Grand Theft Auto?

[Azier the Swordsman]

I know there are a lot of controversies over this game in the Christian community. I was wondering: what's everyone's opinion on it? I have never played this game and am curious about it.

[Htom Sirveaux]

The thing about that game is that for all its violence, sexual content (more so in GTA:VC than GTA III), crude language, and drug content, it's all in context. You don't see anything in those games that you wouldn't see in a good gangster film. It aggravates me to no end when people in the media use Vice City to liken it to a piece of trash like, say, BMX XXX or the old game Carmageddon, which have no substance whatsoever and are a disgrace to the gaming community.
You can indeed take advantage of a prostitute to boost your health in GTA or go on a senseless killing spree just for the heck of it, but just because you can doesn't mean you have to. You're bound to kill a few pedestrians somewhere along the way, whether intentionally or unintentionally, it's inevitable. But it's not mandatory. Besides, senseless killing sprees yield consequences: Cops arrive in varying degrees, from yanking you out of your car and arresting you to wasting your sorry butt from a gun in a chopper above.
I myself have played both GTA III and Vice City. They really are great games in my opinion, you just have to not let it get to you. It is, after all, just a game. You kinda have to decide for yourself whether you can handle being totally immersed in the seedy, dark underworld of organized crime or whether it just bothers you too much. My advice: if you're curious, rent it first, play it a lot, see if you're comfortable with it.

[Michael]

I only like III. It's so unrealistic it's hard to take seriously.

[true_noir_chloe]

I love playing GTA Vice City. It's just such a fun game where you can play off the entire environment around you. That is so rare in games that GTA makes it a rare fun thing. It's one of the funnest games around. My son and daughter both play it and I haven't noticed them running around and gunning people down yet. I also, don't run over people with my car or lamp posts, which is pretty goood,

Don't take it seriously.

[Michael]

Exactly.

[PXDN Gamer]

Well me in my personal convictions just cant play it and also its not my type of game. Its a great game in design in control and did introduce somthing new. I really not a big fan of Rockstar corp I know some of the crew and there not all bad I just dont like how all their games that come out are the shock and awe as State of Emergency and Manhunt. Working in a game store you see allot of things that is disturbing like 5 year old talking about picking up prostitutes and caping ppl and there parents just smile and go on saying its not that bad "These are the same parents I see in church the next morning ahh tehy just dont understand watch what you stinkin kid is playing" grrrrrrr O well I am getting off topic and now coming off my soap box cause I could go on and on.

[true_noir_chloe]

Well then in your personal conviction don't play it. I don't think if you are personally bothered by it you should play it. Five-year-old kids? Whoa, that's starting them young. I have pre-teen and a teen-ager. We have been playing GTA games for at least two years. And, wow we're still Christians.

I haven't been personally convicted about this game so I guess it's all right to play. *hehe*

I really don't care for any other Rockstar games also. State of Emergency was a bust and boring with a capitol "B" and Manhunt is just plain old disgusting. What were they thinking?0_o

But GTA, what other game can you drive any car you want, rampage and then play around with molatov cocktails. The environment is the most interactive of any game I've played and my all-time favorite game is Driver 2. I love driving games - and I'm pre-paying on Driver 3 - booyah! Maybe that's why I love playing GTA, but if you can't play it then you shouldn't. I even get to fly around in a helicoptor on Vice City and that's pretty darn cool. *yeah*

For the seriously borderline psychos I think you shouldn't touch this game because goodness knows, you don't want to wake up the next morning stealing cars and shooting strangers on the street. My goodness, don't want to do that.

If you are of sound mind, however, and love to drive cars, motorcyles, boats and occassionally fly around in a helicoptor play GTA Vice City. Use a code and you can even make your cars fly. Now, that's cool. -_- *hehe*XD

[cbwing0]

I have played (and used to own, until someone stole it ) GTA 3, but not GTA: Vice City. Speaking as the kid who read Stephen King novels and played Doom 2 at age 9, I can honestly say that games like GTA do not bother me in the least.

In case you're interested, there is a reason why some people who witness violence in media commit violent acts, while others do not. There are a number of things that must happen before violent images lead to violent acts:

1.Attention-the viewer must attend to the violent acts; that is, they must pay attention to the violent aspects of event/image.

2.Repetition-Although the exact amount varies, repeated viewing with attention increased the probability of violent behavior.

3.Reward-The viewer must see the person committing the violent act either rewarded or not punished for their deeds. This creates an expectation for the viewer of what will happen if they decide to imitate the action. Seeing a role model commit a rewarded/unpunished violent act is more potent.

4.Expectation-The viewer must believe that imitating the violent act will have positive consequences in their situation.

5.Opportunity-The viewer must encounter a situation in which they believe violent behavoir will be rewarded.

Of course, other factors are important, such as mental illness, abuse, etc.; but these are the important factors for the average person.

I hope that clears up some confusion.