New York grumbles about GTA

By Tom Bramwell Published 2 April, 2007

Crime? Here? Nonsense!

We know next to nothing about Grand Theft Auto IV or what you'll do in it, but that hasn't stopped various politicians and other public figures in New York from warming up their disapproval. Or rather, it hasn't stopped the New York Daily News from ringing them up and painting a picture.

"Setting Grand Theft Auto in the safest big city in America would be like setting Halo in Disneyland," City Councilman Peter Vallone supposedly told the NY Daily News. Anyone would think it was fiction! Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that he didn't "support any videogame where you earn points for injuring or killing police officers". Which is handy, because up to now we'd assumed he did.

GTA IV isn't the first game in the series to take place in a fictional version of New York (or even the second, for that matter), but it's certainly the first one whose trailer on Eurogamer TV is getting a link from this news story. Perhaps you'll go and watch it. Or you could kill the time until it comes out for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 19th October 2007 by Slitherlink instead.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (23) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • inomine #1 5 years ago

    An actual article would be nice ;)

  • Tomo #2 5 years ago

    What's going on?! 5 articles at midnight on Sunday?!

    Has Bramwell got insomnia? Is raups paying EXTREME overtime? Is the US Editor actually working now and not got his own avatar yet? Is it an extremely poor set of late April Fool's jokes?!

    /explodes

  • Steroyd #3 5 years ago

    Early bird captures the worm?

    err... Tomo one could ask why are you posting at 1:32 in the morning?

    ....my excuse is that I've just randomly woke up and decided to browse the web on PSP...in bed... without moving an inch.

    There is just nothing uninteresting enough for me to go back to sleep. :/

    /watches ITV

    zzzzZZZZzzzz

  • BadBoyBonner #4 5 years ago

    Seems the grumbles are few in number! lol
    Edited by BadBoyBonner at 02/04/07 @ 02:21

  • ruckus #5 5 years ago

    Maybe it's white noise?

  • Salato #6 5 years ago

    Words? Here? Nonsense!

  • cyber_nicco #7 5 years ago

    Grumble, grumble, grumble...

  • JayeM #8 5 years ago

    Hmm...

  • Cataferal #9 5 years ago

    But isnt silence golden? Or something?

  • Mageme #10 5 years ago

    Good article...

  • mkreku #11 5 years ago

    Eurogamer's most accurate and well thought out news article ever.

  • Genji #12 5 years ago

    I thought there were too many ads on the front page before! This is just getting ridiculous! ;-)

  • StormRider #13 5 years ago

    nice title, shame there's nothing else to read.

    oh, there is.
    Edited by StormRider at 02/04/07 @ 09:16

  • Sir_TimAlot #14 5 years ago

    ermmmmmmmmm isn't this horribly lazy journalism from New York Daily News at least 6 years too late, pretty sure Liberty city in GTA's first 3D incarnation was based on New York. Where was the outcry from Miami, L.A, San Fransico and Las Vegas.You gotta love easy puplicity though!
    Edited by Sir_TimAlot at 02/04/07 @ 09:31

  • IAmBatman #15 5 years ago

    Las Vegas did actually try and complain about Rainbow Six: Vegas. But essentially there's nothing they can do to stop someone from setting a game in a city.

  • Sir_TimAlot #16 5 years ago

    I'm sure I remember in an article in some mag recently that more copies of a game are sold in America if its set there, those crazy xenophobes. Also wasn't this the reason the all Jap Dev team decided to set Dead Rising in a cleary American setting or was that just because the movie it wasn't based on was set in a similar location, oh well whatever, GTA Hull will have to wait.

  • Nobuo #17 5 years ago

    Selling porno to children? I don't even remember a child being in GTA in it's entire history.

    ...Why the hell did I just make a serious comment?

  • Madder-Max #18 5 years ago

    "Setting Grand Theft Auto in the safest big city in America would be like setting Halo in Disneyland,"

    After 9/11, thats the funniest thing I have read in a while....not that I thought 9/11 was funny.........what i mean is that to say NY is the safest city after 3,000 odd office workers lost their lives.....
    Edited by Madder-Max at 02/04/07 @ 15:20

  • glaeken #19 5 years ago

    Funny how they don't seem to have any issues with all the Gangster type films that have been set in New York.

  • SomaticSense #20 5 years ago

    "Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that he didn't "support any videogame where you earn points for injuring or killing police officers". "

    What game's this then? Cause it ain't GTA. Neither is GTA 4 set in New York, but a fictional city called Liberty City, which is a bit like New York. So I would love to see them try a lawsuit.

    If these people can't be arsed to do even basic research into whatever they are complaining about, then they should just shut the fuck up. Otherwise they just look like idiots by giving away free pubilcity.
    You'd think they'd learn by now that probably the only reason Rockstar has been able to fund the continued production of these games is exactly because of people like this guy, who hasn't got the simple fucking logic to shut his mouth.

    So this is a thanks to you mate, for allowing me opportunity to play these great games because of people like you having such massive gobs and keeping these guys in business :)

    Oh, and of course, New York is completely safe and crime free.......

  • GitSomE_UK #21 5 years ago

    Hmm Halo in Disney Land, now there's a mod I'd pay for.

    Pistol whipping Mickey Mouse FTW!

  • secombe #22 5 years ago

    If these people can't be arsed to do even basic research into whatever they are complaining about

    I'm pretty sure EG said it was in New York when they published the trailer, but I couldn't be arsed to argue the point. So if the specialist press can't get it right...

    Oh, and of course, New York is completely safe and crime free.......

    Spent a few months there in the past 5 years and not been to another city in the UK or US that has felt safer, hell I feel more worried walking through my local town in the middle of the night than I do in most of NYC. Sure there is crime, but considering the total population there it's very very safe.



  • davisorle #23 5 years ago

    Post deleted at 20:44:35 16-04-2012