Taking the Parents Television Council up on an interview offer, Phil Villarreal of the Arizona Daily Star spoke with Dan Isett (left), PTC Director of Public Policy about Grand Theft Auto IV.
Along with a number of other watchdog groups, the PTC has been highly critical of GTA IV in recent days. Villarreal, however, reports that Isett's knowledge of what is actually in the game is a bit lacking:
Isett: I’ve actually played ‘Grand Theft Auto IV,’ and it’s right in keeping with previous versions. The series continues to lower the bar and this is the first game that has an alcohol content warning. You get points for driving drunk in this game.
Villarreal: You know that’s not true, right? The game doesn’t have points.
Isett: If nothing else, it’s a rewarded activity. Necessary for advancement.
Villarreal: I don’t think so.
Isett: But there’s an alcohol content warning and a scene of drunk driving, correct?
Villarreal: Yes. Did you play that part?
Isett: No, no. I didn’t get that far...
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Journalist Calls Out PTC on GTA IV Drunk Driving Claims
May 9, 2008
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PHX Corp: http://www.unwinnable.com/2013/05/24/trigger-warning/ Trigger Warning05/25/2013 - 6:37am
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beemoh: Unless that pic of a Kinect taped to the underside of a phone is a joke05/25/2013 - 1:58am
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beemoh: Kinect being used in prototype to stop people walking into people while texting: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-2263173105/25/2013 - 1:57am
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Cecil475: @hellfire7885 - Makes me want to support Nintendo even more.05/24/2013 - 4:49pm
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hellfire7885: Man, EA seems to be determined to destroy the Wii U ,and the evidently are so arrogant as to believe not making games for it will do that.05/24/2013 - 4:45pm
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DorthLous: Pwahahahha http://www.destructoid.com/wii-u-sales-drastically-spike-after-xbox-one-presentation-254449.phtml#LlG8HEYbQj2krql5.0105/24/2013 - 2:23pm
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james_fudge: she gets no credit until she employs some common sense. - 2 credits for her.05/24/2013 - 11:22am
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Andrew Eisen: To Stender's credit, she did unmoderate my most recent comment within a day's time. There's even a couple other replies. None from her though.05/24/2013 - 11:18am
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james_fudge: apparently gamers are all 14 - 21 years-olds living in basements according to her way of thinking...05/24/2013 - 11:11am
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ZippyDSMlee: EZK: 0_o thier video card chipset is at the very least 3 versions behind the top PC video card.......05/24/2013 - 7:38am
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MechaTama31: "You just wouldn't understand how my parenting preferences are more important than everybody else's freedoms."05/24/2013 - 7:37am
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DorthLous: I love how she plays the "I'm a parent, you're a gamer, you couldn't understand" card... I'm a parent and I find her position despicable...05/23/2013 - 4:16pm
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E. Zachary Knight: She didn't address your questions because she doesn't have any answers.05/23/2013 - 3:38pm
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Andrew Eisen: I replied to her comment. Maybe in a few weeks I'll get a reply.05/23/2013 - 3:24pm
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Thomas Riordan: @Andrew Eisen To what bowling alley does she go that puts sexual images in the faces of 6 year olds?05/23/2013 - 3:17pm
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Andrew Eisen: Well, it took a month but Linda Stender finally replied to me... and didn't address a single one of my questions. http://aswlindastender.com/2013/04/23/follow-up-video-games-and-their-effect-on-children/05/23/2013 - 3:13pm
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Imautobot: Also, from a tech perspective the PS4 is apparently already winning. http://bgr.com/2013/05/22/xbox-one-vs-playstation-4-specs/05/23/2013 - 3:12pm
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Imautobot: Sony's PS4 motto should be "We play games." Microsoft's should be "We play games, when we're not rewinding your tapes."05/23/2013 - 3:11pm
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Andrew Eisen: Oh look, Dying Light was just announced For Everything But Wii U. That's 73.05/23/2013 - 2:06pm
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james_fudge: Zippy: they said the same thing about Cell. How did that turn out.05/23/2013 - 1:28pm
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Comments
Fangamer
That was a mandatory mission in the game, and it is quite clear that these type of people don't play the game; so they would have no idea that it's in there. Besides, the naysayers focus on the optional, non-important aspects of the game.
That's totally the same as the game requiring you to drive drunk in order to advance, right?
Why didn't the interviewer tell him that? His response of "I don’t think so" is so disappointing. I wanted to hear that ignorant asshole get *shut down*. It was a perfect opportunity, wasted. :(
Isett = Fail
Actually, this is par for the course. The 'experts' have seen 5 minutes of video, have never played the game, and are latched onto an idea that can easily be proven as wrong.
Just a normal day in the week for Game Politics I think.
Just about every crime you break in a GTA game is a punished behavior. You rack up money (Might as well be points, I guess), but the higher that wanted level goes, the harder it is to do anything except hide under a bridge and hope the cops keep driving into the river instead of taking the ramp around the other side. Its fun going on a rampage, but if you're in the game to finish it (which is what I generally consider the "reward"), you're not getting very far by making a big scene all the time.
In fact, as others have said, the game consistently punishes 'violence for its own sake'. The best course of action is almost always to keep the level of violence low. For instance, when you're tasked with killing a gang and the police show up you'd be crazy to start shooting police. The only mission I've seen where this isn't the case is the bank robbery, where you have to defend yourself by shooting cops.