MADD Gets Mad Over Drunk Driving in GTA IV ...Calls for ESRB to Re-rate as Adults Only

OK, you don't have to drive drunk it's an option that you can choose to do. In fact if you are drunk it suggests that you should walk or call a cab.

Also, it is one of the easiest ways to get wanted stars. If you get in a car drunk and even tap on the R button for a split second you get chased down by the cops.

They're not glorifying it, they put it in to add realism to the game.

So stop bitching and focus on real world drunk driving.

@Uh....

Looks like their 'discussion' blog doesn't actually include any discussion. Every single post has zero comments. Comments are 'allowed' but moderated.. so I guess they just delete everything.

So much phail.
Also, I assume Im not the only one aware of the irony in their abbreviated name?

Ok, to start...my aunt (my mothers twin no less) was killed a few years ago by a drunk driver and it hurt me and my family GREATLY. The bastard that did it got off light on a plea bargin in Va. I've come to terms with this tragedy, but I don't see how a videogame (and MANY movies that have shown it as well) are going to make someone go and do it themselves. I'm actually HAPPY with how they show it in the game. When Nikko's brother shows up drunk...he TELLS HIM HE SHOULD NOT BE DRIVING AND TAKES THE CAR. Later, once you yourself get drunk, they tell you right away that you should not be driving and should call a cab. Knowing that this is only a videogame and not the real thing (once again going back to knowing exactly how it can hurt a family in the real world and telling the two apart) I hopped into a car and tried to drive. Almost instantly I was wanted and chased by the cops. Warnings about the behaviour and IMMEDIATE consequences. They leave those things out when they talk about this issue I'm sure.

We've heard about murder simulators, columbine simulators, and wastes of time. Those are the new terminology invented by people to make games seem bad.

"game module"

What? Where'd this one come from?

Did MADD see the part where the cops are on you like shit on velcro if they witness drunken Nico enter a car?

[...] Lots of people are, predictably, up in arms about Grand Theft Auto IV, which features a certain about of violence and sex. It takes an organization like MADD, though, to miss the point as spectacularly as this: Each year nearly 13,500 people die in drunk driving crashes and another half a million are injured in alcohol-related traffic crashes. This is why MADD is extremely disappointed by the decision of the manufacturers of the game Grand Theft Auto IV to include a game module where players have to drive drunk. [...]

OMG GTA HAS DRINK DRIVING IN IT!!!! NOW I CAN GO GET HAMMERED AND DRIVE THROUGH A MALL AND SAY THEY TOLD ME TO!!!!!!!! MADD is a joke along with every other protect the children jack off orgs. i like george carlins idea........ Carlin on Children: "And what's with all this talk about children? Save the children, help the children, what about the children...well, you know what I say? F*** the children! F*** 'em, they're getting entirely too much attention already!"

When I was in high school, we had a "presentation" where some people brought a car to the school and let us drive it around the parking lot. The car had been modified to simulate "drunk driving", i.e. it would swerve unexpectedly, the brakes were slow to respond to simulate slower response time, etc. The idea was to give us an idea of how much alcohol can handicap our driving abilities, so we would think twice about trying to drive if we were actually drunk. This was a SADD/MADD endorsed activity.

So...actually simulating drunk driving, in the REAL world, is supposed to help us make better decisions about drunk driving, but a virtual simulation of drunk driving is going to encourage us to do so?

Yeah, that's what I thought.

I left a completely respectful comment on their blog opening up a dialogue and asking them to refute the many good points we all have on here and of course it hasn't been allowed to show up on their moderated board because it doesn't fit their message.

Yet another group pathetically trying to get in the news by bashing GTA. Sadly enough it works.

*Note I am not for or against MADD however there approach is a little unorthodox.*

Just to let you know I think MADD has changed their statement on their blog, it reads exactly as follows...

"Each year nearly 13,500 people die in drunk driving crashes and another half a million are injured in alcohol-related traffic crashes. This is why MADD is extremely disappointed by the decision of the manufacturers of the game Grand Theft Auto IV to include a game module where players can drive drunk.

Drunk driving is not a game and it is not a joke. Drunk driving is a choice, a violent crime and it is also 100 percent preventable. MADD is calling on the Entertainment Software Ratings Board to reclassify Grand Theft Auto IV as an Adults Only game, a step up from the current rating of Mature and for the manufacturer to consider a stop in distribution – if not out of responsibility to society then out of respect for the millions of victims/survivors of drunk driving."

Notice the "...a game module where players CAN drive drunk." I guess they have been informed that it is not a must but an optional decision on which the player decides what to do.

Me personally, I like to take taxi for the simple fact I don't like to get shot at by a squad of policemen as soon as I start up the engine and put it in drive, or the inability to run away fast enough when my car is about to blow from driving into everything. On a more personal note I have drove drunk before and ran my 97' Grand Am into a patch of woods and into a group of small trees. Good thing I was on a back road and nobody was hurt. I'll never do that again.

I'll help out MADD a little bit better than what they are doing will ever do. Here it is... "Don't drive drunk folks, bad sh*t will happen eventually if not the first time you do it." There you go MADD, I just saved more lives with that statement than your approach at the gaming industry, doesn't that suck. I didn't even have to take legal action.

"Drunk driving is not a game and it is not a joke. Drunk driving is a choice, a violent crime and it is also 100 percent preventable."

And it's also a choice in the game. You're not forced to drive your self home, in fact, every time I've gotten blitzed in GTA4 the NPCs have suggested I take a cab. I ignored them the first time, thinking that it couldn't be *that* hard to drive drunk right? After weaving about madly, crashing into everyone and everything and being chased by the cops in the mean time, I've decided to call a cab rather than drive my self from now on.

In fact, I think GTA4 has made me more responsible in that regard. I've never driven drunk in real life before, but I'm definately not doing it now.

...

Maybe that's why MADD has such a problem with the drunk driving section? If too many people play it, drive drunk, and learn their lesson, MADD won't have anyone to preach to!

MAD doesn't need to worry, games aren't jokes any more than films that have drunk driving are.

posted a comment on their blog, waiting for approval, but it still doesnt show any other comments at all. guess they haven't gotten any comments that agree with them.

Even Niko thinks its a bad idea to do this when you first get drunk.

MADD, look. There is a variating difference between what is virtual and between what is reality. In reality, there has already been more than 1 video game that has portrayed Driving under the influence. And I won't even begin to include the number of movies that portray drunk driving. So inevitably, to concern yourselves with rockstar's decision to incorporate such an act is pointless. Violence is typically a part of everyone's life, and so is crime. It has continuously prevailed through many Centuries and though many efforts have successfully reported substantial decreases in criminal activity, and DUI's for that matter, it does not take away from the fact that people will stop doing it completely. If you really want to stop DUI's. You'd have to ban alcholic beverages from the public. Which ISN'T going to happen. And while I stand by your efforts to take people driving under the influence off the streets. I don't think it's typically relevant for you guys to target a video game over the matter. Because the point is is that it's just a video game. There is not enough evidence to support the fact that it "influences" these choices. I would stand by you guys 100 percent to help out with drunk driving. But as far as I'm concerned Rockstar came out with a pretty kick ass game. And you firms are trying to slap it down for your own advantageous gains. Unless there is hard evidence proving that these video games influence the public to commit such acts you should all just shut up and focus on what's happening already in "reality".

[...] Yes, both Mothers Against Drunk Driving and, more recently, the police force, have expressed their concerns over the fact that main character Niko Bellic can get himself half-cut and then attempt to drive a car. Funnily enough, I never even thought of the outrage it would cause when I first saw the sequence, although to be fair, I was too busy trying to make Niko walk straight. [...]

Honest;y, everyone and there mother is going after GTA 4. Give it a fucking rest. The GTA 4 horse is long dead, and so anyone still beating is a necrophile.
Have fun, MADD. You fucking perverts.

Everyone just needs to remember. People getting pissed off at a game is usually just an excellent sign of a great game. The more they bitch the more I buy

[...] To the handful of people whom frequent this site, sincere apologies about lack of updates but this is due to two reasons: College/Work and a little game by the name of Digital Crack IV Grand Theft Auto IV. Yep, the murder simulation game that everyone is talking about. So it comes to no surprise that this next generation iteration of the franchise is getting rave reviews across the board. In this article, I will detail the fun little things to do and sights to see in the digital world of Liberty City. [...]