The release of Grand Theft Auto IV in April is approaching fast, and with is sure to come a frenzy of media attention, rage and calls for it to be banned (some countries such as Australia have already banned previous versions).
Targeted towards the adult market, Grand Theft Auto indulges gamers into an underworld of car theft, drug dealing, murders and the sex trade. But perhaps more controversial then everything else – the killing of police officers. Rockstar Games VP Dan Houser thinks game industry critics are still too hung up on GTA’s crime filled storey line.
"I expect it because we’ve had so much of it in the past," said Houser moments after a demo for the press. "I wish people would treat videogames the same as other media. They seem to not want to do that for reasons that I don’t understand. It’s a convenient enemy for people."
With improved graphics in GTA IV, the characters will have less of a cartoon appearance giving it a more realistic feel which is sure to raise eyebrows among activists. The heat surrounding the title may cause even more attention and efforts towards banning the game.
"If the graphics are slightly cartoony, we make sure the writing is slightly cartoony to match that," said Houser. "Obviously, the graphics have gone closer to realism, so we wanted everything else to be closer to realism as well."
Grand Theft Auto IV is set to release on April 29, 2008. Stay tuned to PS3Court for more reactions!
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Hahahaha! You have to be kidding me..... If they didnt see the media buzz coming,a nd arent prepared for it they have something else coming to them. GTA has always hade a bad media cloud hanging over its heads.
On the other hand, he is right about having too much attention on their game, yet Hollywood gets away with it every day. And if you look at FPS games their always almost targeted at visible minorities such as arabs. They always play the terrorist. You never see Africans playing the terrorists or even north americans (Timothy McVeigh ring any bells - the Oklahoma City Bomber? How about the Unibomber?)