Tuesday 22 September, 2009

So, this isn’t the first time I’ve played San Andreas, but it has been a few years. I played the PS2 version. I did not have a saved game, so it automatically started with the game’s story, which begins with the main character leaving an airport and then getting arrested. The cops knew him (“Carl”) and pocketed his money. They then begin to taunt him and threaten to frame him for murdering a cop. They then toss him out of the moving police car in one of the roughest neighborhoods of the city. Just by this opening sequence, one can tell that this game isn’t for children. The language is vulgar and the content is targeted for mature audiences.

After getting tossed out, you directed to get on a bike. I didn’t understand how to pedal and fell off in front of a gang. I decided to fight them with fists, but they had guns. I didn’t. Already I was off to a bad start, but this showed what kind of a game I was playing. Not suitable for minors and not glorified (not sure if that’s the right word). I fell off my bike in front of a gang, and was gunned down. The game desensitizes the player to death by flashing “wasted” after you die.

Once I got out of the hospital I followed the map to “CJ.” I stole a car to hasten my journey. Get it? Grand Theft Auto? Once I made it there the story picked up again. He’s in what appears to be the home he grew up in. He has flashbacks and mourns the loss of his mother, whose death brought him back to the city. We learn she was murdered. Carl and what appears to be a family member drive to the cemetery. And argument starts at the cemetery and we learn that for one, murder is common where Carl grew up. They leave the cemetery, and dodge a drive-by shooting attempt by a bunch of gangsters.

The action picked up again with me riding the bike out of harm’s way. Eventually I get a cul-de-sac where Carl and his buddies talk. Apparently I had completed the first mission and was done playing. What really stuck out to me was that after playing just one mission, it became clear that this was going to a very violent game.

How does flashing "wasted" on the screen desensitize players to death?

On the topic though, I always felt it was stupid that when you die, you just spawn back to life at the hospital. In most games, you die, and you have to reload the game, or in a sense, go back in time before you died. In-a-way, I can see this being a form of desensitizing. Like, maybe some kids/people might start thinking that if they die, they just respawn at the hospital or something and therefore don't fear dying lol