diodegrey

ekkobi

Ska-Chan

I wonder how long this GTAIV controversy will last for?

MasterDex

I really don't agree. Most of the humourous radio programmes in the game are just cringe-inducing to listen to - the most embarrassingly juvenile tittering, dick jokes, and similarly unsophisticated nonsense. It's not the profanity I object to, it is the childish way in which it is relied upon for cheap laughs. Go back and play GTA3 and then tell me things haven't been dumbed down for the true GTA target audience - teenage kids.

Love the game but I hope they get some proper comedy writers working on the next one.

kiigan

Frank

Seriously, WTF, either the reviewer was blind, or blinded by some money hat

thinred

But I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up on Fox News, like their clip from Mass Effect was. I remember an IGN editor complaining about how they used his Mass Effect clip without his permission. So to think that this is all part of some crazy conspiracy is just silly.

Seroth

They want things a specific way, by their specific rules and can't fathom how people would be angered by that. They pick and choose the targets that offend them and then use any straw man available to discredit whoever they're arguing against. It's very calculated and pretty reprehensible.

And these are the same people who used to actually stand for something. Universal Suffrage and all that. Funny what happens when aims get distorted and mangled to the point that these people will argue to the death for censorship and hate.

splines

loomis

[jezebel.com]

Zlevee

Replica23

Granted, it is next-gen gta so it has more impact... but... how many people really think that this will add to hooker related deaths?
Shit, it may lead to less... Now we have a slightly more realistic way to kill hookers. no need to do it in real life anymore!

Besides, the violence in gta4 feels more impactful this time. I know its the same thing with new engines; but the people are more people-like this time around.

In gta3-san, mass murders... ok!
Now, mass murders... ok... ew, now i feel kinda crummy... not really but more then before.

I can't be the only one who feels kinda bad when i accidentally run over a group of peds, or kill some guy for money.
I'm actually glad when I see that guy get up.
You kill enough, anyways.

Shooting sprees will never be the same, again.

They should have a code that turns everyone into historical serial killers or Frank the Rabbit.

I often like to use a taxi, actually. And, about, 6 times out of ten I only
jack the people who hit me with their car.

I remember the first jacking. The guy managed to grab onto the door so he was flopping all over the place.
That was excellent.
I think he hit a car and fell off.
It was awesome; but I did feel kinda bad. It's not like i needed his car

SadSadSamus

The writing in GTA IV is awesome, the characters are actually fleshed out and the storyline has more purpose than previous titles.

If you hate the damn game so much go get a refund.

splines

happycodemonkey

Zeliard

hollowfreak

MURDERFACE

What makes it worse is that the story and characters are far deeper than in previous GTAs. Having sex with a hooker and then killing her isn't at all in Niko's character to do. And yet a clip of him doing that because a player was controlling him to do so, as something random that has nothing remotely to do with the (amazing) storyline or characters themselves, was enough to change your mind on the entire game.

It's just sad, that's all.

Carry on, though.

Zeliard

Can you guys please cut out this strawman bullshit? Learn how to form a fucking argument.

Zeliard

whatever really. in my comments i've made sure to say that my dislike for the series is just a personal preference, so i don't see why you're so agitated about it.

push eject

Fallout, by the way, also featured hookers. And yet it's widely considered one of the most mature and adult video games ever to grace us, partly because of the countless choices you have, and partly because of the subject matter.

Gee, that reminds me of a certain game that just came out.

Zeliard

one issue... when do I get male prostitues.. I am female after all lol

poke50uk

As far as the misogyny, you might want to take a look at the characters and the plot, aka the subject matter, before looking at the likely married game designers and making judgements on their mentality. This isn't "Friends". You even have people complaining about profanity. It's amazing, really. Guess what? Murderous gangsters tend to curse a lot and don't treat women too well. This is a shocking revelation, I know.

Zeliard

And no, these things don't happen in real life. Yes, there are murders, crime, and prostitution in the world. But being able to kill a prostitute to get your money back, then racing from the police in a sidewalk rampage that kills dozens then painting your car and getting off scott-free for life without any dent on your conscience is in now way an accurate portrayal of reality.

Regardless of content, GTA IV is a very childish game in a lot of ways, and unrealistic to typical comic book levels.

EmTeeZ

push eject

That, and the dialogue is God-awful. I've seen the story praised everywhere, but nobody I've seen has pointed out just how clunky and unrealistic the dialogue is.

Still a good game though.

EmTeeZ

Lets re-write the SAW movies so they don't have any violence. I think thats more important and a good waste of time for these yahoo's to be concerned about..

Off to GTA to Find a Hooker! ;)

majormauser

If you consider killing a hooker to get your money back humor at all, then it falls under dark humor, not childish humor. Unless you have a twisted definition of the word "childish". Getting on your high horse and judging an entire game and story on the basis of something this trivial with no bearing on anything else, something that you don't even ever have to witness or do, is what's truly childish and immature.

"and no, i don't think picking up women of the night, killing them and then driving off is very realistic at all."

How sheltered are you? These things happen in real life, and regardless, I was saying that the choice to do these things is realistic. The game is pure escapism, because it lets you do things that you'd never do in real life, not just things that are impossible to do. There's no reason to resort to strawman arguments just because your premise is illogical.

Zeliard

I do tend to agree.

As much as I enjoy playing GTA games a lot... the humour has been consistently dumbed down with each game in the series. It's a pity, because what used to be quite sharp-edged and chuckle-worthy satire is now mostly reduced to embarrassingly juvenile punning and crude reliance on profanity and crass adolescent tittering. Producer Les Benzies was recently quoted in an interview saying how seriously they look at how the game is marketed (answering a question about accusations of the game being marketed towards younger gamers) but the moronic quality of the humour says otherwise.

It's a shame because in many ways GTA IV has much better characters and dialogue than the previous games in the series, but the prurient Viz-like sniggering is always pervasive in the background and it just isn't smart enough considering that the game is supposed to be aimed at adults.

Also... there is an undeniable undercurrent of misogyny throughout the whole product. Taken in isolation some of the comments or quips seem harmless, but viewed as a whole... well let's just say it unintentionally reveals some unpleasant home truths about the psychological makeup of your average game developer and how they view women.

kiigan

Pleez?

chrisagain

There's a difference between A Clockwork Orange gang-raping and smut for the sake of fulfilling sexual desires. Somewhere graphic sex (as well as violence) crosses a wavering line between art and just plain vulgar.

Jim on the Wall

If you consider killing a hooker to get your money back humor at all, then it falls under dark humor, not childish humor. Unless you have a twisted definition of the word "childish".

"and no, i don't think picking up women of the night, killing them and then driving off is very realistic at all."

Unforunately, these things happen in real life. Regardless, I was saying that the CHOICE

Zeliard

Corn

Crash McCloud

It's a great sentiment, but this stuff is in the game. IGN might be interested in clicks in their site, but this is stuff that people do when playing this game. You can say only a small portion of the players do anything like that in game, but with GTA IV a "small portion" could be hundreds of thousands of people. You can't say that this was taken out of context, but the player did this on their own without any motivation other than to do it.

If we are going to sing the praises of a game like GTA, give it awards (it will get them), recommend it to friends, talk about it at work, then we need to accept everything that's included. The real harm to the industry is to pretend that these actions/scenes don't exist, glossing them over as something only the "fringe" players do. I would bet real money that 90% of GTA players did something like this on their own at least once during their time with any version, past or present.

crashlanding

push eject

FeatherNET

...

Oh wait. Nice going, IGN. Nice going.

BigBooBuddy

Forkball

balls187 upside yo head

kylenalepa

crashlanding

"...perfect fodder for the basis of a news report from IGN's parent company."

I think IGN is in the right for removing the video. But if it was deliberately made for Fox News, they should be called on it.

I would not be surprised at all if footage from this video makes it to Fox News' reports in the days ahead. If anyone sees it, tell Kotaku about it. Then we can further the conspiracy theory discussion.

I for one refuse to watch that pathetic, so-called news channel.

Highlander Wolf

Which means, don't get it for your kids and society will still be here tomorrow.

DugDawg

Lixie

You don't even have to pick up a hooker at all during the entire game if you don't want, and yet it's childish because you have the option to? To add to the confusion, you start off by essentially saying you wanted more emphasis on "realism". So picking up a hooker in New York City is both childish and unrealistic? Gotcha.

Zeliard

EnigmaNemesis

I don't understand IGN's motives behind this. It's like gamers and game sites love to cry 'foul' when our medium is disrespected by the mainstream media (as it often is), but clips like this are perfect examples of why we won't be getting that respect any time soon. It's like IGN is just baiting some beleaguered news agency who'll do anything to stay relevant. I'm disappointed to see this kind of immaturity within the industry professionals--those who have the biggest voice on our side are the ones pulling us into the ditch?

Respect your own medium first, and the world will follow.

fecalchaos

CoinSlot

then i saw that video, and i can say with confidence that i will never purchase this game. . _.
yes you don't have to do those things. but the fact alone that it's possible is really enough for me. it's not so much that i find it offensive, but more so how childish it is.

push eject

Really great protagonist, by the way. Niko is genuinely interesting and hilarious.

Zeliard

Haniko

I don't blame Kotaku for reporting this. I blame IGN for creating the sensation in the first place.

baberg

Hypocrite patsies!

EnigmaNemesis

StartRunning

ThommyG

Swift_

Seriously, everyone acts like this game makes you do all there terrible things, and it doesn't. It doesn't even encourage them. You have choices--just like in real life--that have consequences--just like in real life. How much of a sadistic ass you are is ENTIRELY your choice--to blame Rockstar is ridiculous.

GundamAC197

Mr.SithNinja

But I don't deny that all the debauchery, violence, and general sin is awesome.

Mister Adequate

This is America.. the only reason why people think it is bad is because it is real. Parts of America have things going down on par with GTA IV. It is a game... it has a M rating... leave it be.

Seventh

Asurastrike

ibelli

Bah... I'm gonna play some more GTA IV, it makes me happy... a bonus with all this negative bullshit building from all corners of the interwebs.

ChaoticInfinityX

TragicsNFG

ubiquitous

DaveyPwnckett

I don't see how this is any different at all. In principle, if you remove this, you basically have to remove everything else. Banging a hooker and then killing her isn't what the game is about, but it is something you can do in the game, so it deserves the same treatment that any other aspect of the game does. If they want to show it, let them show it. Gametrailers has a hooker-killing clip up that's 20x worse, anyway.

Zeliard

The Daily Show covered the GTA IV launch in their own special way, focusing on the hordes of umbrella-wielding maniacs attending midnight events, and with a "special correspondent from Liberty City". Good stuff...

You can watch a couple of clips on the show's website. Here's one: [www.thedailyshow.com] "$2.99 for a peach? Not today, fuckface!"

And have a look at the "Grand Theft Semantics" clip, while you're there:
[www.thedailyshow.com] . It's a bit long, but the GTA IV bit doesn't work without the build-up.

Antiterra

Tye-The-Czar

Wolfers

kathartik

nonpareil

LittleBigPlaneteer

While the media doesn't know what they're talking about very often (see: Mass Effect having explicit sex scenes claim), this is the gameplay of GTA.

Out of context? Is there ANY context shooting a hooker looks less offensive?

GTA is an offensive game. There is a story line that may soften it, many things are optional, but it's pure violence and crime. This is GTA.

The problem with the media is that they'll then go reporting it incorrectly because no one who has actually played the game works on the story, again, just like when they said Mass Effect was porn.

However, this is GTA. I don't see why there has to be a conspiracy here. Does anyone actually play GTA in a "classy" manner? It's almost unavoidable to hit innocents while driving. You shoot people. You steal cars and you pursue crime.

As long as it's rated M, I have no problem, and I'm enjoying my copy. But I don't see how we can defend GTA from the clip because...it's there. Sure, it's optional for the most part, but this is GTA gameplay.

jonathan.

Kenny

badasscat

Ess

Lanhoj

Blah8

D Mitsuki

D Mitsuki

fuchikoma

CanaryWundaboy

yes, critics who have no freaking clue what the **** they're critiquing, but who want a juicy headline or soundbite

that said, I have no idea why IGN made that video -- the game certainly didn't need it to help sales or popularity, and it only reflects poorly on Rockstar ("look what sick and depraved games they make"), on IGN itself ("look what sick and depraved things they like to do in the games they review"), and on gamers ("look what sick and depraved people they are for enjoying such sick and depraved games")

seafisch

akira1984

How is this story any different than the things you guys have rightly criticized Fox for?

Also, the parent company of this site doesn't exactly have a sterling record. But you guys on Kotaku usually do a great job. Almost always. It's too bad about the other times.

Kohath

ekkobi

Sailorcancer

SigmundTheSeaMonster

teh_sideburns

Agies

El Patricko

Face it. This kind of stuff is indicative of what the average GTA player loves about GTA. Why bother to pretend it's not there? Because IGN didn't want to do Fox News' editing for them?

Roto13

:(

PatMan33

There are missions too, but let's not whitewash the game as if you just get up in the morning, hop into your purchased car (Grand Mortgage Auto!) and drive to work at the speed limit before contributing to society at a boring job all day and then come home and go to bed. It's a series where you see how much crime you can get away with, blow away some cops/feds/army if they get in the way, and escape to murder and steal another day. If sold only to adults, that's alright, but yeah... it's not Super Mario Bros here.

fuchikoma

Kotaku has been really going after IGN this past week or so.

Lstormy10

stereoa

ShaggE

paulpc

So yes, I feel good playing a game, and the game allows you to do this.

Would I feel good actually shooting a hooker? No, because I am a stable human being.

No one is going to magically become unstable from this game. If someone goes out shooting hookers after this, they were already screwed up.

And that is a point that the media always overlooks.

smcallah

Fox News, owned by News Corp. like IGN, uses the clip to 'prove' that video games are evil and morality destroying.

Does anyone else see this happening?

cpmui99

Peryite

RTW

redrabbit

Americo

Jer1ch0

polarenvy

Moonshadow101

Pulling this video might have been worse then leaving it up though. Now big news can have a story about a evil video clip removed for being over the top even for gamers!

parad0x360

Jnas