GTA 4

With the recent release of the highly acclaimed and enjoyable, yet controversial Grand Theft Auto 4, do you feel that video games, especially those that encourage earning points for injuring or killing police officers, should be freely available?

Although GTA4 has a rating of 18, some feel it's far too violent and that the content encourages people to take this type of behaviour on to the streets?
Share your views with others.

Comments

Added: 6 May 2008 09:07

Wolfy says:

I've been playing games for years, since I was eleven years old infact, I've played Quake 2, right up to Call of Duty 4 and hundreds of games in between. Now I have this severe tendency to go out with a P90 close combat machine gun and empty the full clip into pregnant mothers in the local shopping mall at the weekend, I sometimes find myself steeling a car and driving along the pavements killing old poeple on the way to claim their weekly pension, I find myself pretending that I am Indiana Jones and swing from cliffs and tree's with my leather whip and shooting evil people just because I play games.....and then I wake up and realise that it's not real, it's all just a game and they have never influenced me in this way EVER.

We shouldn't blame games for influencing are society, we should blame politicians, we should blame irresponsible parents, we should blame E numbers in our food....oh hang on, that's another subject....

Added: 5 May 2008 18:02

Sandy says:

As a caring parent of a 10 year old Boy, who loves his PS2, i closely monitor what he plays, unfortunatley once the kids are outwith your own home, what they see and do relies on other people being responsible, Unfortunatley this is not always the case. I grew up with computers myself and can see no real point to games like this, there are many amazing adventures and the like, which stimulate the imagination, are great fun and entertaining, so why is there a demand for extreme violence. Perhaps we should look at a society that feeds the need for this type of game, if the demand wasn't there, they wouldn't sell! But thats a whole other issue.
My concern is, are we training a generation for Armageddon, or do we cause armageddon by training a generation.
We may well see the product of all this, Too late.

Added: 5 May 2008 07:09

Si says:

Its interesting to hear Kurt assert so confidently that everyone is capable of distinguishing fantasy from reality. Jeffrey Dahmer had fantasies of finding love and a constant companion and his method of doing that was picking up young men then trying to lobotomise them by drilling holes in their skulls in order to stop them from leaving him. This same young man was into torturing and dissecting animals when he was a child. A tendency towards the macabre in youth can lead to violence in adulthood. Its an established fact. Look at the biography of any serial killer and you will find similar stories. Not everyone needs to be protected from this kind of game but kids should not be allowed anywhere near it!

Added: 4 May 2008 21:55

IAN Plymouth. says:

Voilent games do not necessarily attract violent people, nor do voilent games encourage normal people to commit acts aof violence. I enjoy games such as unreal tournament, and more recently Crisis both of which are violent games, however they are just that games a bit of escapism from the reality of life where of course such behaviour you enact in the game would be totally unacceptable. The problem is mainly when these games are being given to youngsters who have not yet defined the barriers of real- unreal or what is right and wrong. These games are rated yes but marketed along side games for much younger people. You would not have adult magazines on the same shelves as childrens comics in a newsagents and yet when it comes to games there is no differential between the two. Adult games should be seperated from childrens games and have a strict control over who can buy them.
It is unfair to blame the games themselves for influencing behaviour of people as no one I know acts like a games character, however exposing youngsters to the wrong material of course could have an adverse effect on their perceptions of what is right and wrong. Lets face it one reason parents buy these expensive games is to give the kids something to do and get some peace and quiet - even more important to make sure that they know what they are buying for their kids.

Added: 4 May 2008 12:42

Phillip says:

I have no children of my own, but I am saddened by the society they are creating for themselves, it is they who have to live in the furure.

Added: 4 May 2008 12:15

kris says:

violent people are attracted to violent games.but not everyone who play games is violent. look at the media,parental control,the government. argue all you want. take responsibility for your own lives before trying to change the lives of others.

Added: 4 May 2008 11:40

Joe says:

Sorry Kurt, but it is people like yourself who must be protected from these violent video games. There have been numerous cases where people have watched them (and films also) and gone out and re-enacted them to commit the most horific crimes. The sooner we have these games banned the better.

Added: 4 May 2008 11:30

colin says:

violence is a sympton of the modern lifestyle, over crowded cities, binge drinking and a lack of decent policing. This game seems to be scapegoated instead of addressing the real issues.

Added: 4 May 2008 03:15

kurt says:

it makes me sick how people can moan about a game, yet in the real world every day people are slaughtered and maimed! think about all of the civilians in iraq and other places aroudn the world that have there lives destroyed, just because we 'thought there were weapons of mass destruction' god forgive us, whatever 'god' is

Added: 4 May 2008 03:10

kurt says:

haha its a game people! violence is all around us. films and tv, in books and literature in mother nature herself! all gta is is photons of light projected on the screen. it has an 18 rating for a reason. just because you might kill a cop in a game dosnt mean that you go around doing it in real life!! to kill some 1 in anything more than self defence is not a quality of most people. a killer is a killer, games dont make the slightest bit of diffrence. my 12 year old brother plays gta4, he dosnt start reinacting what he see on his game!! get a hold of yourselves people! what a group of sad b`s!! fantasy is part of our imaginations!!