Grand Theft Auto 4

Video games, video games, video games. We've all probably played some sort of video game in our lives, with frequency a wide and varying span. Some of those games probably had guns (GASP) and maybe even a little bit of violence to go along. I know I was shocked every time Mario jumped on those poor little turtles.

Lately, there has been one game in particular that has been getting a terrible reputation due to its violent content. This game is none other than Grand Theft Auto 4. If you've ever played, seen, or heard anything about the Grand Theft Auto series, then you probably already know that it is rather notorious for its content. In GTA, the object is to complete a series of missions, and along the way you are able to use your fantastic skills. These skills include: stealing cars, robbing people, beating down prostitutes, shooting cops, and causing problems in general. You get a variety of weapons to do all of this, like pistols, machine guns, grenades, and fun things of the sort.

The whole game series has gotten a lot of criticism for that kind of stuff. In particular, there have been instances where teenage boys who have gone out and stolen cars, and even shot police officers and claim that they Grand Theft Auto taught them that it was ok to do this. And of course there are groups and lawyers out there who will defend kids like this, arguing the video game "made" them commit those crimes. Seriously, learn to make your own decisions and take some self-responsibility for once. Not everything can be solved through a law suit.

If these kinds of video games are so bad, why don't we have every kid who plays Halo going out and trying to battle aliens? Sure, there might be one or two cases who were influenced by the video game, but if the video game hadn't gotten there first, cable tv would have eventually. Maybe we should blame the parents for being terrible parents. Our parents played video games. They had Mario, and Asteroid, and Donkey Kong. But we don't have a bunch adults going around trying to hop down sewer pipes, throwing barrels, or preparing for intergalactic asteroid collisions. They seemed to have turned out okay.