Saturday 4 October, 2008

When I played GTA 3 the first time, I wasn’t too shocked by anything in the game. I’ve played GTA 4 and heard so much of the hype and negative publicity that the games have been getting, that in that way it was pretty much what I was expecting. I was prepared to take the game at face value, however, after I played a while, I feel it became a little more to me.

I don’t have any doubts that the game is excessively violent and I won’t argue that it contains sexual content, but I do think that there is a misconception about why the game is made the way it is. Game companies make what sells, and violence sells. As a nation, nothing shocks us anymore. We are so numb to the concept of real suffering that watching innocent bystanders being hit by cars is funny to us. I honestly believe that if game makers thought fluffy bunnies and lollipops would sell, we’d have games about that. I don’t think it’s wrong for theses companies to turn a profit off our addiction (with a disclaimer that the game is rated M…seven year old Jimmy shouldn’t be playing it because he doesn’t yet understand irony.)

However, I do think the people making the GTA games have more of an understanding of American culture than we give them credit for. They may in fact be doing us more service than harm. The world of GTA is so morally corrupt; the violence is so excessive, that it serves to make a statement about us as a country. The game makers are making fun of the very people who are purchasing this game. The overt sexuality, the racial stereotyping…..this “controversy” is a mirror for the American people.

Very interesting. Ive yet to hear a thesis stating that GTA acts as a satire of American culture. The problem is that people do not see anything but a game, how might designers, if GTA is suppose to be satirical, make that more apparent?