MADD wants GTA IV labeled AO because of the drunk driving, but is perfectly fine with the rest of the content.

Apologies for yet another Grand Theft Auto IV article, but it seems to be generating all the headlines this week.

There's been a lot of talk from the mainstream media about GTAIV, most of it of the informed quality one would expect.  It's easily ignored, seeing as there are only so many hours in the day and there are things that matter to deal with, but MADD went above and beyond the call of duty to get a response.  This is copied and pasted from their media page-

"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 can 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."

The line that stops me dead in my tracks is "Drunk driving is a choice, a violent crime and it is also 100 percent preventable."  Allow me to illustrate another "choice" or two that might be construed as "a violent crime" that are also "100 percent preventable".

1.  Beating up a car near to destruction and parking it in the center of a gas station, climbing up to the roof of the building opposite, and waiting for enough people to appear to make it interesting when I cause the entire station to blow sky-high.

2.  Driving on the sidewalk because the roads were crowded with momentum-killing cars, and pedestrians don't have the same negative effect on my top speed.

3.  Hitting a guy with a baseball bat because he's standing near a ledge and it'd be fun to see him go flying over it. 

4.  Killing, killing, and more killing because the mission is filled with bad guys and I want to know what happens next.

While none of these actions would be particularly acceptable anywhere but within the confines of a video game, they didn't matter at all to  MADD.  All the press release mentions is the one little thing hits the group's particular interest, and because of this GTAIV must be labeled AO.

MADD has a right to be up in arms about the issue that's the sole reason the organization exists.  Drunk driving is a stupid and easily deadly act, but that's got nothing to do with anything.  Almost every game out there has the player performing acts of various deadly consequences, whether it's Mario stomping turtles, Link slicing up the piggy moblin, or any of the GTA anti-heroes going about their daily crime-filled lives.  It doesn't matter whether the game is rated E, T, or M, they're all fantasies filled with actions that just don't cut it in the real world.  GTA is an easy target, but pointing out one aspect of it and deciding that it should be hit with a rating with a one year difference in the age of those theoretically allowed to play it is stupid.  The ESRB made its decision, Rockstar isn't going to stop distribution, and retailers aren't going to stop carrying the biggest game of the year.

GTAIV is an urban crime fantasy.  It's made by adults for adults, and works on the assumption that, once we're all grown up, we can choose our own entertainment and run our own lives without the Monkey See, Monkey Do reflex taking over.  MADD has a legitimate issue to deal with in their zealous way, but Grand Theft Auto IV isn't part of it.

And now to sit back and wait for PETA to get wind of GTAIV's pigeons.

This blog article should be recognized as the sole opinion of the editor and does not necessarily reflect GotNext's official position on the subject.