Difference between revisions of "Grand Theft Auto V"

Revision as of 17:42, 21 April 2017 (view source) Djhend (Talk | contribs) (→‎Ethical Issues: Added section on violence) ← Older edit		Revision as of 20:04, 30 March 2018 (view source) Buiand (Talk | contribs) (→‎Excessive Violence) Newer edit →
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	===Excessive Violence===		===Excessive Violence===
−	The general gameplay of Grand Theft Auto 5 is very violent. It allows the player to murder, innocent generic characters in the game, police officers, and more, with minimal consequences <ref name="gta5"> "Grand Theft Auto V." Wikipedia. Retrieved April 21, 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto_V. </ref>. When killing other characters, running people over, crashing into other cars, and more, the only real consequence is gaining police notoriety in the form of "stars" with a maximum of a five star response including swat vans, road blocks, and police helicopters <ref name="gta5"/>. However, upon death in GTA5, also known as "Wasted" due to the message that appears on screen when one's HP drops to 0, the only penalty is respawning at a hospital location and taking a small hit to one's in-game money <ref name="gta5"/>. Additionally, it can be relatively easy to avoid the police, as one can kill indiscriminately before hiding for a short period to lose all police notoriety and escape without consequence <ref name="gta5"/>. This raises some ethical dilemmas as it evokes the suggestion that one can commit crimes without repercussions. Furthermore, it generates a style of gameplay that is relatively popular that involves attacking random civilians in order to get one's police notoriety to a high level before attempting to kill as many police officers as possible before dying oneself as can be seen in several youtube clips <ref> "Gta5 killing spree." Youtube. September 27, 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phteJM85zr4 </ref>.	+	The gameplay of Grand Theft Auto allows players to commit crimes including murder and theft. <ref name="gta5"> "Grand Theft Auto V." Wikipedia. Retrieved April 21, 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto_V. </ref>. The in committing these actions for the player is gaining police notoriety in the form of "stars" with a maximum of a five star response including SWAT vans, road blocks, and police helicopters. <ref name="gta5"/> However, upon death in GTA5, also known as "Wasted" due to the message that appears on screen when one's HP drops to 0, the penalty is respawning at a hospital location and taking a small hit to one's in-game money. <ref name="gta5"/> In order to avoid the police, the player can commit these actions before hiding for a short period to lose all police notoriety and escape without consequence. <ref name="gta5"/> Ethical concerns have been raised as a result as a large body of research finds that depictions of violence in video games may prime players for aggressive behavior, in addition to desensitizing players' reactions to violence.  <ref name = "The Role of Media Violence in Violent Behavior"> http://www.rcgd.isr.umich.edu/aggr/articles/Huesmann/2006.Huesmann%26Taylor.Role%20of%20Media%20Violence%20in%20Violent%20Behavior.AnnualRevPubHealth.pdf</ref> <ref>http://munews.missouri.edu/news-releases/2011/0525-violent-video-games-reduce-brain-response-to-violence-and-increase-aggressive-behavior-university-of-missouri-study-finds/</ref>
	===Misrepresentation of Los Angeles===		===Misrepresentation of Los Angeles===

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Revision as of 20:04, 30 March 2018

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rand Theft Auto V (commonly known as GTA V) is an action-adventure video game developed by Scotland-based Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the fifth installment of the Grand Theft Auto Series, and was released on September 17, 2013 for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, and in a remastered format over a year later on November 18, 2014 for the Xbox One and Playstation 4.^[1] The game is located in the fictional state of San Andreas, set to resemble Southern California. Players can freely travel throughout San Andreas from rural Sandy Shores to the City of Los Santos, based on Los Angeles. The single-player story follows three protagonist criminals as they complete intersecting missions and heists. The open-world design of the game allows for characters to explore the map freely when they are not completing missions.

There are many controversies surrounding the Grand Theft Auto Series due to its extremely graphic content. Its release was accompanied with unprecedented commercial success. The game has broken 7 Guinness World Records, including the best-selling video game in 24 hours and fastest entertainment property to generate $1 billion.^[2] The game's distributor, Take-Two Interactive, reported $800 million in global first day sales. ^[3] As of February 7, 2017, Rockstar Games has shipped a total of 75 million copies worldwide, with approximately 15 million copies shipped in the past year, three years after its initial release.^[4]

Gameplay

Grand Theft Auto V can be played from first-person or third-person point of view. Players complete missions to progress through the story and unlock content. The map of San Andreas is expansive, and appears in island form. After completing a brief prologue, players are introduced to the open-world of San Andreas and are able to navigate as they please via foot or vehicle. Players can run, jump, swim, and have the ability to drive and fly. Weapons can be acquired by picking them up or purchasing them at any Ammu-Nation store (marked by a symbol of a target on the interactive map) and accessed using a weapon wheel that allows users to switch weapon-type.^[5] Due to the map's large-scale size, different methods of transportation are available, ranging from speed boats to fighter jets. ^[6]

Opposed to the past games in the series, where players would control one character throughout,^[7] players can alternate between characters for the first time in Grand Theft Auto V. As the player progresses through the story, they unlock all three characters: Michael De Santa, Trevor Phillips, and Franklin Clinton. Players can freely switch between characters at any point in the game. Each character has a set of 8 different skills that can be improved by completing certain actions. The skills consist of stamina, shooting, strength, stealth, flying, driving, and lung capacity. At the beginning of the game, skills vary by character. Additionally, each character has their own unique special ability. Michael's Marksman ability is capable of slowing down time while aiming at a target, Trevor's Rampage special ability has the ability to receive double damage for a limited period of time, and Franklin holds the Wheelman ability to slow time down while driving to maintain speed during erratic turns .^[8] Players can accumulate money by completing heists, assassinations, and even investing in the stock market. Money can be used for expenses like weapons, vehicle modifications, and services, as well as to purchase properties that can provide the character of your choosing with a source of income.^[9]

Story

The story follows the characters of Michael De Santa, Trevor Phillips, and Franklin Clinton. Michael is a retired bank robber who moved to Los Santos to escape his past and start a new life. He is in the witness protection program after making a deal with the FIB (GTA's version of the FBI), under the name "Michael Townley". Trevor Phillips was a trained military pilot before he was discharged after being declared mentally unfit. He has a long history with Michael De Santa, including a series of bank jobs. Trevor was led to believe Michael died from a gunshot wound in a failed heist in North Yankton. Trevor Phillips Enterprises is the name of his drug smuggling business and he is at war with The Lost motorcycle gang. Franklin Clinton is a "gangbanger" from South Los Santos with aspirations of making it out of his hood. His friend Lamar and him complete odd jobs for an Armenian car dealer named Simeon Yetarian.^[10]

Grand Theft Auto Online

In an interview with Rockstar North president Leslie Benzies on GTA Online, she stated the original concept came into fruition during the development of GTA III. However, according to Benzies, due to the combination between the lack of man-power and tech-power, they were not able to create an online GTA experience. With improvements in the game's engine, this once far fetched concept has become a reality. GTA Online was developed simultaneously as single-player mode, and was conceived as a separate experience to be played in a continually evolving world, with constant updates and add-ins.^[11]

Grand Theft Auto Online was launched two weeks after GTA V's initial release on October 1, 2013.^[12]

Ethical Issues

Grand Theft Auto V is rated Mature 17+ for instances of blood and gore, intense violence, use of drugs and alcohol, and nudity.^[13] It is problematic in its depiction of gender, race, and sexuality.^[14] Rap artist and producer, Daz Dillinger, sent a cease-and-desist letter to Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Games shortly after the game's original release in 2013 for musical copyright infringement. Dillinger accused them of using two of his songs, "C-Walk" and "Nothin' But the Cavi Hit", without compensation. ^[15]

Torture

One mission that has drawn negative attention, "By the Book", requires the player to use torture methods to retrieve information on the appearance of an assassination target. Trevor has been assigned to torturing a man to gain the identity, location, and description of the target, while Michael waits for his shot.^[16] In order to achieve a gold rating for the mission, the player must use all four weapons without killing the hostage. The weapons include a jerrycan, pliers, a wrench, and electric clamps. If the hostage's heart-rate begins to flatline, the player is capable of administering an adrenaline shot.^[17] The scene has received backlash from anti-torture groups, such as Freedom from Torture, who stated: "Torture is a reality, not a game...this adds insult to injury for survivors who are left physically and emotionally scarred by torture in the real world. ^[18]

Depiction of Women

The series has received scrutiny for its depiction of women and prostitution. Prostitute service falls under the category of a Miscellaneous Activity in which players may pick up women and pay for various sexual acts. These escorts can be found throughout San Andreas and offer three services for $50, $70, and $100.^[19] They can only be found at night and typically linger at street corners and in rundown areas. Once finished, players can retrieve their money from the prostitute by killing them. Though minor, there may be some incentive to killing a prostitute in the game.^[20] Polygon has proclaimed that misogyny is a problem in the game and the killing of sex workers "reinforces hard ideas about the worthlessness of prostitutes, in a way that is unique to this class of characters in the game."^[21] Target Australia pulled the game from its stores due to consumer feedback on the depiction of violence against women." On December 3, 2014, an AustralianChange.org petition was signed by over 40,000 people calling for Target to withdraw sales of GTA V from their stores in Australia. ^[22]

Acts of Terrorism

"Rampage Four", a Stranger and Freaks mission for Trevor, involves combat with the U.S. military. Following an argument with a group of soldiers, Trevor enters Rampage mode and kills as many soldiers as possible with a grenade launcher while being ambushed by squadrons of soldiers and tanks. To achieve 100% Gold Completion, Trevor is required to get 45 kills, 6 headshots, and destroy 2 tanks ^[23].

Excessive Violence

The gameplay of Grand Theft Auto allows players to commit crimes including murder and theft. ^[24]. The in committing these actions for the player is gaining police notoriety in the form of "stars" with a maximum of a five star response including SWAT vans, road blocks, and police helicopters. ^[24] However, upon death in GTA5, also known as "Wasted" due to the message that appears on screen when one's HP drops to 0, the penalty is respawning at a hospital location and taking a small hit to one's in-game money. ^[24] In order to avoid the police, the player can commit these actions before hiding for a short period to lose all police notoriety and escape without consequence. ^[24] Ethical concerns have been raised as a result as a large body of research finds that depictions of violence in video games may prime players for aggressive behavior, in addition to desensitizing players' reactions to violence. ^{[25] [26]}

Misrepresentation of Los Angeles

There are several areas in Los Santos that resemble real life locations in Los Angeles County. Primary examples include Blaine County, Downtown, Little Seoul, South Los Santos, Vespucci Beach, and Rockford Hills which are based on real-life L.A. neighborhoods, such as Downtown Los Angeles, L.A.'s Koreatown, South Central, Venice Beach, and Beverly Hills, respectively. The Vinewood sign seen in the distant hills clearly pays homage to the Hollywood sign. According to the GTA V manual, the Vinewood sign is a "beacon of false hope for impressionable young hopefuls the worlds over, no visit to Los Santos is complete without a selfie at the Vinewood Sign."^[27]

Mods

Mods are programmed alterations and add-ons that change the gameplay or appearance of the video game.

Exploding Galaxy Note 7:

Following the attention Samsung received after its Galaxy Note 7 product began catching on fire and exploding, a user named "sdaddy345" created a GTA V mod where the C4 model in the game was replaced with a replica of the Galaxy Note 7.^[28] Therefore in this mod, players could stick, throw, and explode "Note 7s" as if they were C4 charges, clearly referencing the issues Samsung had with their product spontaneously combusting. The popularity and comedy related to the mod eventually reached Samsung, prompting them to file a DMCA and block the YouTube video (with over 1.5 million views) that displayed the explosive mod. After YouTube analyzed Samsung's claim, they reversed the ruling and un-banned the video stating that Samsung's suit "lacks one or more legally-required elements of a copyright takedown notice." Overall, Samsung's action in trying to bury videos displaying the Exploding Galaxy Note 7 mod actually drew more attention to their faulty product.^[29]

References