kaching said:
Why would you have more faith in "all those kids i see on the 21 muni line each day" to correctly interpret the message of a movie (rather than just revel in its violence) vs. keep a videogame in perspective?
i think the point was that, at least in those movies, the message is there. i'm not sure if it is in GTA:SA or not, but i know a lot of people (casuals mainly), who play GTA just to do random acts of violence, like to see how long they can cause havoc and hold out against the cops. And i'm not just talking about kids at home with no supervision. i'm talking about grown men as well. The difference is that at least most adults can differentiate between the game and reality, and realize the consequences of replicating what happens in the game in real life. i'm reminded of the 13-year old who brought a gun to class and killed a schoolmate or teacher because of something that happened they did to him the day before, if i remember correctly. He didn't really think about his actions. He just had the gun to scare them. i don't even think GTA was released on PS2 at the time, but it's the minds of kids like that are what i'm worried about.
i don't think Rockstar should censor their games any more than they have. i think the the thread starter, chespace, and others have simply brought up valid points about the content of GTA in today's context. i can't believe that, on a forum of gamers, some of you can't see the simple difference between a static medium like movies and one that's dynamic to the user like games.
Whats the benefit of having a plumber jump on platforms and turtles?... its fun?
It's an essential gameplay mechanic. "Is it fun?" Were the Mario games that featured it fun?
in fact, I don't care if Rockstar markets this with kids in mind an targets kids/teens, as long parents know what they kids eventually play, and there are laws to make sure the purchases of this game are for adults only...
i do care if they intentionally market games like this to kids. In my eyes, it's no better than cigarette companies marketing to kids. In both cases you have something which is intended for adult use under the belief that children aren't mature enough to understand the ramifications of using it. Marketing a product that can have lifelong negative effects to children is criminal.
Before someone brings it up, i don't wholeheartedly believe in an arbitrary age for adulthood either, especially not 18 seeing the condition of a lot of 18-year olds these days, but it's better than not having a system like this in place at all.