Grand Theft Auto: Reaching a new audience

    Since the start of the series, Grand Theft Auto has commonly been perceived as violent and raunchy due to its excessive mature content.  It contains the three words that can quickly spark controversy around any form of media.  Sex, drugs, and violence.  The lead designers of the series, Rockstar Games, are almost always under fire for the gritty content of their infamous title.  Their main argument always revolves around the fact that the games are not meant for younger gamers and never will be.  Since the beginning of their development, and even still today, video games are viewed as a means to entertain younger audiences with cartoon like visuals and addictive button mashing.  However, looking past the violence, it seems Rockstar games may be attempting to refute this stereotype and branch out video games to a larger audience.  If Hodkinson examined the situation of Grand Theft Auto, he would describe our cultures current views on video games as the Dominant Ideology.  This ideology insists that video games are much more for the children and serve no entertaining value for the more developed minds of adults.  Grand Theft Auto challenges this ideology with concepts present in its games.
    The Grand Theft Auto games introduce a style of gameplay that aside from the sex and violence, is generally more suitable for mature minds.  First off, the games in the series feature challenging storylines that can take up to 25-30 hours to complete.  The challenging missions within the story can contain strategic or moral decisions that can cause the player to think rationally.  Also the game requires players to customize weapons, cars, and clothes to progress further in the game.  Another feature to be introduced in the next Grand Theft Auto game is a more realistic system of money.  In an interview conducted with Rockstars Dan Houser, it was revealed that the current economical situation in the country will be mirrored in the game, forcing the player to make more economical decisions while playing.  With characteristics such as these, it’s obvious the developers of the game are not focused on entertaining children.
      With games like Grand Theft Auto it is probably safe to say that the views on video games and adults are changing.  Video games are reaching different audiences the same way television and music has.  Although it is still not widely accepted, it seems safe to say that video games are expanding at a steady pace.        
    

Grand Theft Auto: The epic crime saga

   In the early days of the Grand Theft Auto series, the games most attractive feature was the players immense freedom.  From the very start of almost any Grand Theft Auto game, the character has the ability to run free within a virtual city.  The list of things possible within this virtual city seem to be endless.  The favorite being attacking pedestrians and stealing their money which is more then likely followed by a thrilling chase with the ever persistent police force within the city.  After the player calms down and takes a short break from chaos, he or she might discover the epic story mode the game features.  Each Grand Theft Auto game on the market contains a lengthy story/campaign mode with the longest being estimated to take a full 30 hours to complete.

    For each Grand Theft Auto game, the story is usually a crime drama that often parodies another work of crime fiction in cinema history.  For example, Grand Theft Auto III parodies elements from epic cult crime films such as The Godfather and Pulp Fiction.  Its predecessor, Grand Theft Auto Vice City, embraces the same concept and mirrors crime classics such as Scarface and Carlitos Way.  The creators of the game pull this off by combining these elements and adding a cartoon like comedic twist to the well known scenarios.  The games also take place in different time periods such as the 80’s and 90’s to help set the mood of the game.

    In pretty much every Grand Theft Auto game,  the main protagonist or hero is a skilled criminal, who often has a troubled past and is sometimes haunted by regret and guilt.  The main conflict in the game often arises when the protagonist is betrayed by the helper of the hero, who in turn becomes the main villain.  This is the disruption being talked about by hodkinson in chapter 4 within the narrative analysis section.  The normal is commonly reinstated when the games story mode is complete and the protagonist takes his revenge.  Only some of the games contain a female that the protagonist must rescue from the villain, but every game still reaps the rewards of success.

    Along with the nonstop in-game action the story mode provides, there are also well scripted cut scenes within the game.  These dramatized cut scenes help the audience get an even better look at the characters and their struggles.  It’s almost like watching a crime drama with a game around it.  What more could a fan of the genre ask for?

 Here is a video celebrating the 10th anniversary of the franchises breakthrough title Grand Theft Auto III