Sunday 5 October, 2008

After playing through GTA: San Andreas some more, another thing I have found interesting is Rockstar has woven health and physical fitness into the game. In almost all other video games a player does not have to worry about keeping their character fit. All they have to worry about is making sure that their character survives and level up. Not so with San Andreas. CJ (the main character) will deteriorate if not taken care of properly. A combination of eating just enough food, walking instead of riding, and going to the gym keep him from becoming obese and being able to do less on missions.
I find this neat because I believe it says something about our health conscious society. It is not just enough for people to be concerned with their own health; now they have to be careful even in their video games. I think it encourages kids who play to take some of this health knowledge they gain and apply it in their own lives. What makes this even more intriguing is that Rockstar Games, a company hardly known for making ethical games, chose to put into their controversial franchise a lesson on health. I guess that no matter what you think about letting players kill cops and innocent civilians, everyone agrees that you should at least be healthy while doing it.

Interesting view. However lets hope that the majority of GTA players are not under aged. However, it does discuss a problem that many people, and gamers especially, face being obesity and other health issues. It is a good subliminal method to get players to think about exercising and committing to a diet. Good observation.