Vip3r
July 2nd, 2008, 02:21 PM
http://media.popularmechanics.com/images/gta-bat-430-b-0608.jpg
Parents and lawmakers have been alarmed for years about the violent, lawless nature of the Grand Theft Auto series, worrying that the video game (http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/technology_news/4271367.html#) might encourage its players to commit real acts of sociopathic violence. Though we still contend that the game doesn’t have to be all about beat-downs—GTA IV has plenty of non-violence in it (http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/technology_news/4261575.html)—we’re in the minority.
You’d think that the controversy would lead developer Rockstar Games to try its hardest to show that nothing in GTA IV is going to trickle from the screen to real life. You’d be wrong. Because they couldn’t legally send us an Uzi thorough the mail, the company (http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/technology_news/4271367.html#) sent us the 14th most deadly weapon in the blockbuster game’s new arsenal: a metal bat. The Grand Theft Auto IV baseball bat produces an unsettling ringing sound when you hit someone in the head (we tried it—gently). It just arrived with a press release informing us “‘Tis the Season To Swing Big and Go GRAND,” promoting GTA IV as a perfect stocking-stuffer for the Christmas season.
But who needs the game when you’ve got the bat? In the spirit of giving, we can now give a GTA-style beat-down to random strangers on the street, just like our favorite Eastern European criminal thug, Niko Bellic. And when the cops catch us, we can say that we never would have done it were it not for the influence of violent video (http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/technology_news/4271367.html#) games. And for the first time, we’d be right!
http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/technology_news/4271367.html
I WANT ONE OF THESE SO BAD!!!
Parents and lawmakers have been alarmed for years about the violent, lawless nature of the Grand Theft Auto series, worrying that the video game (http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/technology_news/4271367.html#) might encourage its players to commit real acts of sociopathic violence. Though we still contend that the game doesn’t have to be all about beat-downs—GTA IV has plenty of non-violence in it (http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/technology_news/4261575.html)—we’re in the minority.
You’d think that the controversy would lead developer Rockstar Games to try its hardest to show that nothing in GTA IV is going to trickle from the screen to real life. You’d be wrong. Because they couldn’t legally send us an Uzi thorough the mail, the company (http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/technology_news/4271367.html#) sent us the 14th most deadly weapon in the blockbuster game’s new arsenal: a metal bat. The Grand Theft Auto IV baseball bat produces an unsettling ringing sound when you hit someone in the head (we tried it—gently). It just arrived with a press release informing us “‘Tis the Season To Swing Big and Go GRAND,” promoting GTA IV as a perfect stocking-stuffer for the Christmas season.
But who needs the game when you’ve got the bat? In the spirit of giving, we can now give a GTA-style beat-down to random strangers on the street, just like our favorite Eastern European criminal thug, Niko Bellic. And when the cops catch us, we can say that we never would have done it were it not for the influence of violent video (http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/technology_news/4271367.html#) games. And for the first time, we’d be right!
http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/technology_news/4271367.html
I WANT ONE OF THESE SO BAD!!!