Grand Theft Auto: Regent Park Options

[Pyrocy]

...Or, the strangest YouTube documentary I have seen. It consists of inner city youths, possibly younger than 12, discussing what they do in GTA. In some lights, it fascinates me but in others, it disturbs me. Take it for what you will but you have to admit that these kids have a lot of heart in defending a franchise that, according to the ESRB and jaded child experts worldwide, is something they shouldn't be playing in the first place.

[youtube]oCR1CaLCmNQ[/youtube]

[Juice]

Hmm.. interesting indeed.
The host was an asshole, when the doo-rag sporting kid was asked if GTA gives him the urge to steal bikes, the kid replied in a tone that says "What a dumbass question." The host didn't get it, and was one sided on the whole matter.

I agree with you Pyro; it was both enlightening, and disturbing.

[DiO]

those 12 yr old know beter than a lot of adults do.



what was with the blading canadain? lmfao.

[Amis]

Well I started playing GTA when I was 13 so I don't see anything abnormal. And I still ain't a psycho.

[killjoy.rujoy?]

One thing noticably absent,was the mention of the consequences of your in game actions.
Killing is still wrong & you are penalized(for lack of a better term) for this,& for other
anti-social behaviours.
Being a game though,you can just re-load & your bad actions are lost.So are the results
of your actions(eg.piles of dead bodies).
Some people are easily influenced by the media,child or adult,while some have a higher intellect.
If you take a game as an inter-active movie,that's one thing...if you start acting it out,you ain't mature enough to be playing,no matter how old you are.

I also believe there to be a few little lies...I don't believe it when some kids are saying their parents
let them play.They probably have no idea of the full content if they do.

This post has been edited by killjoy.rujoy?: Nov 30 2006, 04:55 PM

[Passionate Homo ...]

Despite it being absolute crap, that was sort of interesting at points. Less about GTA, more about peer pressure: All their opinions conformed to the rest of the group. The documentary wasn't really about GTA, because the host and the Canadian hippy don't understand what they're making a show about.

[Sanshiro]

I believe that the number of worldwide GTA players who are under 17 is much much larger than that of 17 and above.

[HammerHead]

Ok, so let's see why this video leaves me unimpressed..

- It's done by basically a load of little kids..
- The host is a dumbass
- The "concerned parent" looks like a bum with a Canada top on
- These kids are pretty much dumbfucks anyway

If this game influences you to do something wrong, you are at fault, not that game. You play it irresponsibly, yet when you point a gun and shoot at someone, your defence in court will be "GTA San Andreas made me do it, sir!". I didn't learn much from this "documentary" besides that.

[killjoy.rujoy?]

...if I was up on murder & some investigator found my GTA games...
A GTA defence?...sure,why not:grasping at straws to keep me arse outta jail.

I couldn't find any GTA game player stats,but I've seen them before.
The average age of gamers has steadily been increasing.
I remember the age categories were higher than I expected.
I WILL find & post them...the silent majority of GTA players is older than I thought.

But the video ^^^ was a kinda spur of the moment unresearched interview...
not the most scientific.

>>>editVVV

Game Player Data

How Many Americans Play Games?
Sixty-nine percent of American heads of households play computer and video games.

Who Purchases Computer and Video Games?
Ninety-three percent of people who make the actual purchase of computer games and 83% of people who make the actual purchase of video games are 18 years of age or older.

How Long Have Gamers Been Playing?
Adult gamers have been playing an average of 12 years. Among most frequent gamers, adult males average 10 years for game playing, females for 8 years.

Will Gamers Keep Playing?
Fifty-three percent of game players expect to be playing as much or more ten years from now than they do today.

Who Plays Computer and Video Games?

For Console Gamers...
Forty percent of most frequent game players are under eighteen years old.
Thirty-five percent of most frequent game players are between 18 and 35 years old.
Twenty-five percent of most frequent game players are over 35 years old.

What about Women Gamers?
Thirty-eight percent of game players are women.
Women age 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (30%) than boys age 17 or younger (23%)

How Much Time Is Spent Playing Games?
The average adult woman plays games 7.4 hours per week. The average adult man plays 7.6 hours per week. Though males spend more time playing than do females, the gender/time gap has narrowed significantly. Whereas in 2003, males spent an average of 18 more minutes a day playing games than did their female counterparts, in 2004 they spent ony six minutes more each day doing so. Females spend an average of two hours more per week playing games now than they did a year ago.

How many Gamers Play Games Online?
Forty-four percent of most frequent game players say they play games online, up from 31% in 2002.

Who Plays Games Online?
Fifty-eight of online game players are male.
Forty-two percent of online game players are female.

What Other Activities are Gamers Involved In?
Seventy-nine percent of game players of all ages report exercising or playing sports an average of 20 hours a month.
Forty-five percent of gamers volunteer an average 5.4 hours per month.
Ninety-three percent of game players also report reading books or daily newspapers on a regular basis, while sixty-two percent consistently attend cultural events, such as concerts, museums, or the theater.
Fifty percent of gamers are regularly involved in creative activities, such as painting, writing, or playing an instrument. In addition, adult gamers exhibit a high level of interest in current events, with 94 percent following news and current events, and 78 percent reporting that they vote in most of the elections for which they are eligible.

Average game player=33 years old.

The Take Two Stats for GTA?I will post when I find.I've seen them.They may have been on paper/in a mag?

Gaming Industry Stats up the wazoo VVV...
http://www.theesa.com/facts/gamer_data.php

This post has been edited by killjoy.rujoy?: Dec 1 2006, 12:30 AM

[Sanshiro]

I WILL find & post them...the silent majority of GTA players is older than I thought.

Indeed, that does not inculde people who have played pirated copies of GTA, who form a great portion of worldwide players. Many parts of Asia, South America, and Europe play pirated copies of PS2 and PC games, and these games are easily reachable by children. You go to public stores and malls in those countries, and you find very cheap pirated copies displayed for sale, with no government censorship. I heared that piracy companies even distort the ESRB labeling from M, for example, to E to sell more units! My friend once showed me a pirated copy of San Andreas that is ESRB-labeled: Everyone!! A single pirated copy costs only around 2.5 US Dollars in some countries, he said. We are fucked up species.

[psychø]

How was it GTA Regents park when the version of the game they picked up was american as it didn't have the 18 rating on it.

[Neon™]

"if i wanna kill a cop in real life i can do it in the game instead"

he has a point...

but dont get me wrong thats still kinda scary to hear a kid say that.


This brings up again how mature you should be to play it. not how old. how mature. my first ever playstation game was metal gear solid and i was 8 years old. i got that and spyro as my first games. i was still a kid since i loved spyro (and still do, im not gonna deny it) but i was mature enough to handle Metal Gear and the themes it had in it. My parents knew i was mature enough to handle it when I got GTA3. they knew the ratings but they also knew that when i got mad at something in life i didnt take it out by going and killing cops and that i wasnt (and arent, and never will be) the kind of kid to have this kinda game influence my life. the kids who use GTA as an excuse already have problems before the game comes into their life. the game is only a 3d battle plan per se, it's not a motive, it's not a cause, it's not a reason, it's not what makes the kid pull the trigger. he's already messed up. it's the parents fault to not catch him smoking weed or acquiring guns, and if they do catch him doing that they should know damn well not to get him GTA for christmas. these kids don't build the guns themselves. they have to get them somewhere. it all comes down to the parents being good judges of their childs maturity and not letting them get the means by which to kill someone in the first place, and not letting the problem get so bad that a video game of all things can spark him or her to go kill someone.

the game isn't the reason. it makes the kid who already wants to kill someone feel like he can do it and not get caught. and its because of that said motive that was already there that the game is a catalyst.

Bottom Line: If you have no mental problems and enough maturity to know right from wrong and game from real life, you should be able to play the game regardless of its rating.

Edit: Fuck who cares if it is drug oriented. Dont let your fuckin kid buy drugs. Problem solved. God damn some adults are stubborn.

[Amis]

My parents just bought them when I asked. (Well I paid them back ofcourse).

GTA series has been good for me, without GTA I might have failed English in many classes, so thanks GTA, thanks for teaching me English

[ENVi3]

when the guy asked about the ratings, one of the kids said that it was 17+ but his dad lets hime play it, probably meaning his dad is aware that his kid knows right from wrong and wont copy things from GTA.
and then another kid said, that his mom knows he plays it, but he keeps it in his room, implying that the kid knows his mom wouldnt allow that game to be played by him.
i just thought that kinda enforced the idea that parents should be really watching what kids play, the ESRB ratings are there for a reason.

[psCargile]

Something that critics of the game (that I've heard an read) fail to mention that there are inner city children that are exposed to crime, drugs, prostitution, and other elements of the game in their daily lives. Some of these children will escape that life, some wont.

I didn't watch the video because I have slow dial-up and no dsl option, so I can only comment on the responses to it. And being 37, and father of children, and more conservative than liberal, I find it ridiculous to blame any form of entertainment on social problems. Even though the violence in the game is participatory, I find its exposure to kids no different than the violence I saw on Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry cartoons. The violence is fictional, and even children can tell the difference.

And critics fail to mention that while a person can run around beating people (the non-mission pedestrians) with an assortment of weapons, and shoot people with sniper rifles from high perches, or find a safe spot to kill as many cops as possible, the player doesn't have to. After-all the plot of the game is to clean up the neighborhood from drugs and corrupt cops.

[Sanshiro]

psCargile, I agree with you on the fictional violence issue, but what about the strong sexual content in San Andreas? I'm not a parent, but do you like to see your kids playing a game where they give it to hookers in their cars, and hear phrases like "I'm gonna make you cum like a freight train!!" or "suck my dick!" or play explicit hot-coffe minigames? Is this content suitable for a 10 year-old child?

This post has been edited by Cluckin' Feathers: Dec 4 2006, 03:17 PM

[RhymeCraft]

man i really thought the news was that gta 4 was gonna be in regent park because I never heard of it before soooo......

[Neon™]

About the sex stuff.

You can't tell me that by the time you were 10 you didn't know what "suck my dick" was talking about. This doesn't make it right or justify it in any way, but the fact remains. The game isn't teaching the kid sexual jokes. The kid is old enough to know them if he's old enough to comprehend what GTA is and how it operates. These kids are gonna grow up eventually anyway.

If they're old enough to know how to play GTA they already know these sexual references.

[Sanshiro]

About the sex stuff.

You can't tell me that by the time you were 10 you didn't know what "suck my dick" was talking about. This doesn't make it right or justify it in any way, but the fact remains. The game isn't teaching the kid sexual jokes. The kid is old enough to know them if he's old enough to comprehend what GTA is and how it operates. These kids are gonna grow up eventually anyway.

If they're old enough to know how to play GTA they already know these sexual references.

That's the problem: IF. However, most kids seem not. This may explain why they hide when playing such games, just as that kid said in the video. Kids know right and wrong better than us. Ah, anyways, maybe soon when public sex becomes a human right, then this game will be rated: Eveyone. We're getting screwed more and more as time passes, anyway.

This post has been edited by Cluckin' Feathers: Dec 5 2006, 02:16 PM

[LIL_JON]

I belive that it does not matter what age you are when it comes to playing grand theft auto it just depends On how mature you are and if you can take the content in grand theft auto even if you're 100 or 10.

This post has been edited by LIL_JON: Dec 5 2006, 07:26 PM