Rockstar under fire as demographic void causes concern
Publisher chooses magazine with younger readership for adult game
Feel the disapproval
By now it’s a well-established fact in every good Daily Mail reading home that playing any kind of videogame will turn you into a fat, socially-inept axe murderer.
The games industry has fought tirelessly to defend itself from accusations of corrupting the general public since the days of Space Invaders, with ever-controversial Manhunt publisher Rockstar Games often copping much of the flak.
And it looks set to take a lot more in the coming months, with a piece in MCV shaming the firm for opting to give the exclusive UK magazine cover rights for GTA: San Andreas to GamesMaster, a publication targeted at a mid-teen demographic.
“There should be a cautious attitude targeting non-adults with adult content,” ELSPA director general Roger Bennett told MCV. “It is up to the publishers what they do, but we would hope they would be careful and target the right audience - we don’t want to shoot ourselves in the foot again. What we don’t want is a situation where the indefensible becomes indefensible,” he added. “We don’t want an Achilles’ heel like this given recent events.”
Rockstar, in its defence, issued the following statement: “GamesMaster is the UK's leading multi-format games magazine read by a wide spectrum of gamers, including a loyal adult following. As such, it covers the biggest games releases, whichever age group they are aimed at when released. We agreed to a review of the game, in line with other reviews of 18-plus games that the magazine covers, with the strict requirement that they made it very clear in the editorial that GTA: San Andreas is an ‘18’-plus rated game. The responsibility of judging content of games is up to legally appointed bodies like the BBFC. Rockstar submits its games for certification to the relevant classification boards in each country in which we operate.”
However, this news will surely fuel escalating claims that the firm does indeed target children with inappropriate material, not to mention providing ammunition to those seeking prove such activities in the courts Stateside.
Future Publishing also spoke out in defense of the decision. “As the UK’s biggest multi-format games magazine GamesMaster is committed to reviewing the major game releases in the same way a film magazine covers movies for all audiences. As GTA: San Andreas looks set to be the biggest PS2 game of all time we’re incredibly proud to be the first UK games magazine on the newsstands with a review. We’ve covered the game responsibly and have made sure that screenshots and associated images are suitable for the diverse age range of GamesMaster readers. The review clearly flags up that the game has an ‘18’ certificate and we’ve made it very clear editorially that this is a game for adults, not kids. GTA: San Andreas has rightly been given an ‘18’ certificate by the BBFC and we’ve made sure that this is recognised in our review.”
The games industry has fought tirelessly to defend itself from accusations of corrupting the general public since the days of Space Invaders, with ever-controversial Manhunt publisher Rockstar Games often copping much of the flak.
And it looks set to take a lot more in the coming months, with a piece in MCV shaming the firm for opting to give the exclusive UK magazine cover rights for GTA: San Andreas to GamesMaster, a publication targeted at a mid-teen demographic.
“There should be a cautious attitude targeting non-adults with adult content,” ELSPA director general Roger Bennett told MCV. “It is up to the publishers what they do, but we would hope they would be careful and target the right audience - we don’t want to shoot ourselves in the foot again. What we don’t want is a situation where the indefensible becomes indefensible,” he added. “We don’t want an Achilles’ heel like this given recent events.”
Rockstar, in its defence, issued the following statement: “GamesMaster is the UK's leading multi-format games magazine read by a wide spectrum of gamers, including a loyal adult following. As such, it covers the biggest games releases, whichever age group they are aimed at when released. We agreed to a review of the game, in line with other reviews of 18-plus games that the magazine covers, with the strict requirement that they made it very clear in the editorial that GTA: San Andreas is an ‘18’-plus rated game. The responsibility of judging content of games is up to legally appointed bodies like the BBFC. Rockstar submits its games for certification to the relevant classification boards in each country in which we operate.”
However, this news will surely fuel escalating claims that the firm does indeed target children with inappropriate material, not to mention providing ammunition to those seeking prove such activities in the courts Stateside.
Future Publishing also spoke out in defense of the decision. “As the UK’s biggest multi-format games magazine GamesMaster is committed to reviewing the major game releases in the same way a film magazine covers movies for all audiences. As GTA: San Andreas looks set to be the biggest PS2 game of all time we’re incredibly proud to be the first UK games magazine on the newsstands with a review. We’ve covered the game responsibly and have made sure that screenshots and associated images are suitable for the diverse age range of GamesMaster readers. The review clearly flags up that the game has an ‘18’ certificate and we’ve made it very clear editorially that this is a game for adults, not kids. GTA: San Andreas has rightly been given an ‘18’ certificate by the BBFC and we’ve made sure that this is recognised in our review.”
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Comments
TigerUppercut 15 Oct 2004 15:10
1/7
You can tell from the statement that Rockstar is really worried about corrupting the youth. Strange, when I was a youth, all I wanted was corruption...
scanman 15 Oct 2004 16:28
2/7
Rockstar mouthpiece wrote:
GamesMaster is the UK's leading multi-format games magazine read by a wide spectrum of gamers, including a loyal adult following
yeah - a massive adult audience aged between 16 and 18 (16 being the uk age of consent)
i really cant imagine any self respecting person over 18 reading that adolesent bum wipe.
who bothers with magazines anymore anyway? the internet lets me read many different reviews of games a long time before any magazine publishes its review - and the wide spread of reviews means i can be sure that those ''impartial'' reviews havent been paid for - not that rockstar ever needed to offer a bung for gta .... unlike manhunt .... lol
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SPInGSPOnG 15 Oct 2004 16:33
3/7
scanman wrote:
yeah - a massive adult audience aged between 16 and 18 (16 being the uk age of consent)
16 is the age of consent for sexual intercourse.
It's not the age of majority in the UK.
16/17 yr olds can't vote, and they can't legally play GTA. But Rockstar don't care, do they? They just want as much cheap sensational publicity as they can get so that their tiresome sequel will sell as many copies as possible.
PresidentEvil 15 Oct 2004 16:55
4/7
TigerUppercut wrote:
Strange, when I was a youth, all I wanted was corruption...
Well your wish came true!
Today, all we have is corruption.
scanman 15 Oct 2004 17:15
5/7
Rod Todd wrote:
scanman wrote:
yeah - a massive adult audience aged between 16 and 18 (16 being the uk age of consent)
16 is the age of consent for sexual intercourse.
in this case i take adult hood to be maturity .... mature enough to have sprogs. this would obv. make adult hood about 13 in most council estates !!!! :D
though its easy enough to counter with "men never grow up" .... lol
Joji 15 Oct 2004 18:26
6/7
I think it very hard to sell a game like GTA and avoid those teens that shouldn't play it. Rockstar are in a tricky position. GTA: SA has a very urban gangster style about it, something that's also in the music and film culture too (think Training Day or Boyz in the Hood). This is very clever marketing by Rockstar, and will sell GTA to those that never touched the first game as well as those who did.
I'll be buying it because I like games but others will do so for the drive by shootings and gang banging they've watched in the hollywood films for so long. When you think about GTA on this level it will always have a lot of people playing who should not be doing so.
Because games are an interactive media it's very hard for those who never really played a game before to understand the appeal, as a so called child of treading the dark path, but with anything in life you can't have it be all sweet and sugary righteousness. In order to know the difference between right and wrong you must at some point try both.
You could say that Conflict Desert Storm is a bad influence but you never hear the news media talk about that, because they know that the middle eastern business is a tricky enough subject already. If it's urban warfare it's unacceptable and to close to home with music videos and movies that it will corupt our youth. GTA is a game that brings the reality of some places in america to everyones doorstep. That is why so many are running scared.
Rockstar could sell this game on top shelves with big red 18 only stickers, and ask for passport or driving license ID before selling, but it would still get into the hands of underage gamers, because forbidden fruit will always be the most chased. I don't agree with it but it's part of being human these days.
That's something that transends everything we do in life, drugs, alcohol, sex. You name it and someone who shouldn't have it will want and will get it. I also think that non gamers have trouble understanding games and their ignorance of them instead of education about them is the biggest problem. Parents are the vanguard teachers in the home, if they can take time to learn about text messaging they should do the same for games. Perhaps stores like Game should give away "parents guides on games" to help them out or something.
Or maybe it's just that most adults over a certain age are just out of touch with adolescents and younger adults these days. Some of these people run the media so they will never understand unless they play a game or two.
This double edged sword will spin for ages to come unless something is done.
I'll be buying it because I like games but others will do so for the drive by shootings and gang banging they've watched in the hollywood films for so long. When you think about GTA on this level it will always have a lot of people playing who should not be doing so.
Because games are an interactive media it's very hard for those who never really played a game before to understand the appeal, as a so called child of treading the dark path, but with anything in life you can't have it be all sweet and sugary righteousness. In order to know the difference between right and wrong you must at some point try both.
You could say that Conflict Desert Storm is a bad influence but you never hear the news media talk about that, because they know that the middle eastern business is a tricky enough subject already. If it's urban warfare it's unacceptable and to close to home with music videos and movies that it will corupt our youth. GTA is a game that brings the reality of some places in america to everyones doorstep. That is why so many are running scared.
Rockstar could sell this game on top shelves with big red 18 only stickers, and ask for passport or driving license ID before selling, but it would still get into the hands of underage gamers, because forbidden fruit will always be the most chased. I don't agree with it but it's part of being human these days.
That's something that transends everything we do in life, drugs, alcohol, sex. You name it and someone who shouldn't have it will want and will get it. I also think that non gamers have trouble understanding games and their ignorance of them instead of education about them is the biggest problem. Parents are the vanguard teachers in the home, if they can take time to learn about text messaging they should do the same for games. Perhaps stores like Game should give away "parents guides on games" to help them out or something.
Or maybe it's just that most adults over a certain age are just out of touch with adolescents and younger adults these days. Some of these people run the media so they will never understand unless they play a game or two.
This double edged sword will spin for ages to come unless something is done.
SPInGSPOnG 16 Oct 2004 06:46
7/7
Joji wrote:
This double edged sword will spin for ages to come unless something is done.
Dude, What would be cool is if a gang of yardies or Haitians went round to Rockstar's offices and blew the place to pieces, shot it up and killed everyone.
I mean, that way, they could decide first hand if the depiction of extreme violence in a computer game was having a deleterious effect on moral standards.
Plus they wouldn't release any more tedious f**king sequales. I mean, GT3 was fun - ONCE!. But now they've become the EA of ultra violence.