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?

i dont think kids (under 13)should play the game, your right its to violent for them--they still have trouble getting the differnce b/t how i should act and how i want to act down

Well, SA graphics were HORRIBLE... and yes you're right...When my cousin & I played SA, we put in the jetpack cheat and explored...the missions were STUPID...

Guy on phone: "Kill him!"

Carl: *SHOOTS*

Guy on phone: "Good job, oh look pedestrian! *pulls out gun*

NMH is wayyyyyy better with the missions..

Meh, GTA has had some pretty good missions; more so in 3 than in recent editions. The graphics in GTA3 were pretty good for the time and they didnt detract from the sales nor the enjoyment of the game for me. GTA4 will be no different.

I know the graphics will in fact sell to core gamers like vertually everyone on this site (or any gaming site) but it they lose the casual players then this game will be lucky to hit 7m split between two systems.

For GTA, that will be a bomb.

To be fair, there's going to be a GTA4 controversy no matter what. Even Rockstar knows about it (I'll send a link if you need me to.) If anything, those have HELPED sales.

The difference between cartoon violence and real world violence is pretty big. There's all sorts of violent stuff you can do in cartoons because it's easier to say "this isn't real." I mean, getting hit with a falling anvil will kill you IRL.

I think people can still tell the difference between a videogame and the real world. For those who like GTA's dark humor the realistic violence won't matter.

For those who like sandboxes and don't care about killing, this might be a big shock. Assuming they buy this at launch, which I don't think will happen. A price drop on consoles will happen before GTA4 sells in mass quantities.

So no, improved graphics won't hurt sales. At least not as much as the "price to buy a new console" will.

Considering that HD is one of the main reasons why the 360 and the PS3 are quite expensive, and probably one of the reasons why GTA4 will cost $/€ 60 instead of 50 as was usual before, I'd say yes, HD will hurt GTA4 sales even without counting in the factor you mentioned.

 Bah, NJ5 mentioned the real problem with GTA4 sales mid-post.

i dont think it is hd per se. it is the comparatively small user base (compared to ps2 gtas). but thats predictable.

i really thnik they are setting them selves up to get flamed--i mean look at what they are going for, an uber violent game that looks life like--not going to go over well with the parents and the world