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Sep 26th, 2011 at 23:42:27 - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2) |
Day 2
After playing Grand Theft Auto San Andreas for the first time in what must have been 4 years, I have to admit, picking the game up and playing it for “Day 2” came about with ease. With respect to my initial evaluation of the game, as being a game developed and marketed by ethically challenged individuals, the second time around left a much lesser negative impact on me. This must have been a result of my low expectations set forth by my “Day 1” experiences. Unfortunately my eagerness to quit the game, the first day, as soon as the 30 minutes were complete left me with an unsaved game.
Starting from scratch, I once again began increasing my respect levels while in desperate search for finding out the objective of GTA San Andreas. Eventually I reached a challenge which required that I spray paint different locations within the city; sadly I wasn’t able to find any of my destinations. Thus, I began creating my own challenges such as how high I could get my wanted level to- ethical? After committing genocide and beginning to feel tired of doing the same thing over and over again I began to reflect on my experience.
While playing this game I had shot, ran over, knocked out, and stabbed hundreds of people- did this foster any feelings of guilt or remorse? Nope! So why did I not feel anything while the images I was witnessing images which were representations of some of our biggest fears? The answer to this question, I believe, lies in what I said in the first paragraph: I knew what to expect. When I played this game during day 1, I couldn’t believe the things I was hearing and the seeing. But now with my expectations set at a certain level, my actions within the game represented a lack of humanity. At this point the ethics of the game come to question. Simply said, my day 1 experiences desensitized me to the images I was viewing during day 2. Therefore, the risk video game developers run when creating such games, is creating a completely desensitized person out of the players that are constantly exposed to their products.
Sincerely,
Dr. Game
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Sep 24th, 2011 at 10:05:38 - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2) |
Dear Reader,
It has been many years since I have played G.T.A. San Andreas, and now I was a bit excited to play this game from the perspective of a sociologist. The first few minutes were spent getting used to the controller and shuffling through my miniscule collection of videogame memories in search for the objective of this game. After committing a number of felonies, a level which in reality would result in capital punishment, I remembered the map at the bottom right of the screen and began my trek through the ghetto to CJ’s house. In 45 minutes of playing this game I had completed one mission and part of the second. At the end I was left with multiple questions and no answers. What is my objective in the game? Why did Ryder send me to get a haircut that I didn’t want? And most importantly how could my parents have bought this game for me when I was in eighth grade?
Once I began to play this game there came a point at which I was actually frustrated at how so many of my peers played this game when we were all barely teenagers. The language used is vulgar, improper, and offensive. In addition, from what I witnessed, there is no useful objective and ultimately playing such a game serves to purpose. In 45 minutes of playing San Andreas, I never once encountered a white character or a black one that used proper English. Simply put, this game is a collection of stereotypes regarding black people and poor neighborhoods. As a result of this experience, I truly believe that the marketing for this game was unethical as is the game itself.
From what I remember, there weren’t too many people above the age of 18 or 20 that played San Andreas yet everyone under 15 couldn’t stop talking about it when it first came out. This leads me to think that the marketing for this game was unethical since it targeted individuals who were still not mature enough to evaluate the game for what it is: a vehicle for stereotype distribution. Nonetheless, it was rated for mature audiences; but their marketing was so effective (unethical) that if a parent didn’t buy the game for their young boy they ran the risk of out-casting their child from his social surrounding.
Now I must go and earn some more respect points…see you tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Dr. Game
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