vc318

Hello everyone! It's Sunday and it's time for another Hot Topic discussion for the week.

I tried to look for a topic that was different from the topics we've been discussing here at the N&P board so here's one I found:

MADD attacks 'Grand Theft Auto IV' - 04/30/2008 - MiamiHerald.com

MADD attacks 'Grand Theft Auto IV'

By DERRIK J. LANG
AP Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES --

Mothers Against Drunk Driving wants a stricter rating on "Grand Theft Auto IV."

The organization is calling on the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, the independent organization that assigns video-game ratings, to reclassify "GTA IV" as an Adults Only game. The action-driving game, which includes the ability to drive while intoxicated, is currently rated Mature.

"Drunk driving is not a game, and it is not a joke," MADD said in a statement released Tuesday. "Drunk driving is a choice, a violent crime and it is also 100 percent preventable."

MADD is also calling on publisher Take-Two Interactive and developer Rockstar Games to consider stopping distribution of the game - which analysts expect to sell 9 million copies and make over $400 million at launch - "out of respect for the millions of victims/survivors of drunk driving."

In the critically acclaimed open-world game, players have the choice of patronizing a bar and then attempting to drive drunk. While virtually under the influence, the screen becomes blurred and the controls are more difficult to use. Players also have the option of hailing a taxi or walking. The intoxication effects wear off after a few minutes in the game.

"We have a great deal of respect for MADD's mission, but we believe the mature audience for 'Grand Theft Auto IV' is more than sophisticated enough to understand the game's content," Rockstar Games said in a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday. "For the same reason that you can't judge an entire film or television program by a single scene, you can't judge 'Grand Theft Auto IV' by a small aspect of the game."

"GTA IV" follows the criminal exploits of protagonist Niko Bellic, an imigrant-turned-gangster who travels from Eastern Europe to Liberty City, the game's fictional locale based on New York City. As Bellic, players can hijack cars, earn cash for criminal activities, shoot innocent bystanders and visit strip clubs.

MADD declined to comment further about their statement.

I believe Rockstar and other game industries already do their part in making people aware of the content of their games by putting the rating labels and so forth. It's like going to see a movie - you're informed of what is in it with each given rating (ex - Sexual/Adult/Drug Content, Adult Language, etc). If you don't want to see the movie, then don't watch it. This video game has an "M" rating (meaning content suitable for persons 17 and older) already so why does their need to be a higher rating placed on it? I mean, I can understand MADD's request to ante up the rating but how does that make the matter any better? Yes, their is no doubt that many video games out their contain many graphic images but that's why a warning is given on the box. Sometimes, the employees at those video game stores even inform the parent of the content in those games. However, the parent just turn the other cheek. In the end, I say stop blaming the video game industry and put the responsibility on the parents.

TheAngel

I agree that the blame should go on the parents. I've played this game, I own it, and I'm older now, but I played the old GTA games when I was 16 and 17 and 18 and they had no impact on my behavior then. I didn't get drunk and drive a car or shoot anyone. If a child does this because of a video game, I think there were some psychological and behavorial problems there long before the video game came into play. The label on the game says, rated M for mature for strong violence, sexual content, partial nudity, etc. If a parent choses to buy that for their kid, doesn't stop them from playing it if they see that they have it, or hasn't taught their kid the difference between playing a video game and living in the real world, then plaing an M rated video game is the least of their problems. It's not the video game industry's responsibility to raise children. That's the responsibility of parents.

Crystaline

I agree. Don't give your child the money to purchase a game that is strictly for a mature audience. It's really quite simple.

Nad

I don't see why the video game industry should take all the blame either.

If the parents think it's fine for their kids to play games that are clearly labelled 'M' - even if their kids aren't old enough yet - that's fine. But it's a decision the parents have to make, not the game industry.

In the end, the parents are responsible for what they allow their underage kids, no one else.

Of course drunken driving isn't a subject to be treated lightly, but seeing how the game is made for a mature audience, I agree with the statement Rockstar made - the target audience should be sophisticated enough to draw the line between real and reel life.

TheAngel

I've played the game. In it, you can go out with friends and go to a bar. When you come out you appear very intoxicated, the screen moves and you often fall down. As soon as you go to get in the car you hear the character say, "I don't think this is such a good idea" or "Maybe I should take a cab" or "I'm in no condition to drive." All of which don't support the idea of drinking and driving. But you have the choice to drive or take a cab or walk, all similar to what people in real life have. And indeed, some people are going to chose to drink and drive, but a video game's job isn't to teach some moral lesson, it's to entertain.

Nad

Sounds perfectly reasonable to me - as you said, it's the same choices people make in real life and just as in real life ,some people will take the cab or go for a walk and others will drive in their intoxicated state.

Very well said, the teaching job belongs to other people - mostly the parents in this case.

Lain

I always have that stance that the media, whether it be games, movies, books, tv shows, etc. shouldn't be responsible for what happens to kids. Yes, kids and even teens, dare I say, are impressionable to what they see or read. Although each of these aspects could make a mark on individuals, it's up to parents or even loved ones (because there are some cases where adults get impressionable by what they have read or watched) to instill common sense among those individuals.

It's a bit sad that we allow scandals and the television set to be the new babysitter for kids. When I was a kid, I was obsessed with the Mortal Kombat/Super Mario video games and I did not go jumping around and hitting my head on bricks for free money. Or take a fake star and start running around thinking I'm invincible.

I'm not saying kids should pick out Grand Theft Auto and that their parents should explain to them about the dangers of drunk driving and prostitution. They have to be not only old enough so they could purchase it freely without worries but to have some common sense on what is entertainment and what is reality and have a somewhat understanding for what goes on in the games.

Walloo <New&Improved>

I think it's the parents too. On the game is written the rating, as a cashier I very often see 10 years old kids buying +18 or +16 video games... and they're with their parents.

sunnykerr

Oh, I can beat that. I was a Blockbuster clerk for two years. There was this one kid who used to come in to rent games rated Adults Only. He was alone. So we called the house. The mom said it was okay. And, you know, this is from calling the number that's attached to the account and not the one he gave us, so we let him rent it. Felt horrible doing it, 'cause... hello?

But we let him. Couple of weeks later, same kid. I go in the account, and there's this long note. Apparently, the mum pitched a fit at her next visit to the store. Why did we bother her at home? Obviously, since he's there with the card and the money, he's allowed to rent whatever he wants. Stop bugging me. Yada yada yada.

A shining example to all.

At the end of the day, it is a parent's call. It just is. Yeah, so kids sometimes go outside of their parents' purview. It still doesn't make it some industry's job to babysit the child.

Not to mention that, appalling though some video content may be, adults do play them. And you can't "penalize" the adult consumers because kids might find a way to get their hands on the game...

Nad

Exactly. I'm far from saying I wasn't allowed to watch TV or play video games as a kid. My parents just made sure that I only spent a specific amount of time each day/week watching TV or playing video games.

Whatever happened to going outside to play, meeting up with your friends or reading a book...

~Unfaithful~

I believe that in the end it is the parents responsibility to govern what their child does. The games have ratings on them for a reason, and that reason is to show parents that the game is violent, etc.
My children have computer time, tv time and video game time, but I still balance it out enough so that the majority of their time is creative imaginative play time.

sunnykerr

I don't remember ever having a set amount of time to watch TV when I was a kid. But, then again, I don't remember watching TV all that much to begin with. I was pretty much the definition of a bookworm.

And, of course, Pong wasn't about to set off any violent tendencies, so...

But regardless of what the amounts are, it's up to the parent to raise a child to show respect, kindness and good humour, or whatever other value they wish to see embraced. I have no idea how you get there, but clearly it's been done for years and by a variety of different parents, so it can be done.

And so video games shouldn't even be part of the equation. Not every kid who plays a violent or quasi-violent game turns out to have sociopathic tendencies. Not every kid who's never seen a video game in his life turns out to be perfectly normal either.

migamoo

I always played a lot as a kid, but after we moved around a lot, we were in areas that didn't have kids so my brother and I watched more TV and played more video games. I'd like to think we ended up relatively normal.

TheAngel

I played Doom and Duke Nukem when I was a kid of about six or seven, both of which were 1st person shooters full of violence and sex and the like, though a bit less realistic than now. I also played Mortal Combat and other games like that. My parents explained that in video games I play a part, like an actor in a TV show, but that it's not real. I never mimicked the gameplay in the real world though, because of my parents.

mh67511

I'm mostly concerned about the kids who play the games and then the parents complain because their kids are doing poorly in school!

Personally I detest media that glamorizes that stuff. I think its trashy, but people will do ANYTHING to make a buck and that's the American way. Personally I can't stand GTA because I hate glamorizing thugs and their thuggish lifestyle, lock 'em up and throw away the key I say!

As far as drunk driving goes the problem isn't video games, it's lax laws that allow these dangerous drivers back on the roads. I believe in one strike your out when it comes to drunk driving.