The National Institute on Media and the Family has slammed GTA: Vice City in its latest MediaWisa Videogame Report Card issued overnight. Having spoken briefly about the growth and profit seen over 2002, the report launches into an astounding attack on Vice City, the fastest-selling game of all time.
"A Dark Cloud Descends Over the Industry: The best selling games of the past year glorify and reward extreme violence, particularly toward women. While these games are rated M (Mature) they are extremely popular with pre-teen and teenage boys who report no trouble buying the games. For the past seven years, we have consistently expressed concern about a subset of very violent games called ‘first person shooters’. In these games the player advances in the game by killing. Even more disturbing this year is the fact that the best selling games of the past twelve months are not only ultra-violent, but feature brutal violence toward women. In addition, a growing number of non-violent games like BMX XXX degrade women and reinforce dangerous stereotypes by treating them as sexual objects."
It continues, "Several years ago we alerted parents about Duke Nukem, a game in which the player enters a room where naked women are tied to posts pleading with the gamer (as Duke) "Kill me. Kill me." In Grand Theft Auto 3 (GTA 3), the top selling game of the past year, the player is rewarded if he murders a prostitute after having sex with her. However, the trend has reached truly alarming levels with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
“Every day millions of boys and young men are entertaining themselves with a game that denigrates women and glamorises violence against them. The theory that it is a game that only adults are playing is simply not valid. Our recent survey of boys showed that it is extremely popular with pre-teen and teen males.”
“Parents and other adults are almost totally unaware of the content of the game. We have surveyed over 600 parents and teachers over the past month and less than 3% have any knowledge of the anti-female content of the game.”
“Studies of exposure to sexual violence (e.g. Linz and Donnerstein Penrod, 1988; Mullin and Linz, 1995; Strasburger and Wilson, 2002) suggest that watching even short amounts of sexual violence can desensitise viewers to it. For example, in an experimental study, viewers of films including sexual violence expressed significantly less sympathy for domestic violence victims, and rated their injuries as less severe, than did a no-exposure comparison group (Mullin and Linz, 1995).”
Lucky for us we only play Super Monkey Ball, Mario Party and Mary Kate and Ashley games, otherwise, well, goodness knows what we’d be like.
"A Dark Cloud Descends Over the Industry: The best selling games of the past year glorify and reward extreme violence, particularly toward women. While these games are rated M (Mature) they are extremely popular with pre-teen and teenage boys who report no trouble buying the games. For the past seven years, we have consistently expressed concern about a subset of very violent games called ‘first person shooters’. In these games the player advances in the game by killing. Even more disturbing this year is the fact that the best selling games of the past twelve months are not only ultra-violent, but feature brutal violence toward women. In addition, a growing number of non-violent games like BMX XXX degrade women and reinforce dangerous stereotypes by treating them as sexual objects."
It continues, "Several years ago we alerted parents about Duke Nukem, a game in which the player enters a room where naked women are tied to posts pleading with the gamer (as Duke) "Kill me. Kill me." In Grand Theft Auto 3 (GTA 3), the top selling game of the past year, the player is rewarded if he murders a prostitute after having sex with her. However, the trend has reached truly alarming levels with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
“Every day millions of boys and young men are entertaining themselves with a game that denigrates women and glamorises violence against them. The theory that it is a game that only adults are playing is simply not valid. Our recent survey of boys showed that it is extremely popular with pre-teen and teen males.”
“Parents and other adults are almost totally unaware of the content of the game. We have surveyed over 600 parents and teachers over the past month and less than 3% have any knowledge of the anti-female content of the game.”
“Studies of exposure to sexual violence (e.g. Linz and Donnerstein Penrod, 1988; Mullin and Linz, 1995; Strasburger and Wilson, 2002) suggest that watching even short amounts of sexual violence can desensitise viewers to it. For example, in an experimental study, viewers of films including sexual violence expressed significantly less sympathy for domestic violence victims, and rated their injuries as less severe, than did a no-exposure comparison group (Mullin and Linz, 1995).”
Lucky for us we only play Super Monkey Ball, Mario Party and Mary Kate and Ashley games, otherwise, well, goodness knows what we’d be like.
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