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Drunk-driving group cross with GTA IV News
Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 News by Robert Purchese
US group Mothers Against Drunk Driving has voiced its disappointment with Grand Theft Auto IV for including a section where you can drive around while drunk.
MADD issued a statement on its website calling for the game to be re-evaluated by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board and for manufacturers to halt production "out of respect" for the millions that have been affected by drunk drivers.
"Each year nearly 13,500 people die in drunk driving crashes and another half a million are injured in alcohol-related traffic crashes. This is why MADD is extremely disappointed by the decision of the manufacturers of the game Grand Theft Auto IV to include a game module where players can drive drunk," read the statement.
"Drunk driving is not a game and it is not a joke. Drunk driving is a choice, a violent crime and it is also 100 percent preventable.
"MADD is calling on the Entertainment Software Ratings Board to reclassify Grand Theft Auto IV as an Adults Only game, a step up from the current rating of Mature and for the manufacturer to consider a stop in distribution - if not out of responsibility to society then out of respect for the millions of victims/survivors of drunk driving," concluded the statement.
Grand Theft Auto IV lets you go for a drink with some of your acquaintances and then drive home after if you can't be bothered to flag down a cab.
However, not only is driving around while inebriated extremely difficult, but it also sends the police after you if they happen to spot you on your journey. You could almost say there's a built-in deterrent.
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People are also killed every year by being driven over or shot or repeatedly kicked in the head. It was obvious this was going to come up. It's completely irrelevant as the whole drunk thing is an amusing novelty a couple of times, but after that it just becomes a hinderance and I suspect most people will go out of their way to avoid it.
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The way the camera moves around, I reckon it could be a deterent for those who might be tempted to drink drive in real life too!
Okay, probably not - but I'm definitely going to have Niko hail a cab each time, as on a big telly it really does make you feel sick!
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most recently on 01/05/08 @ 09:04
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Why can't anyone just admit that drink driving is terrible and ruins lives?. Gamers will always make excuses to protect their hobby. If your family was killed by a drink driver tomorrow you would soon shut the fuck up.
Er, I don't think anyone has said it doesn't. The point is that this group is misrepresenting - consciously or unconsciously - what's actually present in the game, presumably for the publicity boost associated with a controversial game. |
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why can't you just admit you're an idiot? If you can't tell the difference between real life and an amusing scenario in a game, you shouldn't be allowed out at all.
Clearly running around shooting people is worse than driving whilst pissed... but it's a FUCKING GAME! Moron.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 01/05/08 @ 09:29
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japstersam
01/05/08 @ 08:31
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LOL drunk driving in GTA is the funniest moment i've had in a game for ages. hopped in a car drunk with roman, the police came after me, i tried to drive away, crashed, got out of my car and tried to run away, when niko was so drunk he fell over and i proceeded to get arrested.
GTA FTW |
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This is hardly suprising. Anything controversial that has popular mainstream success will always attract special interest groups that will use it as an opportunity to seek exposure for their own cause. It's a cheap PR tactic, but it works - as is evident by the story here on EG and elsewhere. The best response is utter indifference.
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And I say once again, everyone Loves Homer Simpsons yet he drive drunk in a comic manner ALL THE TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Plus it's a game that's giving you choices. To stop you driving a car because you were drunk would just be silly. Plus it shows you the effects of drinking which is surly going to act as a deterent more then anything else. /edit to avoid double post
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most recently on 01/05/08 @ 09:59
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Mentalist(air)
01/05/08 @ 09:05
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Well, at least Rockstar didn't decide to scrap drink driving half way through, but left the assets for it in :)
To be fair to the pressure group, though, they are on-topic. Including drink driving in a videogame does trivialise it. And it's something a lot more impressionable young drivers (over 18, of course, to allow them to play the game in the first place) are more likely to do than lean out of their window and spray some random pedestrians with Uzi fire. They have the right to air their displeasure. |
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WinterSnowblind
01/05/08 @ 09:10
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I have to voice my disappointment with these types of groups for attacking GTA for this type of thing, when they clearly know little about the game, and are just doing it for publicity. As has been said, the drinking effects in the game are bad, really bad. I mean, it's done so well you will actually throw up just by looking at the screen while it's on. Attempting to drive while it's there is almost impossible and it gets the cops on you very quickly.
And it is only a game. I'm not going to say "Wow cool, Niko can drive drunk, so can I!" anymore than I'm going to shoot someone with a pistol because he dented my new car. And again, if anything the game shows how drunk driving is not a good idea, it shows you how dangerous and stupid it is and almost forces you to call a cab instead. |
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sanctimoniousqf
01/05/08 @ 09:22
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Doesn't Niko also say something like "I really don't think I should be driving" or some such as well when you get in the car? And iirc, it also takes a while longer to start the car - probably he kept missing the ignition with the end of the key ;-)
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@olilan - you're thinking of BADD (Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons). It was never called MADD.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%2... I'm happy for them to make the game adult only. Case closed. Doesn't affect me.
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most recently on 01/05/08 @ 10:30
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Holy crap, it's not been done yet:
WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!!! :( As for the actual argument: Sigh ... Despite having been drunk and being tasked with taking someone home, I didn't even think about getting into a car, because the amount of falling over etc. that was happening on foot convinced me it would be a significantly bad idea. So you could argue that it shows you the rather large negative effects of drink driving without real life consequences. In your face, MADD. |
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superdelphinus
01/05/08 @ 09:41
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personally i think they have a point with this. Or at least they could have made it beneficial not to drive. e.g if you try and drive pissed with michelle she will dump you and not speak to you for ages or something
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TriggerHippie
01/05/08 @ 09:57
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Thanks for the help Mothers! I always imagined the police and everyone else giving me big grins and two thumbs up if I ever tried driving pissed, but apparently its not a clever thing to do.
Good job they don't have a problem with me driving at high speed and casually mowing down pedestrians. I'd never get to work! |
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Mentalist(air)
01/05/08 @ 09:59
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clearly know little about the game, and are just doing it for publicity
Given that our own government spends hundreds of millions of pounds on advertising to discourage people from drink driving, I think hijacking the media juggernaut of GTA IV for this purpose for free is a good thing. Although I don't agree that the game should be (effectively, in the US) banned, like they're asking for. If Rockstar argue back that GTA IV portrays drink driving as a bad thing, then so much the better. |
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"And I say once again, everyone Loves Homer Simpsons yet he drive drunk in a comic manner ALL THE TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! " - Moz
Absolutely 100% hit the nail on the head. Not only does Homer simpson drive around drunk in a prime time cartoon show, marketed to adults and children alike, but he ususally never faces any reprecussions that are proportionate to those actions. I think Marge Simpson got done for a DUI, but that was once. Lame PR attempt. I hate people so bad I want to kill them. GTA made me this way. |
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TriggerHippie
01/05/08 @ 10:25
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"Who wants to place bets on there being an outrage in relation to immigration, probably from the Daily Mail?"
Where the hell have you been?
Edited 2 times,
most recently on 01/05/08 @ 11:26
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Mentalist(air)
01/05/08 @ 10:57
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If anybody is swayed by playing a game or watching a film they should be put into a nut house.
What, anyone who bought a sprung-slider phone after watching the Matrix? Anyone who started kickboxing classes after watching a Jean-Claude van Damme movie? Any kid who started go-kart racing after playing F1 2007 on their Playstation? |
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I haven't dared drive after drinking in the game yet, in the same way that I haven't done so in real life - because there are consequences in both.
I have done it however in WoW - I don't see anyone complaining about that (admittedly its not quite the same, but being inebriated in charge of a flying dragon seems more dangerous to be honest :P) |
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Monkey_Puncher
01/05/08 @ 11:33
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Strange, I LOL'ed the first time I went drink driving in the game. Sure it's not a game in real life, but then neither's running people over and smashing hookers over the head with a baseball bat, but it's damn funny in the game!
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All the cabs I take get stuck on 1) Scenery 2) People its knocked over 3) other cars and lorries. I get frustrated and press X to ask the driver to hurry, he then proceeds to ram other cars and more scenery and people, including police cars who dont seem to mind, and then gets stuck again.
So much for AI path finding. :p |
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