So here we go with Mass Effect style slander, but this time instead of Fox News, we get it from MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). Most likely without ever playing GTA IV, which is reflected in their statement below “where players have to drive drunk”, MADD demands the ESRB to raise the game’s rating to AO (Adults Only) and requests Rockstar cease publishing of the game. Read the statement below.
“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. 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.”
Considering the fact that GTAIV never requires drunk driving and actually recommends in game that you take an available taxi after leaving a bar, it shows that MADD is clearly labeling a game without even bothering to try it out. As someone who played the game, and anyone else who has can vouch for me as well, it’s a bitch to drive, let alone walk. The one time I figured I’d tested it out, I was busted by the cops in about 20 seconds after pulling away. In actuality the game shows the dangers of drunk driving in a reality setting. And I guess according to MADD, it’s quite alright you can pull a shotgun to someone’s chest and blow them away, but the minute you drive drunk in a game, it should be AO. MADD has gone from a once proud group trying to correct a serious issue, to a radicalist lobby trying to push it’s agenda, that even it’s founder has distanced herself from.
Will the media, Fred Thompson, or groups like MADD ever bother giving a game a spin before spewing false information to the public? Doubt it. Well, I for one can’t wait to see if Rockstar or the ESRB will bother to respond to this by changing the rating or halting game production, but the first round of brewskies is on me if action is taken as MADD suggests. 😉