Grand Theft Auto

Platforms: PC, Dreamcast, Game Boy Color, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Xbox
Publisher: Rockstar Games (ASC Games/Take-Two), 1998
Developer: Rockstar North

For those unfamiliar with the controversy surrounding Mortal Kombat, Night Trap, or even Doom, you would have had to be on another planet to miss the hype over Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto series. The game launched on the PC in the US in early 1998 and was received encouragingly but cautiously by many PC reviewers. GameSpot's original reviewer noted, "GTA is a good game that is highly recommended at a bargain price, but won't win any awards. Wanna-be sociopaths who can deal with the shortcomings will have a lot of fun, and if you could save games within levels, it would come even more highly recommended."

Rockstar Games salutes you.

Then came the PlayStation version, just four months later, amid "great" reviews. GameSpot's Ryan Mac Donald wrote, "If you are a fan of R-rated action movies, then nothing in this game will shock or damage you. However, if you are a parent looking for a game for your 10-year-old, you may want to skip this one. I, however, loved the game and would recommend it to anyone who doesn't have any problems with violence or adult language."

The game earned notoriety for its theme and approach almost immediately after it was released. Innovative, excellent gameplay mechanics aside, the game is mission-based, and your missions include driving prostitutes around town, evading the feds, and running drugs and porn, and in the process, you end up killing lots of people. You don't start off with a car, so you have to jack one immediately so you can get around, hence the name, Grand Theft Auto.

In September 2001, shortly after the terrorist attacks in New York City and the Pentagon, Take-Two Interactive announced that it would postpone its release of GTAIII in order to "alter" some content involving New York City. By the time GTAIII was released in 2001 and 2002, on the PlayStation 2 and PC, respectively, the game had fully reached its stride. The M-rated game was topping sales charts and served as an excellent example of a game with gameplay solid enough that the violence was just, to most, a perk. Nothing about the GTA series said that it was using controversy to make its name. Sure, the controversy helped. But those who bought the game were unquestionably satisfied with the product long after the shock wore off.

Sales of the GTA games were flying high.

And sales were and still are huge for Rockstar. In October 2002, GameSpot reported that Electronics Boutique sold more than 500,000 copies of Vice City, including preorders, on the first day. Electronics Boutique CEO Jeff Griffiths did not give exact numbers but told GameSpot "it was closer to a million than half a million." In November 2002, GameSpot reported that Grand Theft Auto: Vice City sold more than 250,000 copies in its first two days in retail in the UK. "To put that figure in perspective, the previous record was held by Konami's Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, which sold more than 120,000 copies in the same amount of time," GameSpot reported.

While sales were tabulating, Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification, an entity that rates video and PC games, urged retailers in that country not to carry GTAIII due to its sexual nature and violence. GameSpot Australia reported, "Grand Theft Auto III has been pulled from retail shelves in the country, while its publisher, Take-Two Interactive, is seeking a second opinion from the Classification Review Board, which is a separate body from the OFLC. The second review may take up to two weeks."

GameSpot reported that GTAIII originally received an "RC" rating from the OFLC, which means "Refused Classification." This is similar to the ESRB's AO (Adults Only) rating, which means that retailers would not carry the game. The article stated that "games receiving the RC rating may not be sold, exhibited, displayed, demonstrated, or advertised, according to OFLC guidelines." GTAIII had actually received a more generous MA 15+, meaning "mature audiences" of 15 years or older, but then the Australian government upheld the original RC rating, on the condition that Rockstar would have to make necessary changes to the content to receive the more retail-friendly score. New Zealand gave GTAIII an R-18, similar to an "R" or "Restricted" movie rating according to MPAA guidelines.

But Grand Theft Auto wasn't only creating a stir overseas. On December 19, 2002, NBC reported that the National Institute on Media and the Family "handed down a failing grade [today] to the game industry." The network reported that Dr. David Walsh, the organization's president, "said it's based on the high level of violence against women, the sexual content of games marketed for youngsters, the high-tech improvements making them more attractive to youngsters, and other factors." The example cited by Walsh is one from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, wherein "players are rewarded for kicking a prostitute to death."

Walsh called for parents--who he said were largely unaware of game content based on his study of more than 600 parents and teachers, manufacturers, and retailers--to "wake up" to the problem. Walsh suggested that violent games' primary audience, preteen and teenaged boys, "reported no trouble buying the games."