Game Biz Guru Talks GTA IV & the Politics of Violent Games

Game Biz Guru Talks GTA IV & the Politics of Violent Games

April 25, 2008
Deadline Hollywood Daily has posted detailed comments about GTA IV from video game IP expert Keith Boesky, who sees the game as a cultural milestone:
GTA is violent, but like the movies, the violence is a reflection of our time... The game is a fantasy, it is ok to pretend...

Games are constantly being attacked for sex and violence - even though we have none of the first, and strictly control the second. Politicians, media, parents and crazy lawyers all attack the industry with a broad brush, sweeping kids together with adults... The industry is diverse enough to accommodate Mario and [Metal Gear Solid's] Snake Plisken but the media and politicians still portray our market as one for children...  

I am not delusional. I know there are ultra violent games out there. I played the snuff film called Manhunt and saw the... scene from Postal where the player lights someone on fire and pees on them, but these games just don't sell in volume... Like any other media, violence alone will not sell games. The game must be good...

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Snake used Snake Plisken as a codename in Metal Gear Solid 2. The Snake character was already based off Snake Plisken from Escape from New York (Hideo Kojima said it himself). This was mostly just an added reference. As for what the guy said, I agree.
Ok, Ignoring the, heinous mistake [we never learn Snake's real name and the Snake he mentioned is in Escape from LA] I agree wholeheartedly.
"Like any other media, violence alone will not sell games. The game must be good…"

Well put.
@ kurisu7885

Yeah, but admit it, Snake Pliskin is cooler. Even when he successfully escapes from both New York and LA and pilots boats under the assumed name Captain Ron he's sweet.
Ahh, common sense... smells like... research. Oh how good research can be.
@Dick Ward

Agreed, he was still damned cool.
I'll take Snake Pliskin over MGS Snake any day. The movie producers haven't been dumb enough yet to show a geriatric Snake Pliskin killing people with old person smell.
...And now I have to watch Escape from LA again. Way to go, Keith.
I agree with kurisu7885 the writer really does not know that there is no real last name for Snake. I ignore the fact because in MGS2 he said during his first meeting with Raiden that is name was Plisken. And I agree with the writer, you can have the worst of the worst you can rape people and kill cops for points (see what I did there?) but if the game is crap no one is going to play them. For example Manhunt 2. When that game came out it was targeted by smart people acting dumb and when the reviews came in it was crap. One month later no one cared. Not even the Smart people acting dumb. The reason why people get all up in arms in GTA because they are great games. I can see that this game is going to be blame for something stupid in the next three to six months.
@jesse

They didn't even mention 25 to Life[does anyone even remember it now?], all that kept it out of the bargain bin was the controversy.
Well, Kojima actually based Solid Snake on Snake Plisken from the "Escape From" movies, so I guess it's not too big of a mistake. Especially since, as was mentioned, as a joke Kojima wrote to have Snake tell Raiden in MGS2 to call him Plisken before Raiden figured out he was Snake.
[...] wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptDeadline Hollywood Daily has detailed comments about GTA IV from video game IP expert Keith Boesky, who sees the game as a cultural milestone: GTA is violent, but like the movies, the violence is a reflection of our time… The game is a fantasy, it is ok to pretend… [...]
Ok ok, I get it. Damn, I guess I made it obvious, I never got to play the second one >.
Ok, I'm sorry but I can't help but be a geek here and point out the proper spelling of the character's name is "Snake Plissken" just so you know. Escape from New York is one of my favorite movies too and I can't help but be irked seeing the character's name mangled.
Kids make about 10% of video game players, M Rated games make up 14% of games sold. Does that even make a lick of sense that they would target their smallest demographic with their lowest selling product?
[...] GamePolitics wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptDeadline Hollywood Daily has detailed comments about GTA IV from video game IP expert Keith Boesky, who sees the game as a cultural milestone: GTA is violent, but like the movies, the violence is a reflection of our time… The game is a fantasy, it is ok to pretend… [...]
Well put Mr. Boesky, well put :) .
Yes, I think everyone caught the EFNY Snake-mistake ... but also, in Postal 2, you don't light someone on fire then pee on them - first run through you just pee on them and they run away. After beating the game you pee napalm. Fun stuff.

But that aside, I agree with the basic premise - the industry is big enough for my kids to have played Jump Start games years ago and Super Smash Bros and Metroid Prime now, while I play stuff ranging from Chessmaster to Postal 2 to Blade of Darkness and more.
@ kurisu7885

Man the only thing I remember from that game is the amount of bad scores it got. Now that I think about it that was a pretty terrible looking game.
@jesse

Precisely my point, it would have just gone away had the alarmists just shut up about it.
Someone......talking sense!?
Cue R.E.M.'s"It's The End of The World As We Know It".
I hate it when people treat Grand theft auto 4 like hostel the videogame.
@ Jack Thompson is a douchbag

They are making a Saw video game. I wonder if it will get any attention?
Snake used the codename "Iroquois Pliskin" in MGS2, before Raiden found out he was Snake. Pliskin is an obvious reference to Snake Plissken, who Snake is partly based on. Iroquois was some tribal thing that related to snakes, can't remember how.
Snake's real name is David, same as his voice actor.
Thank you for the corrections. I was sloppy. I should have said Solid Snake, but as some of you pointed out, MGS is largely "inspired" by Escape from New York. I must also admit, I did not make it all the way through MGS3. I stopped in the forest because I did not pick up the infra red goggles and my opponent kept going invisible. I did play all the way through 1 and 2, hence my confusion by the Plisken reference.

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Posted 03/16/10 at 04:14pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:Ya but the organ grinder got tired of all the "fluffing"...
Posted 03/16/10 at 11:45am
JDKJ: Have you tried partnering with an organ grinder? If you do a good job, passerbys will fawn over you and throw change in your tin cup.
Posted 03/16/10 at 10:59am
ZippyDSMlee: JD is jsut pissy cuse he is not getting enough attnetion...hey neither am I damnit!!!!
Posted 03/16/10 at 10:18am
Valdearg: @Cminer: LMAO. I was about to say the same thing. The typical Youtube comment implies they've been at it for years.
Posted 03/16/10 at 10:17am
CMiner: JDKJ: That happened years ago. Look at your average forum poster/youtube commentor/etc for proof.
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JDKJ: BREAKING: Goodall Institute for Primate Research teaches chimpazee how to type and post to the Internet.
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ZippyDSMlee: I suppose its not inane enough for petes muses*giggles*
Posted 03/15/10 at 03:55pm
PHX Corp: It had the Video Games tag on it, I thought that it had been a video game law that was concerning it
Posted 03/15/10 at 03:54pm
JDKJ: And what happened to "Senior GP Correspondent, Andrew Eisen, reporting from San Diego [and who has a better finger on the pulse of GP's readership than some others]?" Huh? Did he fall victim to the Night of the Long Knives?
Posted 03/15/10 at 03:53pm
Andrew Eisen: No, but my one example was not meant to cover the entire spectrum. Besides, multiplayer is a big part of video games.
Posted 03/15/10 at 03:50pm
Andrew Eisen: PHX Corp - Are you referring to AB 847? I haven't read the bill but the summary doesn't appear to apply to video games.
Posted 03/15/10 at 03:49pm
DarkSaber: 2 mediocre games do not "a big part of video games" make.
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JDKJ: I suspect that'll fall victim to the "pass." Wrong side of the fence. It's North Korea we aren't supposed to like.
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DarkSaber: Although, following the "MW2 Made Lots of Money" excuse for a story, GP would be hard pressed to justify WHY they passed on it.
Posted 03/15/10 at 03:47pm
Andrew Eisen: DS - Not necessarily. See recent Ubisoft stories.
Posted 03/15/10 at 03:47pm
Andrew Eisen: Zip - Or it will and GP hasn't had a chance in the last couple hours to get to it yet. Or yeah, maybe he’ll pass on it.
Posted 03/15/10 at 03:46pm
DarkSaber: Only if you play multiplayer AE.
Posted 03/15/10 at 03:45pm
Andrew Eisen: Except, aside from following up on an earlier story, GP frequently reports on internet censorship and net neutrality issues (the internet being a big part of video games and all).
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