Rockstar is the balls of the video game industry. Since its inception by the characteristically red-headed Scot, Dave Jones, in 1997, the game has taken the brunt of the debate over video game violence. And it's no wonder. What GTA did was take every imaginable suppressed human inclination toward violent actions and give them a space to play. If you ever imagined snipering people, stealing a car or running over pedestrians, this game gave you a place to run wild. And even if you had never imagined doing those things, you would after playing the game.
The critics believed that such wild imaginings would have practical repercussions - people would start pulling each other out of their cars and playing chicken with the police on the highway. Anyone exposed to this level of unrestrained, primitive, illogical street warfare would immediately become a sociopath. There is no evidence for such extreme thinking, and although we should admit that - for some unknown reason - playing GTA actually has a cathartic effect that both terrifies and excites the average, law-abiding citizen, it isn't a cult that will end with mass suicide. At least, there is no way of knowing that it will.
Still, despite being blamed by almost every parent and psychologist in the country for violent-inclinations in the human race, the makers of GTA have boldly chosen to ignore the disgruntled and take the game's concept to the most extreme level imaginable. It's almost as if they're inside the subconscious of the average gamer, and have been listening to all the terrible, scary thoughts that are quickly beaten down by the socially-installed conscience. If the social superhero is the super-ego, making sure that humans stay away from acting on their primitive desires by making them feel bad for even thinking about it, then GTA is the arch enemy trying to completely disrupt that plan.
If you ever played any of the GTA games and thought "my favorite part about this isn't really even the missions, it's the unrestrained killing-of-people" then don't think Rockstar wasn't listening. If you spent hours hunting the streets for pedestrians to run over, or secretly wished to see a little more blood... then Christmas has come early. April 29th, to be exact.
I consider myself to be a relatively stable human being. I know that I won't ever go about the streets murdering people or stealing cars, but if you think that you may be influenced - or pushed beyond the psychological boundaries that keep you in check - by GTA IV, then think about sticking to Mario. In fact, proof of psychological stability would be a damn sight better than whipping out your driving license to purchase a copy of the game. It might silence the horde who are about to go crazy over the newest, improved version of total-chaos-to-the-human-race, who are afraid that the things on the screen will immediately begin jumping out onto the streets and into their kids playgrounds . I can't say what people will do, but it seems like there's enough violence in the world for it not to notice another edition of GTA.
http://www.mahalo.com/GTA_IV_Leaked
Sunday, April 27, 2008
GTA IV: Most Brazenly Violent Game Out-Violences Itself
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Curtis Richardson: 13-year-old, Shot Dead in Gang Territory
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Read More...Thursday, April 3, 2008
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