It’s to be expected that with the release of Grand Theft Auto IV less than a week away (side note: HELL YEAH!), all of the uptight anti-video game folks are going to be getting their panties in a bunch over it. Oh no! You can pick up prostitutes! Oh dear! You can shoot people and run them over! Fiddlesticks! And what if there’s another Hot Coffee incident? Obviously, our once great society will crumble and the world will implode unto itself if anyone gets a glimpse of this horrific murder-simulator cleverly disguised as a game!



The Parents Television Council, described on their website as “a non-partisan education organization advocating responsible entertainment”, is the latest group to jump on the anti-GTA bandwagon. According to GamePolitics, the PTC is issuing an “alert” (oh no, not that!), encouraging its members to pressure retailers not to carry GTA IV. (Yeah… that will totally happen.) The PTC is also demanding that there be no modifiable content in this game. So I guess we should expect the mod community to just abandon this game altogether, given the PTC’s clout and all. I mean, I’d never heard of them, but I’m sure I’m in the minority.

Before I go picking apart more of the PTC’s idiotic actions with lightning wit and gobs of sarcasm, I’ll let you do it yourselves! Behold, the words of PTC President Tim Winter:

Since the first version was released in 1997, the Grand Theft Auto series has lowered the bar for appalling video game content…

In past versions, players could re-enact having sex with a prostitute, beating her bloody, taking her money and running her over with a car; shooting at police officers; and, by using a code easily accessible on many internet sites, having a realistic sexual encounter on screen — complete with audio commentary.

[Retailers must] …insist that Take Two… and the [ESRB] actually review all playable content before issuing a rating for the game. Given Take-Two Interactive’s reckless or intentional misleading of the ESRB and ESRB’s failure to respond quickly in the aftermath of the “hot coffee” mod fiasco… retailers must be reassured, in writing, that the rating given the game is accurate and that there is no hidden or modifiable content in the game.



Hey, PTC: I think you guys may want to consider a new name, because you’re completely missing the point of being “parents”. As a parent, it’s YOUR JOB to monitor what your kids are watching on TV, playing on their consoles, and generally doing in life. Not a game publisher’s, not a retailer’s, not a television network’s, not the ESRB’s, YOURS. If all of the people complaining about GTA would just spend that time hanging out with their kids and watching what they play, everyone would be a lot happier.

Don’t think Grand Theft Auto is appropriate for your kids? That’s fine, but here’s a constructive idea: don’t buy it for them. I don’t know what you think gives you, or any other parents’ group, the right to issue “alerts” on any video game, but you’re just making yourselves sound completely ignorant. Not the best way to go about making a point, in my humble opinion. But then again, what do I know? My parents let me play M-rated games when I was younger, so I’m probably a violent, raving killer. Of course, my parents also taught my brothers and I the difference between video games and reality, but I guess we’re just old-fashioned.

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