Preparing for the Storm: Grand Theft Auto IV Preview

With over 40 million units sold worldwide, the Grand Theft Auto series ranks among the most successful franchises in the history of gaming. The GTA series is also well-known for its ability to spark controversy among critics and politicians for its graphic violence and sexual themes. Earlier this week on April 29, the fourth proper installment in the series released to the sheer excitement of gamers and utter dismay of opposing legislators. With the next generation of hardware, the developers at Rockstar North have available the technology to push gameplay to new levels of innovation, and spurring even greater controversy in the process.

Grand Theft Auto IV tells the story of Niko Bellic, a Russian immigrant trying to make it to the top of Liberty City from the bottom of the streets. Liberty City is a realistic rendition of modern-day New York City, from the Statue of Liberty to the Coney Island Cyclone. The team of artists took a trip to the city to take over 10,000 photos worth of reference shots for the team to construct a digital version of New York City and New Jersey. This architecture lays the canvas for the player to create pure chaos in more ways than one can imagine. As Associated Press editor Derrik Lang writes, players are free to choose between "blowing stuff up, driving drunk, meeting someone online, going on a date, hailing a cab, listening to the radio, killing innocent bystanders, patronizing strip clubs, flying helicopters, earning cash for criminal activities, running from the police and, of course, hijacking lots of cars." This is a small list of the opportunities available to the player while engaging with Grand Theft Auto IV. Due to the vast possibilities of interaction in this simulation-based game, GTA IV will receive a M rating for "Mature" by the Entertainment Software Rating Board, making it suitable for people 17 and over. According to the ESRB's description, M-rated games contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language. However, this rating that is clearly placed on the front of the box is not enough for anti-gaming legislators who fight to place a ban on sales.

Attorney Jack Thompson is the most outspoken activist in opposition of violent video games. His aim is legitimate: to keep Mature-rated games out of the hands of children. However, Thompson has attempted to achieve this goal with rather ineffective strategies. For example, in every school shooting since the Columbine case, Thompson has made appearances on news media blaming video games as the cause. In the recent Virginia Tech shooting, Thompson claimed that the suspect trained on a murder simulator, more commonly known as the popular PC game "Counter-Strike." Thompson made these claims without knowing any information on the shooter whatsoever besides his name, and it was revealed after authorities completed a search of the suspect's room that no video games were found. Over time, Thompson has accrued a reputation of an "ambulance-chaser" among the gaming community, someone who cries foul at every attempt to point the finger at gaming. His numerous fruitless lawsuits against Rockstar Games for the violent and sexual themes in its GTA series have resulted in the court threatening to disbar Jack Thompson.

Controversy is already brewing around one feature in particular: the drunk-driving mini-game. After the main character consumes too much alcohol, a mini-game plays out in which the player must attempt to drive (or walk) home safely with a shaking blurry camera to simulate the effect of drunkenness. It might sound like a fun activity to try out in a video game, but by no means is it acceptable in the real world. I feel that the game could do without this small aspect. Plenty of critics feel the same way, fearing the consequences of a child playing the game and forming dangerous ideas. Then again, shooting civilians and stealing cars aren't exactly respected activities, so maybe this goes along quite well with the philosophy behind Grand Theft Auto.

Sam Houser, the President of Rockstar Games, is accustomed to the publicity that the GTA series has garnered over the years. In a Yahoo Entertainment article, Houser comments, "'I wish people would treat video games the same as other media. They seem to not want to do that for reasons that I don't understand. It's a convenient enemy for people.'" Video games are a new medium, and since many questions remain unanswered, it is simply easier to lay the blame on them for society's issues. As games undergo further testing for their effects on human behavior, one thing remains unquestionable: parents must exercise proper judgment in allowing what games their children play. The blame should not fall on developers for the products they create. Grand Theft Auto IV has achieved the most remarkable critical acclaim any game has ever received in the history of the medium. But it is also sure to be one of 2008's most controversial video games, so in the coming months we will see how the general public responds to GTA IV.

Guns or Games: NIU Shooting Raises Questions of Probable Causes

On Thursday February 14, Northern Illinois University student Stephen Kazmierczack, 27, opened fire during a lecture on fellow classmates, killing 5 and wounding 16 others before taking his own life.  While fulfilling my daily refresh of news on popular gaming blog Kotaku, I discovered a post written by managing editor Brian Crecente that dealt with the cause behind the tragic shooting.  Crecente reports about an article in the New York Post, in which writers Michael Swiontek and Bill Sanderson point the finger at games for the massacre, citing the violent computer game Counter-Strike as a main factor leading to the shooting.  The second post is a short piece over at GamePolitics.com that reports Illinois legislator Robert Pritchard defending guns while shifting the blame to videogames and other forms of media that contain graphic violence.  Follow the links below to see my comments on each blog site, but for convenience I have also included the comments below:

NYPost: College Killer Crazy for Violent Vid Games

Comment:

I am perplexed as well at the idea that the killer was spurred to commit this murder from playing video games rather than the stopping of his medication.  In fact, not until halfway through the article do they acknowledge this very key element in such an extreme act of insanity.  Instead, they choose to label Kazmierczack as a loner obsessed with playing Counter-Strike.  I don't understand how a game as popular as this first-person shooter can realistically be interpreted as a legitimate influential factor in committing real-world violence.  Fortunately the student witnesses were sensible enough to acknowledge that the game was commonplace in the dorms.  However, the NYPost writers chose to neglect this bit of info to misrepresent videogames, as seems to be the trend of the news media today.  It's interesting to note that it's usually the traditional forms of journalism that cast a negative perception of videogames, whereas younger types, such as blogs, have grown up with games and show appreciation for the medium.  But going back to the issue, drugs definitely need to be given more of a closer look.  Virgina Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho and Kazmierczack were both users of anti-depressant medication.  Instead, attorney Jack Thompson finds the fact that both shooters played video games to be a more formidable link in explaining why these tragedies have occurred.  It is ironic yet sad to see Jack Thompson rejoicing over such a trivial element in the face of such tragedy that so many people must mourn over.  Thank you Crecente for actually showing consideration to the victims of this massacre.

Illinois Legislator on NIU Rampage

Comment:

Time after time, people look to videogames as the primary causes for school shootings.  Before games, it was movies and television that were attacked.  If videogames are even going to be considered as a probable cause in committing real-world violence, much more attention needs to be paid to the individuals performing these extreme acts and if their minds were stable enough to play games without being affected by their violent imagery.  Yes, Seung-Hui Cho and Kazmierczack both played Counter-Strike.  However, so do millions of other students to this day.  How this is more alarming than the fact that two college students were able to purchase guns with no problem worries me.  Furthermore, students on anti-depressant medication.  The right for any individual to bear arms is placing more people in danger than videogames.  Whether in the form of background checks or mind-stability tests, I think that we need to have greater restrictions or a more challenging process to acquire guns in order to reduce the number of victims that lose their lives to such senseless violence.