“We make games for the people that play them. We don’t make them for the Daily Mail.”
So says Dan Houser, the producer who co-created the Grand Theft Auto computer game series, one of the most successful of all time.
While sales have gone through the roof, the gangster game has attracted waves of criticism from newspapers, parents’ groups and politicians, including Hillary Clinton.
She says the series demeans women and contributes to a “silent epidemic” of sex and violence in the media that could harm children.
“They’re playing a game that encourages them to have sex with prostitutes and then murder them. You know, that’s kind of hard to digest,” she said in a speech in 2005.
With the fourth instalment finally here, Houser is unrepentant about its trademark mix of fights, car-jacking and bad language and says computer games are unfairly singled out for criticism.
Violent TV shows like “The Sopranos” or films like “The Godfather” win handfuls of awards, while games with adult themes come under intense fire, he says.
“Most of it’s just Ludditism and people having a fear of things they don’t understand,” he said in an interview. “We see games as being an emergent art form…that will eventually supplant or challenge movies.”
Supporters say there is no established link between computer games and violent behaviour.
And anyway, games with adult content are given a rating which means shops can’t sell them to children.
Do you think there should be stricter controls on violent video games or is the focus on games rather than TV, films and the Internet unwarranted?
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Yes, the violence in video games has been shown in studies to “normalize” killing for people who play them frequently. These games are much more realistic than the video games played 20 years ago and more realistic than a couple of young kids playing “cops and robbers” outdoors. I know of teens who come home from school playing these video games for hours with no supervision. I have no problem keeping these games from my kid, but I am worried about others from her generation being desensitized to violence. How will I protect my daughter from the next kid who decides to shoot up a school, or carjack a young woman at gunpoint? There is no need for these games to be on the market. The gaming companies are choosing money and greed over social responsibility.
- Posted by JenniferAnimals are violent and kill each other sometimes… and they certainly don’t play video games!
- Posted by Matti don’t believe video games cause violence. yes some of them are a bit over the top but if anyone suggested banning violent games then whats to say that news about violence should not be banned from t.v as children will see that.
Whether there are violent games out there or not it won;t stop people from being violent.
- Posted by m thompsonIf your sooo concerned about things that induce violance in poeple, Ban Alcohol and Guns. Stop wars, than go play a video game
- Posted by PffffIt’s not the game or the genre or the media type that concerns me - this sort of stuff which panders to the lesser minds has been around for eons - I’m just not convinced that prolonged exposure to high levels of graphic violence and certain behaviour types is not bad for ones balance and attitude. I certainly see adolescents mimicking behaviour genres and dress codes regularly and, no doubt, the Police would have a negative view about the number of adolescents who steal cars and try to avoid aprehension by endangering all and sundry in mindless and sometimes fatal car chases.
But, at the end of the day, some kids read comics, some kids listen or play music some kids play sport, some kids study or work and some kids play video games…it’s not the games that I object to it’s the lowlife stereotyping that these games and the very clever suits who market them promote. Rusty.
- Posted by rustyThe average age of a gamer is 28. Perhaps the perception of games are for children could be expanded on if the industry was given enough trust to build something for adults without all the constraints of people who know nothing about nor play games - Yet demand to regulate what gamers play.
It would be like the TV and Film board mandating that films and TV shows can only be made for under 18’s.
Utterly ridiculous. Personal responsiblity for children is the main issue - not what the MIGHT see or MIGHT do - Turn off “Sex & The City” or “Desperate Housewives” or any modern combat sport and yell at your kids for playing that “violent rubbish”.
The hypocracy and inability to deal with or understand the industry should not be taken out on gamers. We’re not gun owners, we own consoles. If you can buy a gun in the US easier than you can buy GTA IV - Then what’s really the problem?
- Posted by JoshViolence in video games is little different than other forms of violence. Whether a movie, music or video games violence should not be glorified. I can’t understand how any sane person would want to mimick shoot and killing. You are what you do.
- Posted by TonyWhat really sickens me is the complete hypocrisy of the people running this country. Does ANYONE remember when (lots of) middle school kids were getting (really) hurt because they were trying to recreate WWE (fake wrestling) moves? Remember how much was done to ban the WWE? That’s right, none. Nada. Zip. No one did a damn thing. But here comes a video game, and everyone freaks out. Not to mention, as someone mentioned, Postal was a far worse game and received NO criticism. The only reason GTA gets ragged on is because of its popularity. That makes me sick too, cause obviously it’s not about how “bad” it is, it’s about how popular it is.
- Posted by SwissArmyBudI play GTA after playing D&D and listening to Ozzy!
Seriously though, parents *must* take time to figure out what their kids are doing. Then educate them, talk to them, and reinforce comprehension of fantasy vs reality. Regulating what your child does is not up to the government, the content producers, stores, schools, or (independent?) ratings boards. It is up to the parents.
- Posted by Chad