Blog

People say GTA IV is bad for kids. I disagree.

There’s been less of a GTA uproar than I expected this time around, probably because the critical acclaim it’s received puts those who openly slate it in a far less comfortable position than that of the cushy high-horse many have been sitting on for years. Despite this there are still some that feel the content of the game is inappropriate, which seems quite reasonable to an extent even if you’re not a conservative Luddite. But when you boil down to it, what actually makes a game like GTA IV inappropriate?

The game’s protagonist Niko can be a rough character at times, but his actions are driven very much by his personal history and subsequent sense of character. He’s not a bad man, but he’s not a good man either. Some of the things Niko must do throughout the story are unpleasant, but they don’t seem out of context. The violence carried out on others throughout often feels unhinged and unnecessary, but that doesn’t make the sense of causality behind it all feel any less real.

All in all, if you’re playing GTA IV as if you are Niko then there’s no problem. It’s violent and crude at times, but in a considerably more intelligent manner than most action films manage to be. You might do some bad things playing as Niko, but if you’re a level minded individual then you’ll probably feel pretty guilty about it afterwards. In the hands of someone sensible GTA IV is gripping and thought-provoking. And this is where the problems begin…

In the context of the game there’s never any reason to go on a rampage. Sure, you can go cave that hooker’s head in, but what’s the point? You can go around beating up old ladies, but why would you want to? It’s not in Niko’s nature, and it’s not rewarded- so technically it’s really not fair to blame the game for the way that mindless idiots choose to use it. GTA IV gives you a vast amount of personal choice regarding how you behave, but makes it very clear in what context you’re supposed to be playing it. So if it’s not the motivation of the game’s character taking control, then who’s motivation is it? If you’re put within a brilliantly realistic version of New York and your first instinct is to cause harm to civilians… what kind of a person are you?

Just as Niko’s actions are dictated by context, so are ours when playing games. The mainstream media are obsessed with the idea that playing realistic games affects the way we behave in real life. There’s some truth to this, but it’s not a one-way door: The way we behave in real life also affects the way we play games.

The way in which people respond to the situations which GTA IV puts you in will depend on what kind of person you’ve become, a cumulative mish-mash of things you’ve seen, done, and experienced. One person might relish in the power of a brutal execution, another might feel slightly sickened by the situation they’ve been forced into. Very young children aside, I fail to see how age plays a part in this sense of judgment. If by the time you’re 16 you’re still not interested in doing anything other than running people over when playing games then chances are you’re a lost cause… GTA IV in the wrong hands could easily be a playground for murderers to rehearse in, but then again so could kitchens- and I can’t hear anyone talking about banning knives, can you?

Kids need to be exposed to bad things. It’s how you learn, it’s how you grow. Good videogames are perfect for learning; they put you in uncomfortable positions and force you to make decisions that you might not be comfortable with. They’ll help them develop their own sense of right and wrong, in a way that linear media like TV or film can’t quite manage. Parents are afraid of children becoming desensitized to violence and because of this avoid exposing their kids to it at all costs. But if you don’t introduce them to it, then who will? Little Jimmy from down the road, that’s who. Do you know what they’ll choose to play? Gears of War. Will they think about morality as they gun down swarms of chunky aliens in a haze of gore? Will they f**k.

GTA IV isn’t bad for kids, it’s bad for stupid people. How the hell are you going to fix that though, eh?

Like the rest of the country, I’ve become hopelessly addicted to Grand Theft Auto IV. It’s not often that I turn my Xbox on at 2am and still see TEN people online all playing the same game. In fact, if I’m honest, its not often I turn on my Xbox AT ALL, recently, but that is another story altogether. There are many tell tale signs that someone you know is addicted to GTA IV, including ignoring significant others, lack of sleep, calling in sick to work and developing an incredibly poor diet of junk food. Lucky for me, your intrepid journalist, I am already a single, insomniac, unemployed male currently living on a diet of Rustlers sandwiches and “2 for £2″ cans of Relentless, so the signs are currently unnoticable. Either the GTA addiction will finish me off, or diabetes.

I’m addicted to the single player game. I’m addicted to the multiplayer game. Most importantly, though, I’m addicted to the “moments”.

I’ve always been a big fan of gaming “moments”. Now, before you start firing off coments about the death of Aeris in Final Fantasy VII, or the ending of Metal Gear Solid 3 being gaming “moments”, I’d like you to shut up for a minute. Sure, they are landmark events on the average geeks gaming life, but genuine “moments”? To me, moments are unplanned, unscripted and unique events that happen when playing a videogame. The kind of thing that has you holding your breath with tension, laughing until you cry and above all else, has you boring the fucking life out of everyone you know for weeks after, as you recall your war stories.

OBVIOUSLY, a sandbox environment has far more scope for these wonderful random things to happen than say, a Mario game, but that is why I love GTA IV so much. The multiplayer is one huge, “moment-creating” machine! A single play session with a few friends will create the kind of stories that will irritate everyone you went for a drink mere hours after you were stood on the back of a boat, a good friend behind the wheel, while you shot several police helicopters out of the sky in front of the Statue of Liberty. Do they want to know about these things? No, probably not - some of your friends simply won’t have a vested interest in your online multiplayer exploits - but will you tell them anyway, hoping that maybe, just maybe, they’ll find it as interesting as you found it exciting at the time…

I think I’ll be hard pressed to find a game as entertaining as GTA IV for quite some time. The single player is like the best crime-based action movie you’ve ever seen. The multiplayer? Well, I’m sure the Kane and Lynch developers are gutted that their firefights were nowhere near as thrilling as being trapped behind a burning car in Liberty City, providing covering fire for one of your friends as they try and pick you up in a stolen helicopter. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Michael Mann, director of semi-legendary crime-thriller Heat, isn’t slightly upset with the fact that a random event within a virtual world sometimes ends up far more compelling than some of his classic gun battles. Providing, of course, if he has an Xbox Live Gold Account.

So, feel free to tell us all about your favourite moments so far in Liberty City. We’re all friends here - we’d love to listen.

Those of you who keep an eye on the forums may notice I’ve refrained from joining in with the GTA4 chat - and there’s a reason for that. In a desperate bid to make sure I actually finish my degree this year, I decided I wouldn’t buy the game until my essay deadline had passed, on the 6th of May. But over the last couple of days, having witnessed the inevitable ‘OUT OF STOCK’ labels plastered all over the GTA4 boxes in every games/entertainment shop I could think of, I’ve started panicking - what if I can’t get a copy on the 6th of May? I’ll fucking hang myself, is what. So, I resolved to get the game ASAP, and just not touch it until my work’s done.

So, off I went to sunny Wood Green (officially the 18th worst place to live in the UK, fact fans!) to try and secure a copy. I’d heard on the interwebs that everyone was getting a new shipment today, and the kids weren’t out from school yet, so I figured my chances were pretty good. Surprise, surprise - I figured wrong. HMV, GAME and, um, Argos - all out of stock. So I head over to Gamestation, and - lo! - a massive display in the front of the shop, with a load of GTA4 boxes, sans the aforementioned labels. They’re charging 45 quid for it, which is a bit steep, but I’ve got a copy of Universe at War to trade in (it’s shit, by the way), and I’m desperate.

I take a box over to the counter, and cautiously ask the manager, “Is this actually in stock?”

“Er, yeah,” he replies, “but you have to buy a guide book with it.”

£57 for the lot, and I bought it like a total moron. In all fairness, they gave me 20 quid for Universe at War - which is roughly 20 quid more than it’s worth, for those keeping score - bringing the price down to £37. But it still stings, man. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it makes excellent business sense and everything, and if there’s any game worth owning the guide book for, GTA4 is probably it. But I’ve already started boycotting CEX after they figured it was fine to buy people’s Wiis off them, sell them second-hand at something like a 50% markup on the RRP, and take Wii Sports out of the box and charge an extra fiver for it. And if this sort of thing continues at Gamestation, I reckon I’ll find myself visiting there a lot less too. Of course, what would really be great is if we all just stopped falling for it - but I’m aware I’m totally part of the problem on this one.

And don’t get me wrong - I know that these underhand sales tactics aren’t exactly new. I’m sure we all remember Gamestation forcing potential Wii owners to buy bundles with a load of crap games, because it was the only way to shift them. But I think what I’m getting at is: Does anyone remember them pulling shit like this before GAME made their bid to take over?

Woo, GTA IV is on shelves! Jack Thomson has already slated it so it is now welcomed into the renowned gang of games commonly known as the Rockstar games. Welcome to the world GTA IV. Now, sitting on a bus this morning, watching people get excited over it, I suddenly got hit across the face by a realisation. Well two.

Firstly, the douchebag Jack Thomson may have a point. While I don’t agree in the slightest that videogames are the devil in disc form, come to reap the souls of anyone who touches them, watching kids aged from 12-15 get excited over an 18 rated game, I have to say I was slightly appalled. Although I don’t think age ratings are the be all and end all, surely they’re there for a reason? I mean, there’s got to be a point where we say; ‘No, kids who aren’t even old enough to get on a bus by themselves shouldn’t be able to play this.’

I know technically those kids aren’t and shouldn’t be allowed to play violent 18 rated games, but they still do. Everyone knows it. Including Rockstar. And they also know that the vast majoritory of their sales are going to go to underaged kids who’ve duped their parents into buying the latest kill-fest. I don’t know about everyone else, but that seems a little wrong to me.

Which brings me on to my next point. It seems that these days, all a game has to do to succeed with the ‘hardcore’ market is be the most violent, sex filled, drugged up affair ever written in code. The hype and guaruntee of a bloodbath is enough to draw in the masses. And in some ways, isn’t this the evolution of the term ‘casual gamer’? Rather than being the parent who occasionally dabbled in some Mario Kart, or the sister who every so often tried the Eye Toy, it seems the true casual gamer nowadays is the impressionable 12-25 year olds who’re just looking for the latest fashionable game to talk to their friends about.

And this is where the largest chunk of games like GTA IV’s sales come from. Generally they get about 40% sales from underage kids, 40% from the new casual gamer and only around 20% from the true hardcore gamer who is not picking it up for the hype or the kill factor, but because they know they’re actually getting a quality game. And while that is a sad pie chart, we cannot really do anything to change it. Violent games will still sell. Just for being the latest 18 rated title in stock.

When he’s not out loitering,
Alasdair likes to write his random thoughts down.
He’s told it’s called a ‘Blog’.

I can’t remember a time when a game has been so well received. Sure, the Grand Theft Auto IV hype has been more or less matched by Halo 3 and Gears of War, but in recent years nothing has been scored so consistently high. Highlights from the GameRankings archives include Halo (95.5%), GoldenEye (95.2%), Metal Gear Solid 2 (94.8%), Call of Duty 4 (94.1%), Gears of War (93.8%) and Final Fantasy VII (92.4%), which have all scored superbly, but even these didn’t quite achieve what GTA IV has so far.

Eurogamer 10/10
1UP A+
IGN 10/10
GameSpot 10/10
Game Informer 10/10
US PlayStation Official Magazine 5/5
UK Playstation Official Magazine 10/10
Official Xbox Magazine UK 10/10
VideoGamer 10/10
GamePro 5/5
TotalVideoGames 10/10
TeamXbox 10/10
Xbox World Mag UK 98%
Computer & Video Games 95%
PSW Magazine UK 10/10
ActionTrip 97%
UGO A+
GameSpy 5/5
Play UK 9.8/10

Few developers are in a position to match the amount of time and money available to put into a game, so one has come to expect a high level of quality from Rockstar. One of the most impressive aspects such resources bring is the GTA IV soundtrack, which surpasses two hundred individual tracks across a number of radio stations.

BBC reported that most reviewers were not sent advance copies of the game and had to go to the Rockstar offices or sit in booked hotel rooms. Ones wonders whether they had a gun to their head, yet the resulting scores are consistently high across the board, with no journalists reported missing or wounded. At the time of writing GameRankings report the GTA IV average scores as 99.1% for Xbox 360 and 99.8% for PS3. This even surpasses Ocarina of Time’s 97.7% average! It will be interesting to see how far this drops when some of smaller independent outlets publish their conclusions. But lets not get too hung up about average scores. For many the perfect game does not always match mainstream opinion and if you just pay attention to scores you’ll miss out on some great experiences.

Grand Theft Auto as a series has gained immense popularity since its PlayStation/PC debut in 1997, but remarkably the original reception was quite mixed. For me it was more enjoyable than GTA2 and GTA3 - primarily because it was the first, secondly for the soundtrack. But back then a lot of people didn’t appreciate the possibilities, with IGN for example only awarding it 6/10. By today’s standards the original is extremely retro, yet it was everything a great video game should be. More recently San Andreas was a huge mainstream hit, but GTA IV stands to be the defining game in the series thus far.

But how will the gaming public remember GTA IV -
would you score it 10 out of 10?