The arts, often times, can be a reflection of culture and society. It’s games like those in the Grand Theft Auto series that not only echo culture, but satirize it and bring to the forefront issues that are controversial. Because of the interaction nature of video games, the games themselves often become a matter of controversy – the Grand Theft Auto games are notorious for this. However, according to Chris Suellentrop in his review of Grand Theft Auto V, “The controversies that once surrounded the Grand Theft Auto games have begun to seem like sepia-toned oddities from another age.” To Americans, this may be. However, if history repeats itself, I believe that the game will come under greater scrutiny.
This isn’t to say that I agree with the past censorship of Grand Theft Auto games – I’m a huge supporter of games developer’s abilities to expand the medium of gaming and push boundaries. And looking at the past, controversy over games doesn’t always ignite immediately after their initial announcement or even their release. I’m looking specifically at Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, at the notorious “Hot Coffee mod” incident of 2005 in which a software patch was released which allowed a player to watch their in-game avatar have sexual intercourse with their in-game girlfriend. American politicians were up in arms against the game and the game industry as a whole, and as a result, Rockstar ceased production of that version of the game.
Many who examine the San Andreas controversy point out that the violent content in the game, while still controversial, was not under as much scrutiny as the sexual content. Indeed, this mirrors the perception that American popular culture is much more accepting of violence than it is of sexual content. Other cultures have had problems with not only Grand Theft Auto, but other games too. For instance, Australia banned and then later released a censored version of Fallout 3, another open world game in which drug use was a feature. The player could visibly inject morphine into the avatar’s arm, and Australia found this offensive because of its country wide problem with drug use. Japan banned Fallout 3 as well for the ability of the player to blow up a city with a nuclear weapon. Both the Fallout series and the Grand Theft Auto series are open-world games, meaning that the player mostly has a high degree of control over the action his/her in-game avatar takes.
Fallout 3’s Nuclear Bombing Content
While Grand Theft Auto V hasn’t been brought under the magnifying glass quite yet, there are some in-game features ripe with the possibility for controversy. Suellentrop, in his article, acknowledges one of the touchier features of the game in which the player is required to torture somebody, though he associates it with political commentary rather than a controversial feature. Indeed, part of Grand Theft Auto V’s unique appeal is its ability to satirize politics and culture, however, this particular feature of the game could easily generate controversy because of the player’s direct involvement in the action of torturing someone. I’m not saying that I find it offensive, but others might. And like the San Andreas incident, in which the sexual content was not discovered until later, there may yet be other potentially offensive content hidden within the game.
Despite Suellentrop’s article being a review, opening by reminding the reader of past controversies rang a bell with me as a gamer. I will say that the game looks excellent, despite potential public outcry – as Grand Theft Auto games time and time again prove.
Works Cited:
Suellentrop, Chris. “Grand Theft Auto V Is a Return to the Comedy of Violence.” New York Times 16 Sep 2013, n. pag. Web. 19 Sep. 2013.
Concerns about video game violence is one of the larger discussions in our society. The usual argument is that violent video games can encourage people and especially children to be violent by imitating the actions in the game. There have been various articles concerning how children mimic violent actions including the use of hand guns and driving. On the other hand, many do make counter arguments by referencing the ease of access to hand guns and cars for children. I personally don’t dislike Grand Theft Auto, but it will generate controversy.
We should recognize some cultures are more sensitive to certain violent videos games. Your example concerning Japan’s ban of Fallout 3 illustrates this perfectly. Japan is still extremely sensitive to the use of nuclear weapons because of World War II and now even nuclear reactors due to recent events. It is entirely reasonable for countries to ban certain games as it reflects their cultural norms and sensitivity to certain topics.
I never realized the existence of satire in the Grand Theft Auto series, therefore I would like to thank you for bringing my attention to that.
You brought up a great point about the weird double standards American society has with violence and sexuality. Due to the strong Christian base of societies moral values sex makes everyone publicly uncomfortable. It is present in all forms of entertainment. As an example, Japanese anime that is meant for 7-10 year olds classified for 13 year olds or higher here because of partial nudity and sexual references. And it works backwards like how most American games go up a rating or even face possible bans in places like Australia. I don’t think there has ever been a single GTA game that has managed to pass through Australia without several cuts in gameplay.
But as you said, countries’ standards for games come from the issues facing them. Despite America’s more tolerant attitude towards violence, I don’t think a game about school shootings would be nearly as accepted as a Call of Duty game.
And I think the satire is the most misunderstood part of games like GTA. GTA has a reputation for glamorizing the thug life by rewarding bad behavior. But if you look closely, you see the satire; you see how the vast majority of the characters in GTA are caricatures at best. So many of them follow outdated or ridiculous stereotypes.
You brought up great points about one of the most controversial games in history and showed how there are both sides to every point.
The question I have is do we as a culture accept violent acts over sexual acts? And why is that? I think that the true concern at the end of the day are the kids who are playing this game and the effect that it has on them because we don’t want young people (who might not be so able to process the game the same way a person who understands that this is simply just a game would) to be inspired by acts of violence. It is a problem all over the world, so the question is whether or not GTA is contributing or aggravating this problem.
Going back to controversial issues, are young people able to understand these issues? Although you may agree with the game’s expansion (even though I am not a gamer myself, I do as well; I am all for making technology better) we have to think about the young 7 year olds who are playing this game who may not be able to process that violence isn’t a good thing, that it’s not a way to solve problems.
This might have seem unrelated to your article, but it’s just some food for thought.
Janice Fong
I think this is definitely an intriguing topic and it would be interesting to perhaps see some long term studies of these effects. Meanwhile, no matter how many surveys are done, everyone’s reactions and perceptions of events are different. Thus, two people playing these games can come out with entirely different ideas. For this reason, I’m overall just confused by these games, and find it hard to comprehend why people play these. I understand some people find these games enjoyable, but at the end of the day, I feel there is little one may take away after playing this game for several hours. Thus, I am glad that these moments of violence or drug use in games are brought to attention and addressed in several cases because the effects that playing this game might have on someone is really unique to the person. If someone loves playing these games and sees no problem with it, go ahead, but in the hands of children or someone who may be easily influenced, then I think it is acceptable for these games to be censored. Controversy will probably come with this game as well, but really this is all because these perceptions whilst playing are all so unique that one person’s opinion might be completely different from the way someone else takes in the events happening in these games. Overall, I can understand why controversy is to come with this game, I think the field of video games is simply quite controversial in itself, but so be it, better to have people talking about your game, then not talking about it all, right?
First off, the fact that you brought up the controversy of San Andreas and Fallout 3 in different society such as Australia and Japan helped me to comprehend the whole issue about GTA game series. I knew before that whole debate existed and how the censorship related to gaming industry was prevalent among numerous games, but I was never familiar with specific examples. To me, arguing that violent games will increase violence in society seems a bit of a stretch- take Sims series as an example; many players partake in ruthlessly killing their sims by starving, drowning, and even burning them to death. However, this does not imply that all those players will eventually become more violent due to their actions in the game. But I’m not saying that no censorship should be performed. For instance, Japanese animation called Hetalia that personified countries during the World War II time period, received a copious amount of criticisms because of its failed satire. I am sure that if a game with a similar storyline as Hetalia came out, it would have been severely condemned as well.
You definitely have a interesting point of view regarding how different countries post bans on different games for differnt reasons. Personally I think this examplifies a conflict between the culture and history of different nations. Take the Fallout 3’s nuclear scene ban in Japan for example. We were able to accept this part of the game due to a lack of understanding of the power of nuclear weapons. Now this is not to say that we have no knowledge of its capabilities, but we still didn’t actually experience its effects. Having knowledge of what happens is still very different from experiencing the actual event. As a result I deem it very understandable why some nations is more sensitive to some topic than others.
I found your analysis of “Grand Theft Auto V” very insightful. I strongly agree with your statement that video games in some manner reflect our culture and satirize it. In the past, violence in video games has sparked outrage and parental control. Despite the numerous social and political initiatives against certain elements in video games, we see these ideas recur. While I respect art and the freedom of creativity for the video game developer, I find it is discomforting that there are companies that promote games with adult content to young children, all for the sake of entrepreneurship and entertainment. Your analysis of the question at hand made me realize the numerous times certain societies or nations have intervened to successfully prevent video games like Fallout 3 from promoting the use of nuclear weapons even in the virtual world.
At the same time, however, I feel that it is unreasonable to deem video games responsible of growing violence and crime in society. Children learn from their environment and video games have become a common source of entertainment for the present generation. Moreover, in general, video games use rating systems to ensure the safety of the children. Besides, if the child has secured parental consent to play a game that is perhaps not appropriate for his or her age, the society can’t be blamed. It is the duty of the parents to be aware of the content of the video game and use the rating as a guide. Lastly, with the growing popularity and overwhelming sales of “Grand Theft Auto,” I don’t think it will become subject to such controversy anytime soon.
Great analysis! Controversial instances such as violence and sex will always be prominent in many aspects of society. Sex sells is a famous saying that is very prevalent throughout most sources of media, and is very much true. Everything from songs to motion pictures usually contains some sort of sex. Violence is no less prevalent in our society as well as in our instinctual nature. If violence was not ingrained in our minds, we would never have wars, we would never get into fights, we would never have had a need for weapons (and Grand Theft Auto 5 would not have made a billion dollars in the first three days of sale). If sex were not ingrained in our minds, humans would have ceased to exist. Although it is likely that video games affect and influence the people who play the games, it is far better for someone to vent their anger in a video game than it would be to inflict physical harm to another individual.
As a gamer myself, video games have always been an outlet to just take my mind off the worries and stress that come with life. Also great job at mentioning the satire in the Grand Theft Auto series. Even though I have played several games in the series I have never really thought about it in that way, so I thank you for giving me a new perspective!
Your analysis of video games, such as the Grand Theft Auto series, satirizing and shedding some light on controversial issues, is a real eye-opener for me. I have dabbled here and there with the series, but I never made the connection that controversial video games do have a history of being scrutinized by the general public, as well as advocates of the idea that “violent video games promotes violence among young adults”.
I agree with your support of game developers testing their boundaries and seeing how far they can push it. There are plenty of games that are just as graphic and bloody as GTA – primarily Manhunt 2 (also developed by Rockstar) as an example, which became the first game to be banned in Ireland. This falls hand-in-hand with your commentary about specific countries banning games that incorporate country-specific controversial issues, namely Fallout 3 being banned in both Australia and Japan for different cultural reasons. With the increasing popularity and hype about GTA, parents should definitely take precautions when allowing their children to play, especially if they are underage. Parents should pay attention to the ratings of GTA, so that the game won’t fall into the wrong age group’s hands.