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Grand Theft Auto 4 was recently released, and sold over 6 million copies in the first week. It has raised a great deal of discussion over the controversial nature of the game. For those unfamiliar with the game, it centers around criminal behavior from auto theft to gang wars. It allows players to do just about anything imaginable, like shooting down policemen, doing flips with a city bus, drag racing ambulances, picking up prostitutes, and setting grannies on fire. When you hear people outraged about the violent and destructive nature of video games, this is most likely the game they are talking about.

Many argue that the game encourages violent behavior and gets kids interested in illegal activities at a young age. The game's release actually resulted in a string of crimes directly related to obtaining the games. An 18 year old boy was mugged and beaten over his newly purchased copy of Grand Theft Auto. Another man was stabbed while waiting in line at a midnight release of the game. Bystanders enjoyed what they thought was a promotional act, until police examined the man and rushed him to a hospital.

So my question to you is, do you think video games with bad morals encourage bad behavior and criminal activity? Are video games a major cause for the decay in our society? Do they merely serve as another media for the conveyance of this society's already decayed morality? Are they just games and nothing more?

Personally I think video games are essentially the same as movies, only with a higher degree of immersion and depth. They have nearly infinite potential of creativity and depend entirely on their developers for what they include. Video games range anywhere from Winnie The Pooh's Rumbly Tumbly Adventure to Grand Theft Auto. Just like movies they have rating systems to protect children from content not suitable to them. Just like most kids shouldn't be watching rated X movies depicting horrible violence, they shouldn't be playing rated Mature video games of the same vein.

I can't really blame these problems so much on video games as on society as a whole. Ultimately it rests on people's decisions on what they will put into their heads. I personally won't even play Grand Theft Auto due to the questionable morality of the game. I find it rather disturbing when I hear young kids whose parents gave them this game. It's like when I'm in a rated R movie and hear a three year old child screaming from the back. I think people need to be responsible to shelter kids from some of the darker sides of life while they're growing up.

While I am personally very much against this game, I think the real problem lies with society as a whole. I wish games like this weren't around, and I certainly wish people didn't flock to them so strongly. I think the fact that this game exists, and especially that it is so overwhelmingly popular, speaks very badly for our society as a whole. I think it's merely a symptom of a much bigger and more menacing problem.

On a lighter note, here's a few ideas that were posted for new missions that would make Grand Theft Auto 4 more morally appealing:

 

 

Mike, Your right it's part of a much bigger problem. In my opinion these hateful ideas you find within the game are like viruses. We get them when we come in contact with their host, in this case a really violent game. Other hosts for example are television and music. Think about how many kids have attacked other kids at school since the Columbine massacre was first reported. Kids are exposed to and learn about these horrible events from television. This game wouldn't make me go out and kill someone with a bat, but it might if I were already angry and insane. Maybe at the crucial time when someone needs to hear something good and loving, there is this "crap" instead. This game could give someone an idea about committing a crime by making it seem cool. The ideas in this game are not good ones and the people who make the game are a big part of the problem. They show no self restraint and take no responsibility. If I were them I would wonder how many crimes did I help contribute to. How many kids saw this garbage I made and were affected by it. Maybe this is the game makers way of committing a crime that there is no punishment at least if you have no conscience.

These companies may have a legal right to pollute our world and I do believe the right to free speech is an important one. But, this game is clearly worthless and in my opinion so is the company that makes the game and the people who work there, who are not forced to work there. Yes that's really strong stuff but they deserve it. The only way we can stop the spread of these negative ideas is to stop buying games like this one.

I think the real issue is the just poor parenting.

 I'm not going to sit here and claim that violence doesn't promote continued violence. (Note the word promote, doesn't mean that it directly leads to but there's definitely a link between exposure to violence and the continuing cycle - case in point, the trend in our very own society.) However, I believe that the violence being displayed and performed by society is due to an overall negligence in proper parenting. What children watch, repeat, and condone is beyond me at times and it's not just from video games - but a whole host of media and direct, real-life experiences.

I for one really enjoy "violent" media - not necessarily in my video games but definitely in my movies. I don't run around and kill people, nor does the thought cross my mind. It's not a reasonable solution to a problem. However, I've had well over two dozen years of right and wrong instilled in me by way of my parents. They also adhered to and taught me to respect the rating system. It was there for a reason. It didn't matter if my friend down the street was allowed to watch rated R movies at age 13, I wasn't. What was great is that my friend's parents also respected this and it wasn't until I was 16 did I watch my first rated R film - in the company of my parents and they had already watched it. By this time, I was more than equipped for how to handle issues in a reasonable manner (or at least enough to know violence was NOT a viable solution) and I could definitely distinguish between media and reality.

Ultimately playing these games, watching these movies, listening to controversial music is a personal choice. Staying educated as a parent, educating your children, and knowing what your children are exposed to is the way to turn this wheel around - not targetting the video game industry or the media industry.

If parents did instill the proper morals and values into their children, do you think we would have the problems we have today to the same extent? I think the media is instilling terribly wrong morals and values into our children, and I can't support that. But I have to wonder, is the real problem that the media IS the parent that dictates the morals of our society because our kids lack parents who will be there for them and teach them what's really right and wrong? It begs the question, how many parents are angered at their children's lack of morals and blame it on media. It's so much more convenient to accept that society as a whole has a problem and your kid is just a victim of it. It's so much easier to direct your anger and disgust at how your child has turned out on a nameless, faceless stranger rather than your own self.

 It's true parents have the ultimate responsibility and kids that have great parents have an advantage.  They tend to be more emotionally stable, less fragile and not as vulnerable to games like this.  But what about kids who don't have that type of support and guidance.  These games are made for kids for the most part and that means all kinds of kids. Some are stable and have had good lives and others have been neglected and abused.  I know adults play these games too.  I have no idea how they have time but I know some adults do somehow make time.  These games however are primarily focused on kids and that is just DEAD WRONG AND EVIL PERIOD.  I don't care if it's legal.  I agree it should be legal.  But they advertise to kids and they know exactly what they are doing.  This negative evil stuff is more dangerous than smoking in my opinion.  At least smoking doesn't pollute your mind.   Your mind is your most important asset as a human being and the ideas in these games are poison to concepts such as love and hope.
 

I really do not believe that the Grand Theft Auto series is targetted at children. Legally, it is to be sold only those who are 18 and older. I fail to see how that's targetting children :X. The target demographic for gaming is no longer children, but rather the biggest money making demographic is the 20-somethings. Generally it's 22-28 year old men, though the female population in gaming is making a very strong rise and I see much more marketting being targetted to include them. I can't tell you how many commercials featuring Nintendo DS in the hands of women I have seen in the past few days. Ultimately the decisions still rests in the individual.

Unfortunately in our society, regardless of the intended target audience, kids still end up being exposed to just about everything. I'm glad to see the industry also marketing games that girls can enjoy too. My girlfriend is really cool about video games and she will play along with us guys on Halo and other more "manly" games. But we had such a great time together playing Rock Band, which is more universal in its appeal.

I am frustrated that we can find any more positive entertainment.  When I look for movies and games that are positive, it's slim pickings.  It would be nice if there were more movies and games that had positive content.

This is one reason I really appreciate the strides Nintendo has made to produce family friendly games that are still enjoyable. Mario, Donkey Kong, Kirby, and Pokemon are all very family friendly games that I let my 7 year old sister watch and play. There are many educational games on the market from Nintendo including great puzzle games, and even games designed to stimulate your brain's learning centers. They also employ a system of "friend codes" on their network which make sure users have met outside the games so children aren't exposed to strangers in online gameplay. I have been very impressed with a lot of their efforts to make gaming the safe and fun pastime it was originally designed to be.

 I laughed pretty hard at that picture of GTAIV with consequences lmfao.

but on topic, I dont think these games are what sets of people to do the things they do. I just think people are using them to blame for when they get caught. They have to blame something dont they? Videos Games would be the easiest for me to think of