Monday 6 October, 2008

Instance number3:

This was the 3rd and last time I played GTA: San Andreas for this assignemnt (and overal too). The unrealistic nature of this game in addition to the annoying controls made it frustrating to play and not at all enjoyable.

After completing the mission where I had to give CJ a haircut I moved on to the next one. Now, my goal is to spray over some gratifies other gangs had created; respect is sounded a couple of times while watching the cut scenes.

The laws of GTA are primitive. The authorities play absolutely no role in the well being of this society. "Control" is defined by the gang members and is gained by the use of guns and violence. The only thing that is stopping CJ from stealing cars and driving over people is armed men who, although, are not part of the law enforcement. Relating all this to the material of this class I could say that the gang members are not following the principles of the social contract theory.

The idea of the Social Contract derives from the fact that people have to give up certain rights to a centralized government in order to preserve the well being and the order in their society. The way CJ and his friends act has nothing to do with that. Their choices are affected by their instincts. Survival and control of an area are feelings that human beings share with many members of the animal kingdom. The more civilized a person is the more he or she gives up these feelings for reason and rationality. The GTA: San Andreas society is far from being civilized. Although most of the surroundings (high buildings, bridges, parks) give us the idea of a rich society the acts of the people do not comply with it.

While walking in the streets of the city I saw men hitting police officers for no reason, gunmen shooting pedestrians for fun and policemen acting violently in remote places against unarmed civilians. I understand that such instances may be part of the every day events in the United States but a city where all this happens in every corner in every street would never be able to keep its residents for too long. This is because even gang members and armed men need quiet people and families that mind their own business in order to benefit from them. But in the real world, don't expect any family or peaceful civilians to stay in a city like this for too long. So, are GTA series a representation of the American way of life?

I spent around 4 hours playing the game and I understand that many aspects of it are influenced by real live events and experiences; but the city of Los Altos is more like a caricature of some parts of the American society and not a realistic representation of it.

Finishing this report I come the conclusion that the society of GTA follows no ethical lines that my mid would understand as reasonable and realistic. This is why games like this have to treated as only what they are. A way of passing your time and not a way of being better in real life.

Strong analysis of GTA. The game seems to have a warped sense of morals. The universe of GTA seems to be that off place where its inhabitants only abide by subjective moral codes, they only do what seems right in their perspective. The problem is that most gamers don't analyze games as far as the face value of the game, is it fun or are the controls intuitive, maybe those who find it hard to play video games can offer better reflections and observations of the games. I think you made another good point, does the game reflect our society or does it present a skewed reality. My question is does the design of the game force us to face social problems so that we might actually try to fix these problems in real life?