Gaming GTA in the Media

[Queen Asuka]

[color=orangered][size=1]I hope this topic hasn't already been covered, but I looked and I didn't see anything, so here goes!

My mom informed me and my sisters a couple of days ago that she saw on the news that GTA was too violet towards women. She also said that we wouldn't be allowed to own that game (Even though we've already borrowed it and played it multiple times and even my dad likes it). I think she was just being weird that day because she usually lets us play whatever games we want. And what's real funny is that me and my sisters are the ones playing it when it's supposedly SO violent against women.

Anyone else have any thoughts and comments about this? Anyone else HEARD this?[/color][/size]

[Bing]

[COLOR=darkblue]Well, I don't know what article you're on about, because you're probably from America, or somewhere else. But, in one of the daily newspapers I was reading, there was an article about a mob who had been carjacking etc. and it had a screenshot of Vice City. My dad also said to me that they were trying to get it banned, because it was so god damn violent. I certainly think that no GTA title should ever be in the hands of people who aren't mature enough to deal with the issues in the game.[/COLOR]

[Queen Asuka]

[color=orangered][size=1]It was somewhere in the News. Probably on one of those big-time news companies in America. I don't hardly ever pay attention. And I totally agree with you on the maturity thing.

It annoys me though, when the media blames all the problems of society on videogames and the sort. Any sort of outlet, I suppose.[/color][/size]

[Bing]

[COLOR=darkblue]Have you seen the film, Triple X? Well that kinda dealt with Videogames being blamed for stuff. Yeah, it really bites, I mean, open question here, has anyone played a violent videogame, and thought, oh, I would love to go out and do that!?. I certainley never have. Sports games have sometimes inspired me to give it a go, but your must be a bit crazy to recreate those aggressive games.[/COLOR]

[Break]

[size=1][color=crimson]*shrugs* It's a videogame. Only stupid people should imitate acts of violence from games like GTA, etc. I don't see why parents should get so uptight about the whole violence=bad thing - that only works for young children ('cause they're [i]bound[/i] to copy stuff), and it is also why GTA has an 18 rating, which is my point.[/size]
[/color]

[Red]

[b][color=003399]I find the whole "18" rating hilarious. Having a great big "DO NOT BUY THIS IF YOU ARE UNDER EIGHTEEN" stickers only attract more attention and make a child want to buy the game more.

I saw an article in a newspaper about Vice City and how the writer thought it should be banned. She was promptly quashed by a mass amount of replies in the letter section the next day, lol.[/b][/color]

[Queen Asuka]

[color=orangered][size=1]Well, what I heard was that it was mostly the violence against WOMEN that was offending people. So far, I haven't been offended. And I happen to like violent games. That doesn't make me a violent person, though. *smiles innocently* One of my favorite games is actually Resident Evil and you don't see me outside with my machine gun trying to blow the brains off of innocent hobos that I may think look a bit like zombies....er something.[/color][/size]

[ZeroBlade]

This is my first time going into this thread and already I see something interesting :/

Anyway, why am I not surprised they used GTA as an example. Violent towards women you say? Its violent towards everyone how is it just towards women? Thats like saying women are children too and shouldn't play this game. As Alexus_Bing said, only people who are "really" mature can play this game. People (mainly Politicans and reporters) who wine on and on how violent this game is are the "real" children because they can't handle it and fail to realize its just a game. If you ask me, I would rather use this game to should children between right and wrong and the differences between the real world an fantasy. As for what media you heard this from... I got money it was from CNN. Those people are friends of Politicians. Notice how GTA is the ONLY game they can base their claims on. I say give them a lolipop and they'll shut up...

[TheShinje]

[FONT=century gothic] [color=crimson] [size=1] I saw a news article that was played on 3 News, produced by ABC, that dealt with the Mothers who were complaining about the game being an infulence on children, so I taped it for a bit of comic relief :p I mean, how stupid can you get? It is only a game, and they talking about it on this news peice as if it were the holocaust. psh, sometimes the kids have more sense than the parents :rolleyes: [/FONT] [/color][/size]

[Charles]

Heh, Ed Boon was correct when he attributed the media's heavy focus on Mortal Kombat not on just the violence presented in the game, but on the popularity of the game as well.

I've seen the fuss about GTA III and Vice City, but I don't believe it's much worse than a rated R movie. If anyone's ever seen "Dead Presidents," or countless other movies, they'd know that its gunfights are much more graphic than the ones in Grand Theft Auto.

And, there can be violence against women, but it's not exploited. It's treated the same way as violence against males.

[Chaos]

Tori, honey, do me a favor and find out from your mom how the **** the GTA series is violent against women in specifics. :)

But firstly, the media needs to grow up and grow some balls. Just because I can disembowl a cop with a katana in a game, that doesn't mean I'm going to do that. Moreover, what's the chance a kid who can't even reach the knife drawer in the kitchen will do that? Jeez, damn media to Hell for their stupid and accusing ways.

I'm betting some parent saw their child playing the game and decided this might be a good chance for a lawsuit. **** morals, it's a damn game. Get over it people.

[James]

[color=#507AAC]The media frequently scapegoats videogames because they are generally a much easier target than similarly rated movies.

Let's make no mistake here; GTA [i]is[/i] a game. And as long as it has the appropriate age rating, there shouldn't be a problem with it.

In terms of violence towards women...I don't agree that this game specifically promotes or displays violence against women. 99% of the people who get blown up or splattered around in the game are men. Do we now hear men's groups saying that the game focuses on violence against men? Of course not.

It's ridiculous. If these media anchors had even the slightest idea about the game's premise, they'd know what its focuses are. Deliberate and pointless violence against women is not one of them.[/color]

[Bing]

[color=darkblue]If everybody took this game seriously, we could have alot of issues. One example is the fact that you can kill black people on the game, people could say that's racist. But here's another question to debate about. If there were no women in the game, would the female rights activists complain that the game is sexist for NOT including females?[/color]

[Guest cloricus]

[spoiler][color=#00ff00]Hay why is every one defending the game, hell there is violence towards women...
Enters game, runs over group of women...
Burns them with flamethrower...
Picks up a wh0re... (We don't get that in the Australian version. :()
I don't know why your defending that part, okay sure you can do the same to men and blacks and Chinese and whites but don't you think you should be out there in the real world complaining about where this really DOES happen.
You do know that places like the red-light district in gta 3 do exist irl and in most cases are worse.
Both groups here are at fault, you guys for giving the old standard and worn out rebuttal while the people saying this are giving out their usual crap.
While the game producers are laughing their heads off because they just made a model of our society and are making a fortune out of it.
[/color][/spoiler]

[TheShinje]

[size=1] [FONT=century gothic] [color=crimson]

media coverage is simply pouintless, all they do is berate the game, which isn't even directed at kids (18+) and make it the scapegoat for a torn society, check this article out, it is a letter from a concerned mother, I found the link on [url=www.gouranga.com]Gouranga.com[/url]

[QUOTE] [i] Originally posted by A concerned Mother [/i]
[B] By A Concerned Mother

Since Grand Theft Auto 3 is the most popular video game in America, I thought that you would be interested in seeing a letter we received recently from a concerned parent. (We don't have the time or resources to review box games such as Playstation, but we welcome your insight on these games and any other entertainment that we can share with our readers.)

"I don't know if you've ever heard about the Grand Theft Auto video game series. Well, there have been 3 of them made so far, and they are the most violent, bloody, degrading video games ever made. The point of the games is to steal cars and kill any person - innocent or not - who gets in your way. As a matter of fact, the more people you kill, the more points you get!

"The third in the series, Grand Theft Auto 3, was released at the end of last year and has been the top selling game for the past three months. I can't imagine how many young people have already gotten their hands on this game. Let me give you a brief run down on some of the horrible things this game contains. This game is without a doubt, the worst game in the series, and quite possibly the worst game ever made.

"The object of the game is to be the best criminal you can be. Do you see a car that you like? Steal it. Someone makes you angry? Beat them with a bat. Still not satisfied? Keep beating them in the head until you kill them and blood pours out. See an old lady driving a car? Pull her out of the car and shoot her in the head! Then steal her car and run over her and as many innocent people as you can! Each time that you do, you get more points. If you do this, or some other crime, for too long, the police come by. But you can kill them too, which gets you even more points. When you run over people, they make a squishy sound! VERY DISGUSTING.

"Besides all the violence, there are constant sexual references! If your health has been decreased for whatever reason, get in a car and look for a prostitute. When you find one walking down the street, she will get in when you stop the car! Then you can drive to a dark alley for a sexual encounter. You see your health points increase as your car begins to rock! Here is the most disturbing part: When you have sex with a prostitute, your health goes up but your money goes down. Want your money back? Get out of the car and beat her to death and take it back...either that or shoot her, run her over, or set her on fire for extra points. Can you believe it? Also, in the game, people yell constant sexual references like "carpet muncher" and other such things. There are also many homosexual civilians looking for sex. I've also heard people say things (that we are unable to repeat here. Editor) and many, many other offensive words.

"What I have told you is just the tip of the iceberg. You need to go play this game for yourself and see how disgusting it is."

Please note that this is not an official game review by Al Menconi Ministries, but we believe this mother's letter gives a fair evaluation of Grand Theft Auto 3.

It is not our intention to criticize this game or any of today's entertainment. Our job is to help you understand the values that are being encouraged through this game and with much of today's entertainment. It is up to you to set guidelines for your family.
[/B] [/QUOTE]

I agree with Medra, They are taking this way too far, Don't they even stop to think that maybe this blatant moral-shoving is what makes people throw morals to the wind in the first place? I mean, why is their this fuss about it corrupting the youth of the world when it is 18+. We know it is a game, bu do they know? The way this mother bleats on, it is as if it were a real murder case It seems as if Tommy Vercetti is America's (mothers) Most wanted :S [/size] [/FONT] [/color]

[Bing]

[SIZE=1][Color=darkblue]Well, if you think about it, it's simple. Whenever something goes wrong in society, it's never anybody's fault. The news reporters, the parents, the teachers, the governmet, they all manage to find something to blame i.e. the latest violent game or movie, or a song with swaring in it.
These people just can't face up to the problems of today's youth, and why some people are like they are, so they find a scapegoat, and place the blame on them. But in the long run, you have to balance this out. The game is banned and all the copies are pulled back. Which is going to be greater, the parent's happiness or the game user's anger and disappointment? [/color][/SIZE]

[Queen Asuka]

[color=royalblue][size=1]Well, see, I think that basically sums up all the stuff that my mother heard. But some people act like that's the only violent game out there. And it's not. It just so happens to a mother came across this game, made a big deal out of it, and then other moms started noticing what their kids were playing, too. Sometimes people LOOK for something to get upset over.

And what's really weird is that my mom heard about it, and my mom usually NEVER cares what we play, no matter how violent/gorey it is because she knows we have enough sense to distinguish between right and wrong.

And also, in my opinion, there is just as much violence concerning men on that game as there is as women. And another point, games like that that let you take on that sort of scenario are fun because you DON'T really go out and do it.[/color][/size]

[Semjaza]

Sure, there's violence against women in the game... There is almost an equal amount of violence against men as well, but of course that's never an issue. I also remember there being people with stereotypical gay lisps in the game as well, and no one brings that up. I just find it strange that it's only a much bigger deal than usual because of the whole women thing. Most other games only have you killing men as it is.

And now that I just read all that, Asuka says the same heh :).

At least the media is blaming current games for once. I never thought they'd get off of Doom and "The Resident of Evil Creek."

I still don't understand how parents do not realize there is a rating system. My little brother is 7, and even he knows the basics of it. The image is prominent, and the back of the box details what is in it far more than movie ratings used to (they added to them with descriptors recently). Ignorant people like to blame everyone but themselves I suppose.