The Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series began as a bird's eye view sandbox game where the player is a low-level criminal going on missions for the mob and various other characters. Before the release of the wildly popular Grand Theft Auto III (pictured above) the older top down games (GTA 1 & 2) were made available for free online. After the release of the revamped and controversial 3rd installment the first two games were repackaged and remarketed to some success. The games most prominent claim to notoriety is the political clamor caused by the the violent and sexual aspects of the lastest itterations of the game. The game has inspired three direct sequels as well as four spin-offs across the PlayStation, Game Boy, PC, PS2, XBox, and soon to be released on the PS3 and the XBox 360.
Storytelling in GTA
While the first two games on the PlayStation did not garner much noteriety for their innovative gameplay outside of gaming circles, Grand Theft Auto III was very highly anticipated because it brought the gameplay elements into 3D gaming on the most popular video game system of the time, the PlayStation 2. The true go-anywhere and do-anything sandbox gameplay that is becoming more and more popular was the cornerstone of GTA's innovation. The player could choose to follow the main story line of a nameless criminal in Liberty City, or they could take their nameless criminal and do anything from making money working as a cab or ambulance driver to stealing a fancy car, picking up a prostitute, having sex with her in an alley, and then killing her to take her money. The player may follow narratives and sub-narratives by simple exploration of the city, which themselves lead to new palces to explore, further narrative elements, and ultimately a sense of advancement for the player. It is the simulation of a real world, where story elements are randomly distributed, that makes this so compelling. This becomes important to the narrative as the player does not find himself trapped in a linear storyline. The amount of freedom the player recieves empowers them into feeling the world is theirs, and not the authors.
Conservative Public Outcry
Much of the controversy over GTA's content began at the federal level. Major opponents to Grand Theft Auto include senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), and the notorious Jack Thompson. While the controversy initially was over the game's brutality and violence, the GTA: San Andreas "Hot Coffee" mod raised outcry on the games sexual content. In the Hot Coffee modification, gamers were using hacking software such as Code Breaker to access content which was otherwise unavailable. It was this mod that prompted the suspension of the production, the change the rating of the game to 'Adult Only', and a subsequent rerelease of the game without this content for the purpose of regaining a 'Mature' rating. This also led to a lawsuit against Take Two Interactive. Many politicians have since began scrutinizing the ESRB and industry as a whole for not doing enough to keep violent games out of the hands of children. In particular, representatives in California are vigorously seeking to make the sale of a Mature game to a minor illegal.
Links
- Link to the ESRB's wikipedia page, so you can read what the ratings for games are and what they're looking for.
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