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Oct 4th, 2010 at 12:11:13 - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2) |
Race and ethnicity are accurately portrayed within Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Developers present the player with a moral framework structured around impartiality, making sure to never once inspire racism unto the player.
Within the game world, neighborhoods are categorized and divided based upon ethnicity. Each neighborhood can be generalized by the racial make-up of the citizens wandering the streets and each culture is represented equally and consecutively throughout the course of the entire plot. Initially I dealt with primarily Black and Latino cultures in Los Santos. This city is heavily overrun with ghettos and poverty-struck households as made apparent by key design features of house components like cardboard doors, broken mattresses, and worn down interiors.
Later on in the game, I arrived in San Fierro, a city run by a Chinese Triad. I allied with the Asian alliance and ultimately turned on the Latino gang members associated with the Loco Syndicate. And further still, I was then forced to rid the city of a Vietnamese gang, the Da Nang Boys. This portion of the game forces the player into slaying many people regardless of race, upholding impartiality with regards to the array of ethnicities found throughout the game.
Game designers employ an unbiased perspective of race by crafting characters of the same race that represent both the good and bad in the world. For example, CJ and Officer Tenpenny are both African-Americans but present the two opposite ends of the spectrum. Officer Tenpenny is despised all game because of his corruption and inability to withhold moral rules, while CJ becomes revered amongst many gangs because his devotion and passion.
The developers made it clear that race is not a deciding factor in the morality of each person. The segregation of neighborhoods based on race may at first appear racist, but closer examination reveals the truth behind this design choice. The game developers sought for reality and not discrimination against races, giving the player unbiased experiences with a myriad of cultures throughout the experience of the game.
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Oct 4th, 2010 at 12:03:44 - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2) |
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas disregards truth and honesty as seen through the development of the game's characters and dialog. The game is rich with powerful characters who have only made their rise to fame through lying and cheating. Officer Tenpenny is a prominent antagonist whose lies and deceit sculpt how the game unfolds. Without his immoral actions the plot would advance in an entirely different manner involving significantly less conflict and struggle for the main playable character CJ.
San Andreas often encourages deception as proper discourse and as a means to survival. This view clearly contradicts Kantian views of truth and trustworthiness. Amongst the game world, lying has become a universal law accepted by most characters, who throughout the game pursue their own unique selfish interests. This immoral law leads to a parallel world very different from our own. San Andreas is powered by dishonesty. Because of this, the world is generally a cruel and wicked place and the only hope of survival is through the same means of deceit. Characters will often advance the story plot by asking you to undertake tasks that involve treachery towards other forces and clans. The player has no choice but to accept the responsibilities (not doing so is obviously is unacceptable, as this would end the gameplay).
Thankfully, I never had to give much thought into the choice of committing deceitful deeds for powerful gang or mob leaders because it became so engrained in my subconscious that it was the only way to gain power in the world. And sure enough, the plot lead me to believe so. The greater number of unethical actions I partook in, the more respected I became by other figures of power. The game trained me to accept the law of lying and encouraged it on countless occasions. The game's counterproductive ethical framework based on a universal law of dishonesty is a realistic portrayal of what a world full of deceit might look like full of rulers founded on corruption and dishonesty.
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Oct 2nd, 2010 at 11:08:06 - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2) |
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas’s health and fitness system is at first glance an ironic and nearly humorous system set in place to effectively replicate a real-life simulation. But further analysis reveals its true purpose: to preserve constructive ethics throughout a game world based on immorality and corruption.
The core of the game tends to downplay the concept of being safe and healthy to such an extent that the implementation of a weight-influenced fitness system almost comes off as ironic. During a majority of the game, I faced struggles of life and death, constantly in feud with enemy gang members and corrupt cops. Yet amongst all of these near-death situations forced upon my character, I still had the responsibility to maintain my character’s physique through workout and diet routines. I thought to myself, this must be a joke! I have to dodge rival gang fire, risk my life infiltrating buildings, run from a corrupt police force bent on making me miserable, all while making sure I have three square meals a day and enough time to stop by the gym?
Why did the developers integrate such a light-hearted system into a game filled with far more significant issues? Fitness exists in San Andreas to encourage the subsistence of positive morals amongst its players. While the game completely allows for and often encourages the massacring of humans, it too intends for the player to provide a healthy lifestyle choice for the main character. After all, a gangster cannot run away from foes if he is overweight and out of shape. Through the game’s elegantly integrated fitness system, developers intend for players to maintain a minimal sense of morality while immersed into a world ran by gangsters and drugs.
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