are indeed violent (and of the mindless sort), and there is obviously a whole bunch of additional stuff (like the hooker aspect) that does not exactly fit society's decorum. However saying it drives people to kill is taking it too far. Why? Well, if someone would kill after playing a game or watching a movie (and let us assume that the games and movies have been causes)then that person was not completely sane in the first place. There was something wrong with him/her that made his/her sense of reality terribly skewed.

Anyways, are the games violent? Yes. Do i think they lead to killing? No. Some may try to show a causal link, but causal linkages can be shown with anything. And the fact remains that if there is anyone who would commit a crime on the order of murder because they played a game, then there is something wrong with that person that far transcends anything the game could project.

And if the game actually caused murder anyways, wouldn't the multitudes who have played it also be going around whacking people on the head with metal pipes?

[TheRatHunter]

Sure, let's all give control of our kids to the government. After all, it frees us up for actually having to do anything.

[E Rocc]

As a gamer who enjoyed GTA III as well as other violent shooters like Half Life, Counter Strike and Team Fortress, I say, id it bothers you, don't buy it.

I have GTA: Vice City. Right now it is more frustrating than anything else...LOL. Once I learned similar games (Duke Nukem III, Barney Doom, Quake, etc) it was more a way to blow off steam than anything else. Blasting purple dinosaurs was a great way to deal with work-related annoyances. >:)

-Eric

[TheRatHunter]

Exactly. Anyone who kills because of a video game or movie was gonna kill anyway.

[holymoly]

these games shouldn't be produced at all.

Why? Are you one of those people who blame games for bad behavior? Do you also blame firearms for so-called "gun crimes"?

FYI: I sometimes play "Carmageddon." I have yet to be overcome with an urge to drive down the sidewalk, running over little old ladies with walkers.

the rating is not preventing from abuse

I don't know what you mean by "abuse", but no ratings system can compensate for bad parenting.

but supporting it by making the game more than ever interesting for kids. it's absolutely hypocritical to rely on the impact of ratings.

The ratings aren't there for the kids, they're there as a guide for for the PARENTS, who should monitor what games their children do and do not play.

[Tempest]

I think that it's just all menat in fun. Poor taste, twisted, and crass fun. But still fun nonetheless.

[flashbunny]

Get a grip. Games don't cause people to commit murder. They only serve as an excuse for the people who commit murder and those who are willing to blame games instead of criminals.

[cherry]

I'll go on record IMO these games are pandering to the worse instincts in human kind, and if I were Queen I would absolutely ban them and their ilk....

of course, I can't do that, and as long as there are human beings(?) that think killing is a fun way to spend the afternoon, then so be it.....

actions have consequences, always, and I just hope me and mine don't suffer because of them....

live like a dog, die like a dog.....

[finnman69]

http://www.rockstargames.com/sanandreas/

Great game trailers here:
http://www.rockstargames.com/sanandreas/trailers/GTASAtrailer1_320x240.wmv
http://www.rockstargames.com/sanandreas/trailers/GTASA_TRAILER2_480x360.wmv

and DON'T click this one if thr F word offends you.

http://www.rockstargames.com/sanandreas/trailers/GTASA_TRAILER3_480x360.wmv

[Grit]

I was watching a movie the other night, where Mel Gibson hunted down and killed dozens of people.

Payback is one of my favorite movies. :)

[Betis70]

It's on my "Wish List" for Christmas (ok that is kinda ironic).

I have GTA III and GTA Vice City. Those and Grand Turismo 3 are my top three games. GT3 is pretty tame (you just race and modify cars), but I get just as much of a kick out of it as GTA. My favorite part of Grand Theft Auto though is getting a police car and doing vigilante missions.

IRL I am the kind of person who doesn't cross the street unless the little crosswalk sign says I can. Even when there are no cars and no one else around. Go figure.

[red_is_beautiful]

don't get me wrong. it's the s e n s e l e s s violence that disturbes me, the killing of people without a reason. i've played "wolfenstein" a couple of times and i really like it - but all the time i was hunting down nazis and not cops, prostitutes and innocent...