To wonder why ANYONE thinks that this is acceptable in a game?

[joshandjamie]

I am not a fan of violent games at the best of times, but apparently now in Grand Theft Auto 5's new upgrade you can have first person sex with a prostitute before shooting her in the head. With real sex noises. You can see a delightful clip here

I think anyone who plays this is sick. But I know that there are kids in my ten year old's class who have this game. Do the parents even know that they can do this???? I cannot believe any parent would be happy letting their kid or teen play this.

YABU.
To be honest, are you playing it? are your kids playing it? if you don't like something, why don't you ignore it? It's like seeing dog poo on the ground and going "LOOK EVERYONE, A LUMP OF SHIT" you don't do it!
You're not playing it, it's not affecting you, yes I played it the other day, yes I enjoyed it. it's a damn game and people actually care? it's 18 rated for a reason.
The rating system is ignored by SO MANY parents because they think "oh cartoons and games are for children!" sorry but South park isn't for kids and neither is GTA, and why parents let their young kids watch them is so ignorant and stupid.
I've had GTA Games since I was young, thats because they were 50p at a car boot sale and I bought them myself. Personally, I don't really like the games, but whatever. It's not affecting you, you don't have to look at it, or see it, so don't complain about it.

That logic is ridiculous. Poverty isn't affecting me, but if I don't like it why don't I just ignore it? Violence against women doesn't affect me so I shouldn't bring that up either!

GTA games are bloody horrible and I do think kids are playing them despite the certification and we should be talking about this. Also GTA's glorification of violence, prostitution, guns, drugs etc etc.

Haha sorry but that clip doesn't bother me at all, it's an 18+ game for a reason.

You need to check out Leisure suit larry which I played as a kid back in the 80's. Now that was a game lmao

they're not glorifying anything, they're not saying it's okay. it's a form of entertainment which to be fair a lot more people like it than are complaining on mumsnet
Nothing in films/games bothers me. at all. I've seen it all. I find GTA Hilarious although I think they're a bit silly. but they're fun to play. If you want a less violent game, like GTA, without the drugs/prostitutes, by the same people, try Red Dead Redemption and L.A. Noire.
Alright maybe it's not the best example. But if you don't like, don't look? 0.o it's a game, not IRL problems.

silly as in "what the actual fuck am I watching, getting high and seeing aliens? but ahahahahahah shoot your mate in the face with this rail gun so he fights back

As i said i haven't played the latest but have played some of the other gtas but amazingly i'm a normal member of society, but don't let that stop some of you insulting me
I actually can't stand real life violence and shy away from confrontation!

So do I, people have said I'm actually passive aggressive though. Ohwellll!
But no, games don't make you violent or anything, it's a complete myth. I'm a normal functioning member of society who contributes and has a good life. I just like to game and me and DP will sit online on our xbox and shout HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH EAT MUH BULLETS because thats what we find fun. but, we're very calm people and hate confrontation!

I think adults who play this and get fun from directing someone to shoot someone or have violent sex with a prostitute are sad, lacking individuals too but the damage it does to children is appalling.

That's coming from someone who has seen the damaging results of early over sexualisation of children first hand.

I most certainly wouldn't have any respect for a man who found this drivel entertaining and would have less respect for a woman who thought it was ok to have this in her house.

I play GTA with my DP, you choose how to play the game. You don't HAVE to have any interaction with the prostitutes, and even if you do you can select "decline services" and they'll leave.

No, it's not a kids game but I do take offence at the people with their judgey pants in a bunch having never played it. Saying that you'd lose respect for people who play the game is pretty mad in my opinion.

Completely agree, cherrybombxo. GTA has offensive content but it and other games in the genre aren't 'drivel'. Is Carlito's Way drivel, too?

I love the idea of being able to direct the sex workers to shelters and helping them find support through Women's Aid (or similar). Seriously, is this an option in this game?
There are random encounters where you can choose to help strangers in trouble, one is a young woman being attacked by cult members, so a little bit but not really.

However, there's a game in the same genre called Sleeping Dogs where you play an undercover cop (the story is pretty standard crime drama stuff about 'going too deep') and there are side missions where you do investigations including breaking up a sex trafficking ring, the character is even told by his superior something like 'you've helped a lot of women today'. I liked that. The actual combat in the game is probably more graphic than GTA, though, it reflects that there are fewer guns in Hong Kong so there's lots of martial arts fighting.

I must be a sad, lacking individual to play these games, of course...

I must be such a sad, lacking individual. Thats what I do for fun. when my shitty wage goes up, I will be also doing horseriding once a week but me and DP play games together. I play my silent hill & the old resident evils & Pokémon, he plays GTA, FIFA, and we both play Borderlands and the new resident evils. yes some of these games may be for kids cough pokemon cough but i really don't even care. It's a strategy game which a child wouldn't get from it. But, I'm a sad, lacking individual. I have to save up for all this with my crap wage. I have to work my arse off for a £40 game. I'm entitled to enjoy it. But, I'm a sad... lacking... individual.
I don't really care if you can't help people out. I like shooting my friend's characters and blowing up cars with sticky bombs and driving around either like a maniac, or following the rules of the road. depends how bored I am, BUT, I've never really liked gta, i prefer Silent Hill & Resident Evil & by my user, I enjoy Metal Gear Solid. I studied video game development. Now I work in law. and I don't care about this trivial things in games that you don't even have to do.
so.
yeah.

Some fat people eat cookies and cookies make some people fat. Anyone who eats cookies is promoting obesity and we should ban cookies.

I play violent games. I have never shot people in the face IRL. I have also actively stopped people from buying age inappropriate games for their kids and taken the time to explain the PEGI ratings. I think banning all games where there is violence or sex or bad language is a bit of a knee jerk reaction. There was even a study published in July which found that playing violent games can increase moral sensitivity.

www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2014/06/037.html

"If you're not playing it it doesn't affect you" is an idiotic response. We're saying that it affects peoples thoughts and behaviour, and people make up society, we all affect each other.

Lets argue that playing violent first person video games makes you more likely to be a killer in real life (I'm not saying that, I'm using it for arguments sake)....of course that affects people other than those playing the game, because who do you think they are going to kill?

Here we are talking about virtually fucking and killing prostitutes. Do you think it out of the realms of possibility that young men and boys being exposed to this repeatedly has an affect on the way they see women? And who do you think that affects? Women as a whole. And society.

It's not just a silly little game. IT says something about us all.

I can't argue with that. It would be hypocritical of me to say that games are great and just as good as other media and say 'it's just a game, guys' when people are critical of the content of a particular game.

Solid did you ever play alien?i loved that

Guess i don't judge anyone for what they choose to play in their free time.
Wonder if any of you who are moaning have friends who play these games that you don't know about?
Not every boy who plays these games are going to grow up to be violent and not respecting women so can we stop finding excuses for some bad men.
It wasn't long ago when the bandwagon was rock and metal music was the cause of kids being violent.
I'v grown up with lads who played violent games and they some how learnt to respect women.
My dp wouldn't dream of hurting a woman.
He's the bloke who would step in if someone was being attacked.

Maybe I'm missing something about GTA as I haven't played it. But from seeing clips and listening to teenage boys talk about it, it's just senseless violence. Running around and killing people for no reason. At least other games have a point, killing bad guys etc.

"Not every boy who plays these games are going to grow up to be violent and not respecting women so can we stop finding excuses for some bad men."

So are you saying that some of them will? Wow, thats reassuring! You're really not getting the point here though.

Yeah, it's fucked up, but it's pretty well documented that the gaming community is full of misogynistic weirdos with no social skills and a slightly loose grip on empathy, so there you go

What a load of absolute bollocks.

Can you actually back that up with any real documentation (rather than just some opinions on a forum or two) AggressiveBunting?

The whole thing is so depressing. I am a proper snob about gamers and this is why. If you aren't embarrassed to be playing games about sexual exploitation and violence, then you haven't thought it through.

99% of games don't have GTAs level of content in, hence why it gets a thread a month about it. Just like most TV isn't as bloody as Game of Thrones and most film isn't as gory as Saw.
Not much to get snobby about.

Games like this do affect all of us.

They are very high profile and contribute to the cultural and social norms that we all have to live with.

I don't think all games are drivel and I certainly don't think all gamers are stupid. However people who think that media doesn't affect the way we think are perhaps a little stupid.

I am sure that not all people who watch the Gangnam Style video go on to be domestic abusers, but some will. You can't categorically declare that playing a violent game will make somebody more likely to hit their wife.

Maybe I'm missing something about GTA as I haven't played it. But from seeing clips and listening to teenage boys talk about it, it's just senseless violence. Running around and killing people for no reason. At least other games have a point, killing bad guys etc

GTA is an open world game. There's a story running through it split into a few dozen mission - sized chunks, there are also optional side missions you don't have to do. You start them by going to a certain place in the city but in between you have the run of the city. About a million different games copy this template from Assassins Creed to Batman but GTA3 was quite a trailblazer in terms of design.