AUDIENCE REACTION TO GAMES

There have been lots of different reactions to games from lots of sources.

For example, a survey by Newman told the public, ‘Video game fanatics are like cocaine addicts who get an instant rush from an electronic fix’. This seemed to be the view of a lot of people because it has been said for a long time that these video games are to blame for some of the worst crimes in recent memory. These include the James Bulger murder and the Columbine School Murders in the United States. These were blamed on the ‘Copycat Theory’ in which scientists believe what you see will act as a stimulant for your actions.

Grand Theft Auto 4 was also greeted with a similar, frosty reception from critics.

The Daily Mail branded the game ultra-violent, which wasn’t really fair as the game hadn’t been out long enough for a fair judgment to be made on it. They also seemed happy when they were able to report a stabbing at the games launch, proof in their opinion that the game was as violent as expected. It happened in Croydon, with a 23-year-old male being the victim. People thought that this was a publicity stunt due to the blood and the man staggering among them, only realizing that it was genuine when the police arrived.

The game wasn’t all bad press though, with a lot of the big gaming magazines/ reviewers giving very high ratings to the game. Xbox World 360 gave the game a 98% rating, the highest ever for a game at the time and the second of all time to date. It was only beaten by 1% by Super Mario Galaxy 2. This can’t be a bad thing for the game as it’s publicity will be sky-high, probably the reason that it sold over 3.7 Million units on its first day of sales alone. This was a phenomenal figure, considering that country would have been in recession at the time. The money made would be in the region of £120 Million. To date it has sold around about 17 Million Copies.

However, away from the sales figures the game did have problems – people complaining about how violent the game was, making the Daily Mail’s article seem much more reliable/ valid. People complained that the message was sending out was all wrong, saying it encouraged revenge, violence against women and being in an intimidating gang. Although it was reported by London newspaper METRO that crime rates had fallen, this wasn’t a true reflection on the effect that this game was having on people. According to Tanya Byron, the game did cause people to be more violent, but it was only for the short term. Following this theory, the people wouldn’t go out and commit a crime they’d just be angrier while still in the house. This was supported by the fact that in 2008 there were 2114 accounts of domestic violence recorded by the Home Office, this is one of the highest in recent years and equates to just over 40 cases a week, just under 6 A WEEK. It can’t be proved that this was down to GTA but researchers believe at least some of the cases were.

I think that GTA could promote violence, because of how prominent it is the game. Also newspapers similarly slated the beating of women, which was included in the games storyline.

JORDAN THORNHILL.