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Grand Theft Auto IV (often abbreviated to GTA IV and GTA 4) is a sandbox-style action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North.^[1] It is the eleventh title in the Grand Theft Auto series and the first in its fourth generation. Grand Theft Auto IV was released worldwide (except Japan)^[2] on 29 April 2008.

Prior to and since its release, the game has been subject to a great deal of controversy.

Jack Thompson

In 2007, Jack Thompson, a then Florida lawyer who had previously campaigned against other Grand Theft Auto games, as well as Rockstar's previously released Bully, stated he would take various measures to prevent the sale of the game by Rockstar to minors.^[3] On 14 March 2007, Rockstar's parent company, Take-Two Interactive, filed a lawsuit^[4] against Thompson in Florida in an attempt to pre-emptively block him from trying to declare its games a public nuisance. It would be a crime to sell games declared to be a public nuisance, effectively banning such games, which they believe would be a violation of First Amendment rights.^[5] Thompson responded by filing a countersuit,^[6] accusing Take-Two of violating federal RICO statutes (the charge was later dropped), committing perjury, obstruction of justice, and conspiring against him with third parties to deprive him of his civil rights.^[7][8]

Both parties reached a settlement on 20 April 2007,^[9] and agreed to drop their respective lawsuits. Under the terms of the settlement Thompson is barred from suing to block the sale or distribution of any future games published by Take-Two or any of its subsidiaries. He will be restricted to communicating through Take-Two's attorneys on any future matters. Thompson will still be able to maintain his outspoken stance against the publisher's titles, as well as still being allowed to act as counsel in lawsuits brought against Take-Two by other parties. For their part, Take-Two agreed to drop its contempt of court lawsuit against Thompson regarding alleged improper conduct during the Bully court hearings in Florida,^[10][11] which, if found to be in contempt, could have resulted in Thompson seeing jail time.^[12][13][14]

Thompson filed a document with a federal court in Florida on 18 September 2007,^[15] that claims that the assassination target of a mission in GTA IV is a lawyer character based upon himself. When the main protagonist enters his office and pulls a gun on him, the lawyer yells "Guns don't kill people! Video games do!" Thompson has threatened that unless the similarities to himself are removed from the game he will "take necessary and proper means to stop release of the game".^[16]

On 25 April 2008, it was reported in Metro that Jack Thompson had written a letter to the mother of Strauss Zelnick, Director of Take-Two Interactive. In the letter, which strongly criticised the game, Zelnick, and his mother, Thompson called Grand Theft Auto a "murder simulator". He went on to say that "The pornography and violence that your son trafficks [sic] in is the kind of stuff that most mothers would be ashamed to see their son putting into the hands of other mothers' children". Thompson then questions Strauss Zelnick's upbringing and says that his mother should be ashamed of herself, and that she "...spared [sic] the rod and spoiled the child. That would explain why he has brought you, by the way he presently acts, to shame." He finishes by saying "Happy Mothers' Day, Mrs Zelnick, which this year is May 11, two weeks after your son unleashes porn and violence upon other mothers' boys. I'm sure you're very proud." Neither Take-Two interactive nor Rockstar Games have made any comment regarding the matter.^[17] Thompson subsequently claimed he sent the letter to Zelnick's lawyer, not his mother, and that the letter was formulated as a parody intended to induce feelings of "shame" in Zelnick.^[18]

Glenn Beck

On his program, Glenn Beck, a conservative US talk-radio host, used GTA IV as an example to make wider claims about the use of violent video games by the US military, repeating claims made by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman that the US military uses first person shooting games to de-sensitise soldiers to killing.^[19]

In the second segment of the show, Beck spoke to Jack Thompson and Gavin McKiernan, national grass roots director for the Parents Television Council. Thompson called the game "a murder simulator." and went on to make unsubstantiated claims about actions that the player could perform in the game. McKiernan added "This is really an adult product we're talking about" and went on to claim that research into media violence had shown the potential effect violent media could have on children. He went on to claim that there was a definite difference between violence in movies and violence in video games. Thompson said the game should be rated Adults Only, saying "the sex in the game was taken out so it could even be sold to adults in Australia." Thompson claimed that the ESRB rating for the game was "phoney", to appease large stores that refuse to sell adult rated games.^[20]

The game portrays and parodies right wing news channels and commentators like Fox News and Glenn Beck respectively through their Weazel News segments which play in the radio and on the TV during the game, as well as Liberal ones like MSNBC, through PLR radio.

Mural ad for the game on a wall in New York City, July 2007.

New York City officials

After the release of the first trailer for the game, New York City officials were appalled with the choice of their city as the inspiration for the setting of Grand Theft Auto IV, and said that a game like GTA does not represent the city's crime levels accurately.^[21] A spokesperson for Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, "The mayor does not support any video game where you earn points for injuring or killing police officers." Although no points are awarded throughout the game, the player is required to kill or injure police officers on certain occasions to advance in the game's main story.^[22][23] As a response, Jason Della Rocca, executive director of the International Game Developers Association, accused New York City officials of double standards, for criticising video games but not other forms of entertainment, such as books, films and television shows, which use New York City as the setting.^[24]

Edited release

While there is no official confirmation as to what was removed in the edited version of the game,^[25][26] blood pooling has been removed^[27].

Australia

Despite confirmation in February 2008 that the Australian version of Grand Theft Auto IV would not be edited in any way,^[28] Rockstar later told The Sydney Morning Herald journalist Jason Hill that the Australian version would be edited.^[29]

Grand Theft Auto IV was awarded an MA15+ rating on 11 December 2007. In a post on his blog, Jason Hill stated that a Rockstar spokesperson confirmed to The Sydney Morning Herald's video game section, Screenplay, that the company had produced a special version of Grand Theft Auto IV to comply with the Australian classification system. The spokesperson would not comment on what has been cut from the game.^[29]

Cuts in the Australian PlayStation 3 edition are as follows^[30][31]:

• When picking up prostitutes, you are not able to select your 'service'. Like previous Australian Grand Theft Auto releases, all sexual animations have also been removed. The car will simply lock-on to a rear view, and the car will bounce up and down.
• Blood pools do not ooze out of victims bodies. In the uncut version, bloody footprints also appear when walking through blood pools, and the same happens with bloody tyre tracks when driving through them. This is not available in the Australian edit.
• When characters are injured in the edited release, the injuries are of a lot less impact, "replacing graphic bullet wounds and blood patches with slight discolouration"^[31]

When it came time to release the game in Australia on the PC, however, Rockstar submitted a completely uncut edition to the OFLC to review, which they rated MA15+ without any editing or alterations. An official statement from Rockstar Games confirms this: "Grand Theft Auto IV PC has been rated MA15+ Strong Violence, Sex Scenes, Coarse Language and Drug References by the Australian Classification Office. The PC game is unedited in any way and identical in content to the international version." ^[30][31]

Therefore, in Australia, the PlayStation 3 edition of Grand Theft Auto IV remains cut, while the PC & Xbox 360 release has been released completely uncut.

New Zealand

It was announced on 15 April 2008, and subsequently reported across the Internet, that the New Zealand release would be receiving the edited Australian version^[32] with Take-Two Interactive Support Team citing "time scales and logistical reasons" as the reason^[33]. Later, on 5 May 2008, it was confirmed the original version of the game had been submitted to the OFLC^[34]. On 21 May 2008, the original and uncut game was now officially classified by the New Zealand OFLC thus legal to sell in the country.^[35]

Mothers Against Drunk Driving

The organisation Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) sharply criticized an in-game option that allows players to drive while intoxicated and called for a stricter rating on the game that would effectively ban its sale in the United States. "Drunk driving is not a game and it is not a joke," MADD said. "Drunk driving is a choice, a violent crime, and it is also 100 percent preventable." MADD is asking the Entertainment Software Rating Board to bump Grand Theft Auto IV's rating up to AO for Adults Only from M for Mature and calling for Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Games to consider stopping distribution out of a sense of social responsibility, or out of respect for those who've been hurt or killed by drunk drivers.^[36] The ESRB describes that the game includes "Use of drugs and Alcohol"^[37] Rockstar issued a statement to the Associated Press. "We have a great deal of respect for MADD's mission, but we believe the mature audience for Grand Theft Auto IV is more than sophisticated enough to understand the game's content."^[38] When attempting to enter a car while drunk in the game, the main character, Niko Bellic, will remark that he shouldn't drive drunk, and the player is encouraged to call a taxi instead. In addition to being extremely difficult to drive a car while intoxicated, in-game police will pursue the player if they are seen driving while intoxicated.

Chicago Transit Authority lawsuit

Take-Two has filed a lawsuit in response to the Chicago Transit Authority pulling ads promoting GTA IV from their property, violating a contract for the ads to go until June 2008.^[39] A CTA representative said that the ads were removed due to complaints in 2004 surrounding the ad campaign for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.^[40] Miami-Dade Transit might also be facing a similar lawsuit due to similar circumstances.

Little Lacy Surprise Pageant

On 16 June 2008 British newspaper The Sun reported the presence of an in-game internet resource called "Little Lacy Surprise Pageant" available on the in-game internet.^[41] This is a reference to the fake commercials heard on the fictitious radio stations in Grand Theft Auto Liberty City Stories. The fake site–www.littlelacysurprisepageant.com–displays a message from virtual authorities saying it has been closed down. It warns that anyone caught looking at it will be investigated and features the warning: “We see it all, we know it all," which is similar to the quote "Don't think you can't get caught. You are not anonymous." found at Grokster.com. The player's Wanted level immediately jumps to 5 stars, resulting in both police and FIB (Federal Investigation Bureau) involvement in their arrest.

The domain name address is just one of dozens of fake sites in GTA IV. Typing it into a real internet browser redirects users to the official website for the game.

No missions in the game allow players to act out the role of a paedophile, and neither Rockstar Games nor Take-Two Interactive have issued a statement regarding the inclusion of this content in the title.

New Hyde Park crime spree

On 27 June 2008, police arrested six teenagers who went on a crime spree in the town of New Hyde Park, New York. The group mugged a man, knocking his teeth out, attempted to car-jack a woman driving a BMW and smashed a passing van with a bat. According to the Nassau County Police, the teens claimed they were inspired by Niko Bellic perpetrating violent crimes in Grand Theft Auto IV.^[42][43]

Thailand taxi driver murder

On 4 August 2008, BBC Newsbeat reported that an 18 year-old student had been arrested in Bangkok, Thailand after he killed the driver of a taxi while attempting to steal it. Bangkok police captain Veerarit Pipatanasak stated "He wanted to find out if it was as easy in real life to rob a taxi as it was in the game."^[44] According to local sources, the student was playing the game in an arcade and wanted to rob the taxi driver to get money to continue playing the game.^[45]

As a result of this incident, the game was subsequently banned in Thailand.^[46]

Full-frontal nudity

The Lost and Damned expansion pack was condemned by parents group Common Sense Media who issued a public warning against the pack's content due to a full-frontal nudity scene during one of the cut scenes. They claimed the game was "more controversial than its predecessors" because it featured "full frontal male nudity".^[47]

References

External links

• www.rockstargames.com/IV, Grand Theft Auto IV Official website