Now you're probably wondering what I'm going on about here. How could HD graphics HURT GTA sales?
Well, yesterday I was talking to my daughter, 12, who loves GTA, she plays the game with her girlfriends. But she was watching an episode of Mad TV where they turned GTA into a reality show and she was shocked at the violence. It was funny of course, but she was like, is GTA really that violent? The answer, yes, of course it is.
But the difference is on Mad TV, comedy notwithstanding, it was real people. In the game it's cartoon violence, you don't take it seriously. The graphics are stylish enough and bad enough that it doesn't seem real at all.
But that's the rub. Watching the videos on the new GTA IV site, I was disturbed by some of the violence. It's too real (except for the guy getting hit by the car, that didn't look real at all). After watching that not only would I never let my kids play, but I don't want to play it either.
Now of course NO kids should be playing GTA. And even my daughter playing it is her mother's choice, not mine, but to be fair, I let my son start playing once he hit 13. And he was the last person in his school to get it.
The reality is GTA doesn't sell 15 million on the backs of hardcore gamers. It sells that much because it appeals to a lot of more casual players too and lots of kids. Frankly, I don't know anyone who's even does the missions, everyone just loves screwing around in that game.
But if the violence becomes too real, so that it's no longer 'cartoon violence' will casual avoid it? Will parents (finally) ban kids from it? Has Rockstar gone too far and lost sight of why GTA is such a hit in the first place?
