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Censorship Entertainment Games Your Rights Online

MADD Targets GTA IV Over Drunk Driving Scene 703

Posted by timothy from the inability-to-distinguish-real-life-from-pretend dept.
eldavojohn writes "The watch-dog group Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has set its sights on the rating of GTA IV, primarily because a player can drive drunk in the game. MADD released a statement saying that '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 also is asking Rockstar Games to consider removing GTA IV from distribution 'out of respect for the millions of victims/survivors of drunk driving.' Rockstar replied to MADD by saying 'we have a great deal of respect for MADD's mission, but we believe the mature audience for "Grand Theft Auto IV" is more than sophisticated enough to understand the game's content.' As expected, Jack Thompson is making his usual attention-whoring remarks by comparing GTA IV to the polio virus."
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MADD Targets GTA IV Over Drunk Driving Scene More

MADD Targets GTA IV Over Drunk Driving Scene

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  • Wow... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Uncle Focker ( 1277658 ) on Thursday May 01, 2008 @09:41AM (#23263084)

    As expected, Jack Thompson is making his usual attention-whoring remarks by comparing GTA IV to the polio virus."
    Won't someone finally lock this guy up in a mental institution? This man seriously needs therapy.

    • Re:Wow... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Pojut ( 1027544 ) on Thursday May 01, 2008 @09:46AM (#23263162) Homepage
      My opinion on this mirrors the opinion of many others. I personally WANT Jack Thompson to be running around acting like a moron. Yes, there are some people that listen to him...but the kind of people that listen to him would share his opinion even if he wasn't around.

      The reason I want him to run around acting like a moron is this: as long as someone like Jack Thompson is the most vocal anti-video game person out there, we as gamers are safe. We are in trouble when someone comes around that can actually put together a cohesive argument instead of the "Video games cause deaths! Just because!" type of argument. By him being this way, once again, the only people that listen to him are the ones that already have the same opinion.

      I would seriously doubt Thompson has been very successful in changing the opinions of folks insofar as video games are concerned.
      • There is no cohesive argument to be made against video games.
        • Unfortunately, there are still convincing arguments, even if they're not sound. Keep us safe, Jackie boy. Stay over the top.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Pojut ( 1027544 )
          That's not true. The problem is that most vocal critics of video games blame the games. BZZZT! This is wrong.

          If Jack Thompson was instead crucifying parents who don't monitor the entertainment their young children participate in, and focused on the fact that games like GTA IV are for adults and not their 8 year old child...THEN he would have something that I would agree with. Considering how loud he complains, if he complained this way, then I think his message would get through.

          But, that doesn't seem t

      • PR advice (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Gription ( 1006467 ) on Thursday May 01, 2008 @09:58AM (#23263354)
        Maybe someone should tell MADD that they would probably have better luck getting their message out if they didn't take positions that are somewhere between sophomoric and insane.

        If they really think that people are so completely unable to distinguish games from reality then they should understand that it means that people are so stupid that they can't be educated to stop drinking and driving anyway.

        • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

          by gnick ( 1211984 )
          I understand that MADD is all about drunk driving, but is that really the most disturbing thing that the player is allowed to do in the game? I've played a couple of the previous installments and while playing, I have beaten/run down innocent pedestrians, killed cops, intentionally rammed random cars with my stolen fire truck, set fire to little old ladies, etc. Is DWI really worse than any of those?

          As a side note, doing all of those things in the game has only lead me to try a couple of them in real life

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by _KiTA_ ( 241027 )

          Maybe someone should tell MADD that they would probably have better luck getting their message out if they didn't take positions that are somewhere between sophomoric and insane.

          If they really think that people are so completely unable to distinguish games from reality then they should understand that it means that people are so stupid that they can't be educated to stop drinking and driving anyway.

          ... Remembering that MADD was founded and is mostly made up of parents who lost their children to drunk drivers. A bit of anger in their message is understandable.

          This: 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. that's ok. I agree with that. Hell, I agree with Jack Thompson when he says stuff like "Hay guys, maybe 8 year olds shouldn't play GTA4". (Sprinkle with batshit and curse words to taste.)

          THIS however:

          • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

            by Mr3vil ( 1268850 )
            Not only that, but GTA IV gives the player a choice as to weather or not they want to drive drunk. The player can hail a cab or call a car service. If the player decides to damn the torpedoes and DUI. Every cop in town is going to instantly give the player at least a 1 star wanted level. Not only that but running from the cops is quite difficult as the controls have been appropriately compromised to simulate driving drunk. It'd be different if the player was rewarded for DUI, or if the game made DUI no
      • Hillary Clinton has sided with Jack Thompson on a variety of occasions, and she may be our next president.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by omeomi ( 675045 )
      Won't someone finally lock this guy up in a mental institution? This man seriously needs therapy.

      Somebody should offer to either have his grandchildren play GTA IV for an hour or be infected with polio. I wonder which one he'll choose. Oh wait, I know which one he'll choose. He'll choose the one that isn't the horrible, crippling virus. If I were a polio victim, I'd be horribly offended by his remarks.

  • Feh. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Pojut ( 1027544 ) on Thursday May 01, 2008 @09:42AM (#23263110) Homepage
    The whole point of video games is to do things that you couldn't possibly do in real life safely. In my opinion, MADD should be ENCOURAGING people to drive drunk in GTA IV, using this logic:

    "See how much harder and more dangerous it is to drive drunk? And this is just in a video game...imagine what would happen if you did it in real life."

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by kalirion ( 728907 )
      Until somebody gets so good at driving drunk in the game that they feel they can handle it in real life ^_^
      • We're gonna drink, we're gonna drive, and we're gonna pull it off. Because we do it every single fuckin' night.

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by TripMaster Monkey ( 862126 )
        I agree...after all, that's exactly what happened to me with San Andreas...I got so good at running over drug dealers and stealing their loot I thought I could handle it in real life...

        </snark>

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Pojut ( 1027544 )
        I know that some abilities gained in video games can translate to real life (better observance from playing FPS, better reaction times from playing Ninja Gaiden, etc.) if you think you could be a better driver in real life from driving in a video game using a thumbstick...well, you deserve to die in a fiery crash. The gene pool doesn't need that kind of person contributing.

        Same goes for a racing wheel. Even if the technology advanced to the point where you could "feel" the road in the steering wheel like
        • My biggest complaint is I still SUCK at car racing games. The number of walls I plow into by going way too fast into the turn... well, too many. Tactile feedback makes a HUGE difference, and the lack of Gforce experienced in a video game makes me useless. As for my car? Well, I'm part of the 80% of Americans who consider themselves to be above average drivers. I'm not sure what percentage I'm part of that can intentionally slide the car through turns, or understand apexing, but I'm sure it's a minority.
        • if you think you could be a better driver in real life from driving in a video game using a thumbstick...well, you deserve to die in a fiery crash.

          I would agree with you, save for the unfortunate fact that these devolved jackasses often take innocent lives with them.
      • Normally I hear people rationalize their drunk driving like, "I Drive better when I am drunk" or "When I am drunk I am sure to drive more carefully". It is not well I could do it in a vedio game. Because while you are sober and playing a game of the guy driving drunk you still have your reflexes and clear though to adjust to the more difficult driving in the game. But it is not the game it is the people who rationalize what they do in real life.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )
      You should send them an email with that advice, it's pure gold.

    • "See how much harder and more dangerous it is to drive drunk? And this is just in a video game...imagine what would happen if you did it in real life."
      Yeah it's way harder to run down pedestrians while drunk. I'm staying sober tonight!
    • Maybe someday people will learn that doing stuff like this (or condemning a movie, etc) will only provide free advertising for the targeted company.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mpe ( 36238 )
      The whole point of video games is to do things that you couldn't possibly do in real life safely.

      Including things which are criminal. Indeed the title of the game (and the three which came before it) is a criminal act.

      In my opinion, MADD should be ENCOURAGING people to drive drunk in GTA IV, using this logic:
      "See how much harder and more dangerous it is to drive drunk? And this is just in a video game...imagine what would happen if you did it in real life."

      There is no way for the game to tell if a p

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Pojut ( 1027544 )

        There is no way for the game to tell if a player is drunk (or otherwise intoxicated) all the game can do is make the controls work less well. Just as happened in Nethack with a "potion of booze" 20 years ago.

        Not true. World of Warcraft is a perfect example of this. Underneath the "skin" of the game, there are algorithms that determine how much you have drunk. This may be my imagination, but I have noticed that the larger races take more alcohol to get them drunk. And when they are REALLY drunk, it can m

  • In other words: (Score:5, Funny)

    by ODiV ( 51631 ) on Thursday May 01, 2008 @09:43AM (#23263118)
    MADD condones drive-bys as long as you're sober?

  • Reality Check (Score:5, Insightful)

    by db32 ( 862117 ) on Thursday May 01, 2008 @09:44AM (#23263128) Journal
    Because the drugs and guns and carjackings aren't choices that are violent crimes right? This is stupid. This is also coming from the worthless group that lobbied to allow the federal government to extort money from the states if they didn't raise the drinking age. Feds collect income tax from state residents, then refuse to give the money back unless the state (who is supposed to be the final authority within its own borders) complies with what the feds want them to do. So screw them, I only hope that one day these people will shut the hell up.

    Don't mistake me, I think they have a good cause, they are just a worthless bunch of whiners. For example, I think stopping all abortions would be a wonderful cause, but doing it through a massive expansion of education and adoption is a far better way than parading around with dead fetus signs, mailing plastic fetuses, making it illegal, or any of the other abhorrent things the anti-abortionists do.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )
      They had a good cause, they got what they wanted. Logically, It's time to close up shop; However there in it for the power now.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mpe ( 36238 )
      This is also coming from the worthless group that lobbied to allow the federal government to extort money from the states if they didn't raise the drinking age.

      Is there any evidence that doing this is actually effective at reducing the number of drunk drivers? There are plenty of other things which could be tried. Including raising the driving age (and seeing if there is any effect depending on relative drinking and driving ages). There is also harsher punishment of people caught driving whilst drunk. (In
  • When your character is able to get drunk and discovers that he DRIVES LIKE SHIT!

    I remember the drunk mission in Vice City. Man, that was HARD!

  • Heh (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I'll bet MADD really wouldn't have liked how I spent last Friday night.

    Have you ever driven so drunk that you have to cover one eye to keep from seeing double?
  • Don't these fascists have anything better to do? I am not a fan of GTA, but I still think this is ridiculous. Is MADD that desperate to remain relevant?
    • No, actually they don't have anything better to do. If they really wanted to stop drunk driving they would be offering free taxi rides for people. What they want to do is just complain and have the nanny-state take care of everything they are afraid of.

      In truth, there are thousands of things in this life that will kill you or hurt you badly and we can't run around having the nanny-state take care of all of them for us. Sure, make sure your kid is wearing a helmet and pads before going down a slide in case h
  • Has anyone ever noticed that anytime something is labeled "Adult" or "Mature", it is almost inevitably juvenile?
    • Sure, kids want to be adults and older adults want to be kids again. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

      The people who make Adult content are just capitalizing on this phenomenon.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by morari ( 1080535 )
      It very often times is when it comes to video games at least...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Danse ( 1026 )

      Has anyone ever noticed that anytime something is labeled "Adult" or "Mature", it is almost inevitably juvenile?
      I think the idea is that if you're mature enough to recognize that it's juvenile, then you can be expected to handle it ok. Otherwise, you're likely to do something stupid like try to imitate it in real life. Just because it's juvenile doesn't mean it's not fun :)
  • I wonder how many of those MADD crazies saw 40 Year Old Virgin. They sure made a joke out of drunk driving, and I never saw the movie generate this kind of negative publicity.
  • So, if you are virtually drunk in the game, do your reactions get slower, do you crash more, and when you try to shoot the cops, do you miss?

    If so, MADD should applaud this game, as it shows why you shouldn't be drunk. On the other hand, if when you get drunk there are no consequences, then they can complain.

    • On the other hand, if when you get drunk there are no consequences, then they can complain.
      What, you aren't a better driver when you're drunk?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Winckle ( 870180 )
      Absolutely, the camera blurs, your handling worsens. In fact a box pops up suggesting you phone a cab instead of drunk driving.

  • Exact Opposite of What Should Have Been Said (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Kilzfire ( 932216 ) on Thursday May 01, 2008 @09:48AM (#23263196)
    That's funny last night I was thinking the exact opposite of what the MADD organization came up with. I mean the game tells you look this is NOT safe you really should get a taxi. And I not actually knowing how to hail a taxi yet decided to risk it. Sure enough it was a BIG mistake. The car was insanely hard to control I got within viewing distance of one patrolling policeman and he called in a ton of them to put me out of commission. I think Rockstar came through in this virtual world with a true to life scenario showing that drunk driving is not the way to go. I was thinking the whole time...next time I will take the cab this is crazy! What a waste of my time as I had not saved the game recently!
  • ... they should have pulled GTA3 out of respect to the families of people who were chased down like dogs on the street and chopped to bits with a chain saw.

    Personally, the game is too unpleasant for me. I have GTA3 and play it occasionally, but found it to be a little too gratuitous for even my leathery brain. And I can certainly see how people would object to the drunk driving aspect of it (if nothing else, it doesn't seem like it would be crucial to the plot, and therefore seems to be added for shock valu

  • Drunk driving isn't a choice (Score:3, Funny)

    by Malevolent Tester ( 1201209 ) * on Thursday May 01, 2008 @09:48AM (#23263202) Journal
    It's a way of life. Goddamn dipsoaurigaeophobic bigots

  • attention-whoring (Score:4, Funny)

    by frovingslosh ( 582462 ) on Thursday May 01, 2008 @09:48AM (#23263206)
    As expected, Jack Thompson is making his usual attention-whoring remarks by comparing GTA IV to the polio virus."

    And, as usual, Slashdot is helping him get even more attention. I want to go on record here and now asking Slashdot to pull this story, out of respect for all of the attention-whoring victims that this jerk has already affected.

  • I hadn't had a good laugh in a while. Grand Theft Auto IV vs. Polio is a good one.

    Next could you evaluate Mohammad Ali versus Anti-lock brakes for us?

  • As an academian, which rhymes with comedian (think about it), that has played that scene, I am appalled by..... MADD. While I will never drive when drunk due to the death of a couple of friends right out of high school, I have played many games with a glass of glenmorangie sherry cask, including driving games. I have always worried about some idiot who thinks they can drive PGR while drunk translates to being able to operate a real car. The trying to drive drunk in GTA is very hard and made me think, 'there

  • After playing GTA4 last night, I totally saw this coming after playing the part where you get drunk with Roman and have to stumble back to your (any) car. It's actually harder to walk than it is to drive, and you in fact sober up on the way, magically, but it is in fact somewhat harder to drive.

    Having said that, it's completely asinine that anyone would seriously think this encourages drunk driving, any more than it encourages stabbing people or jumping off of a building, or running from the police, or....

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by esocid ( 946821 )
      Totally forgot this until I read it:

      Players also have the option of hailing a taxi or walking.
      I believe it actually says some encouraging advice that you take a taxi, but it's still a choice just like in real life. Stop bitching about shit like this because you have nothing better to do.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Xtravar ( 725372 )
      I actually failed the drunk driving mission. Miserably. So much so that I will be taking Roman to the titty bars instead from now on.

      The moment I got in the car, the cops were after me. Not only that, but I waited long and... Roman still had not gotten in the car!

      The cops ended up chasing me around the block. My car came to a complete stop several times due to immobile objects in my way - I couldn't even drive slowly it was so wobbly.

      Before the booze wore off, I got a message that said, "You left your f

  • Not a game? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by JustinOpinion ( 1246824 ) on Thursday May 01, 2008 @09:53AM (#23263272)

    Drunk driving is not a game, and it is not a joke.
    True enough. Regular driving is also not a game (in fact, "using a vehicle as a toy" is explicitly illegal in most places). However having a video game involve driving (even reckless driving) isn't a problem, is it?

    Drunk driving is a choice, a violent crime and it is also 100 percent preventable.
    Many forms of entertainment describe crime. Books and movies depict theft, murder, rape, etc. Many video games involve killing or worse. These are all, in real life, choices and preventable crimes. Does that mean that our fiction and entertainment cannot involve these subjects, out of some sort of "respect for the victims"?

    Rockstar's response is right on the money: adults should be able to distinguish between entertainment/fantasy/fiction (where murder may be depicted, or drunk driving may be a game) and reality (where these things are illegal and unethical). Adults who cannot make those distinctions are a danger to society (regardless of what video games are on the market).

  • When did MADD cross the line... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by BUL2294 ( 1081735 ) on Thursday May 01, 2008 @09:55AM (#23263294)
    ...from an organization with a noble cause to a right-wing, Prohibitionist, Evangelical, whiny group that would desire a socialist nanny-state with breathalyzers in every car? I mean, sheeeesh!!!
  • > Drunk driving is a choice, a violent crime and it is also 100 percent preventable.

    It is, and RockStar even makes that clear, when the first Drunk Driving Mission occurs.

    After you stumble out of the bar, the game pops up a note telling you that you are drunk, and maybe you should think about taking a cab home (which you can do in the game).

    If you decide to break the law, and not take a cab, the police are automatically notified and after you (unlike real life where they most likely won't notice until yo

  • All Driving Games have Drunk Driving in them (Score:4, Insightful)

    by sesshomaru ( 173381 ) on Thursday May 01, 2008 @09:56AM (#23263316) Journal
    How to play:

    1. Imbibe alcoholic drink of choice until plastered.

    2. Put driving game of choice in console (or have non-inebriated person do it for you).

    3. Play game.

    This works just as well with GTA IV (or Vice City) as with Mario Kart.

  • The group Drunks Against Mad Mothers (DAMM) has again politly asked the moms shut up and stop bothering them while they're trying to drive...

    Seriously, friends don't let friends play video games drunk. Stay in school.

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday May 01, 2008 @09:58AM (#23263346)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • MADD sponsored Drunk Driving Simulator? (Score:5, Informative)

    by spookymonster ( 238226 ) on Thursday May 01, 2008 @10:00AM (#23263384)
    http://www.autoworld.com/news/Dodge/Neon_DD.htm [autoworld.com]

    "Chrysler has found a safe way to demonstrate this dangerous situation to teen drivers with the Neon Drunk Driving Simulator, a specially equipped Dodge/Plymouth Neon that mimics the effects of driving after drinking alcohol.

    Sponsored by Chrysler Corporation, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), the U.S. Department of Transportation, the National Association of Broadcasters and local Chrysler Corporation dealers, the Neon Drunk Driving Simulator will travel to more than 250 schools. The vehicle has made more than 2,100 public appearances in more than 200 cities since the program began in 1988. To date, over 750,000 people have tried the Simulator.

    So... it's OK to let people experience the negative effects of drunk driving in a real car, but in the safety of your own living room? NEVER!!!!
  • grand theft auto iv versus polio [googlefight.com]

    It appears one of them gets their ass handed to them.
  • Well, they should also remove murder, carjacking, and prostitution out of respect for those victims as well.

    Just kidding. We all know that prostitution is a victimless crime. ;)
  • "Drunk driving is not a game, and it is not a joke," MADD said in a statement released Tuesday. "Drunk driving is a choice, a violent crime and it is also 100 percent preventable."

    Right and like war, gun fights, etc. are jokes? Yet they're portrayed in movies and games. Violent crime? Give me a break. By that logic so is jaywalking. Can they both lead to violent accidents but they're not of themselves violent.
  • I'd prefer it if people stopped trying to defend the game, because honestly it comes off as a bit ridiculous. The game is extremely violent and about engaging in illegal activities.

    Why should we have to defend the game? I wish someone would just come out and publicly state, "Yes, the game is loaded with questionable subject matter. So what? I enjoy playing that kind of game, what right do you have to prevent me from doing so?"

    To be honest, and I can't help but wonder if I'm the only person who feels this wa

  • Actually (Score:3, Funny)

    by kellyb9 ( 954229 ) on Thursday May 01, 2008 @10:05AM (#23263438)
    The drunk driving scenes didn't seem so bad to me, then again I was drunk.
  • Because driving drunk is so much worse than killing people with guns, running them over with stolen cars, and becoming a crime lord.

    Rockstar should make a fucking "Drunk Driving Expansion" which involves consuming mass amounts of liquor, and scoring points by running down innocents. Extra points for single Christian moms.
  • Who didn't see this one coming? Lets not get so upset about it, because in the end, nothing will happen. This game is clearly designed for adults - its only been sold to adults - its content isn't any worse then that of movies that are currently being released (actually, in most cases, the content is better). Let them have their say - nobody is listening anyway.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • ...ever since the founder of a MADD chapter had to resign over a DUI. But the simple truth is that they are not anti-drunk-driving, they are a temperance union. MADD's founder is actually disgusted with where the group has gone as a result.
  • So what. Why does anyone pay attention to MADD? They have many times demonstrated they are out of their minds, so why do people continue to care what they have to say?
  • When I was a young twenty something, bombarded by numerous messages about the horrors of drunk driving, my friends and I would go to the pub. There, they had a machine which measured your breath, and at the end of the night, we would hand the keys over to the guy who was drunkest and make him drive us all home. It was pretty dumb, but you just don't think about stuff like that when you are younger...since then I've had a few friends get killed either themselves DUI or by someone else DUI, and now, it all

  • They seemed to miss this fact... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Mister Whirly ( 964219 ) on Thursday May 01, 2008 @10:19AM (#23263670) Homepage
    "MADD released a statement saying that 'Drunk driving is not a game, and it is not a joke. "

    Maybe Rockstar should release a statement saying that 'GTA IV IS a video game, and is an amusement.'

    Hey MADD - did you see the word game in the description 'video game' on the box? Did you really think that tiny box included real alcohol and a real car? I am all for reducing drunk driving, but that being the case MADD should be doing things to actually reduce real drunk driving and stop wasting their time on this non-issue.

  • Well it is temperate temperance. (Score:3, Informative)

    by Steauengeglase ( 512315 ) on Thursday May 01, 2008 @10:24AM (#23263738)
    I hate to say this, but MADD is an organization that complains but often has no idea of what it really wants. Some years back they pushed to have free pour taken out of the bars in my state and replaced with mini bottles. They assumed that with the higher taxation people would drink less and that bartenders could be more easily charged with selling alcohol to someone under the influence. Of course it had the opposite effect since the mini bottle only guaranteed drinkers 1.7 ounce in every drink. So when the number of DUIs rose they went out, picketed, signed petitions, cried on television and had the demon mini bottled removed.

    I'm not saying I have anything against their motives, but they often tend to put the histrionics before rational thought.

  • I got to that scene last night... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Devir ( 671031 ) on Thursday May 01, 2008 @10:26AM (#23263778) Homepage
    I was playing GTA IV last night and took "my cousin" to a local bar to hang out. Watching two virtual russians stumble around plastered was quite possibly the funniest scene in the game (so far). I could barely control my character and he was tripping over his cousin while they were both laughing and mumbling. The scene was simply great.

    Hailing a taxi (well trying to at least) got random incomprehensible shouting as my pretend character and his cousin stumbled in the streets of Libery City. Finally after 3-5 minutes the pretend character I was controling was "sober" enough to actually drive a car. So after 10 attempts to jack a car I finally managed.

    Driving now was a horrid affair. The car was very unstable and hard to control. A slight left would smash my character into the walls, lamp post, pedestrians... The bar, silly me was well across town so it was a huge challenge to navigate there. But that's not all...

    COPS, POLICE, 50... would see my pretend characters virtual drunken ass driving and give chase. Yes, even in a pretend game drunk driving was illegal and had I gotten caught served a penalty. Luckily It is only 1 star and easy to evade even at the slow drunken pace.

    My assumption is that MADD had only caught wind of the drunk driving in GTA and didn't actually witness it. Had they experience the same scene i had, they'd know that while funny as all heck, there were penalties.

    Now... My mother had been an alcoholic in my youthful years. She loved to be out all night at bars drinking her life away. On a school night when I was 8 she was out with her friends drinking till 2am. Yes that is a horrid act in it's own right leaving a kid in the car to drink but that is not the case to prove only back ground... Well her Beau of the time was going to drive us home, her more sober friend offered me a ride and somehow I refused and stupidly allowed me to ride with my mother and her drunken boyfriend who was driving.

    Well the car didnt get far before hitting a stone wall, flipping 3-4 times and landing upside down in someone's yard. I woke up in her friend's car. I suffered a broken tibia and elbow and got to spend christmas in a wheelcheer. She suffered most of her life with a bum hip until a recent replacement.

    Long story short my mother smartened up and will never get into a car after drinking, nor with anyone who has drunkin. I would qualify myself as one of MADD's statistics. One of the "Millionas of people" who have suffered drunk driving trauma in their life. While no life was lost it is still traumatic.

    Speaking on my behalf I found the GTA IV drunk scenes hilarious. I found it to be a fun and refreshing challenge to an ever increasing stagnating market. I love the game and have played every GTA released so far. I've yet in real life to drive drunk, shoot cops, run over people, jack a car, pick up use and shoot hoes, deal drugs, participate in a gang war, drive by shooting, break an enter, steal and save someone from a burning fire and do unique stunts. Though I've managed to do all that and more playing GTA...

    Jack Thompson needs to get a real education and job. MADD needs to stop speaking for me and quite honestly STFU. MADD served their purpose and needs to vanish. THey got draconian laws passed. what more do they want? "Driving while buzzed" now? What's next "Smelling Alcohol before driving is bad and will get you tossed in jail and lost license for 10 years"?

  • oh, i see (Score:4, Insightful)

    by smash ( 1351 ) on Thursday May 01, 2008 @10:48AM (#23264094) Homepage Journal
    ... mugging, shooting, armed robbery, theft, running from the cops, etc is all a game - but DUI is not. glad we got that one sorted.

  • So many contradictions. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by TerranFury ( 726743 ) on Thursday May 01, 2008 @06:06PM (#23269316)

    Does anybody actually take a look around the U.S.A.?

    1. Bars have parking lots next to them. They get built in strip malls on highways with no public transportation. I always snicker: Drunk driving is illegal and for good reason, but let's face it: What the hell do you expect people to do? It's not like we have public transportation in this country, and, really, how realistic do you think this "designated driver" bullshit is? The fact is, most people drive drunk occasionally. It's dangerous and stupid, but if you're going to be drinking anywhere besides your next-door-neighbors' yard, it's not like the U.S. gives you many practical alternatives.

    2. The drinking age is 21. Tell me who the hell starts drinking at 21. Nobody. Everyone breaks the law, and everybody knows it.

    We've been engaging in doublethink on alcohol for so long that when facts stare us in the face we can't even see them. Social drinking is a requirement in American culture, but it is incompatible with the way Americans have built their laws, their suburbs, and their society.

    I wish something would clear up this cognitive dissonance.

    ---

    And more directly on-topic: It's obvious that MADD hasn't played the game. Once upon a time, the father of a friend of mine wrote Disney a very angry letter about the movie Dogma, which he said was anti-Catholic. Of course, he'd never even seen the film. MADD is doing the same thing here, I'm sure.

    There needs to be some rule: Do a cursory fact check; then get outraged.

    ---

    Basically, I just wish people would think more instead of relying on stupid emotional animal instinct. The fact is, MADD would prevent a hell of a lot more drunk-driving deaths by lobbying for convenient trolleys that run by the local pubs -- y'know, the way cities used to be built before this [wikipedia.org] happened -- than they ever will by being angry, screaming, and vengeful. They should think about what they are actually achieving, instead of lashing out emotionally.

    Understand that I'm no apologist for alcoholism. I know that's a popular position to take here on Slashdot, but I've seen far too much damage done by alcohol than to just ignore the harm. But you see, I'm practical. Alcohol isn't going away. People who want to drink, will. I will even have a beer on occasion. So let's try to at least make our society compatible with that.

  • Correct me if I'm wrong... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by catdevnull ( 531283 ) on Friday May 02, 2008 @02:36AM (#23272014)
    So, the good people of MADD are, well, mad about a violent video game?

    Let me see if I have this right--the GTA series is historically riddled with sex, drugs, and violence but adding a little booze is over the line?

    Those are some f**ked up values.

  • Preventing accidents - You're doing it wrong (Score:3, Insightful)

    by 4D6963 ( 933028 ) on Friday May 02, 2008 @02:57AM (#23272092)

    I love it when activists harm their cause, just like 1980s anti-nuclear environmentalists are to thank for our coal power plants.

    My point is, what a better way to show people the dangers of drunk driving by letting them experience it in a game? People have no idea how bad at driving they would be once drunk. And people tend to use virtual experiences as experience anyways when that's all they've got.

    So let people see how dangerous drunk driving is by letting them experience it first hand in the only way that can be safe, in a computer simulation. It's so much more valuable than ignorance.

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