When will it end?

Sep 24, 2008 00:01 GMT  ·  By

It really seemed like the cases of violence and accidents that were pinned on Grand Theft Auto IV were slowing down, even stopping at some point, until this one popped up from France: a teenage boy, after supposedly playing GTA IV, went out, spread some gas on three cars and torched them. Yes, GTA IV might have had some influence on the boy, but the way the newspapers treated the story was pure fiction.

"The 13-year-old schoolboy used petrol to set light to three vehicles after playing on the violent GTA 4: Liberty City game on his home PC. The game awards points creating as much crime and destruction as possible in a city." reads an excerpt from a newspaper article.

This whole thing is wrong on so many levels – first of all, because GTA IV doesn't even have a subtitle, and unless the kid works for Rockstar, the PC version isn't due out until November; second of all, yeah, it's a violent game, but it rewards the ability of the player to survive certain aspects that can be found in almost any big city in the world. And from what I remember, GTA IV is an M rated game, so isn't it the parents' fault? I wouldn't let my kid play violent games unless he completely understood them and managed to make a distinction between the fiction in the virtual world and the reality outside.

People, and more specifically journalists, should really look into their stories much more carefully, to ensure that a completely unbiased report is delivered to the viewer. They should drop the tabloid like titles that blame the usual suspect, in this case GTA IV, for something and instead make sure they have a clear judgment, because a lot of readers take what they see or read for granted, without questioning the facts.