GTA 4!
Like most of the rest of the civilised geek world, I've been playing the latest installment of the GTA franchise.
And it strikes me that one could easily make the point if one wanted that it teaches basic social interaction skills.
No, wait, put away the strait-jacket
The thing is that a lot of the gameplay is based around action = consequence principles. This is especially true of the dating minigame - to be good at it you've got to pick your date up on time, take them to a wide variety of activities they like while not doing things like, oh, killing everyone in a 10 block radius, and then getting them home safe and sound. It'd be fairly easy to point this out to the people claiming 'MURDER SIMULATOR OUR CHILDREN ARE NOT SAFE' - well, OK, they won't listen and to be honest there's some fairly telling points in their favor in the main gameplay.
I'm just saying, if you really squint hard and look at it sideways - there's some socially responsible conditioning going on there.
Anyways. Verdict on the game itself?
Game of the Year, no question in my mind at all. I can't think of any new release on the horizon that stands a chance in Hel of knocking it off the podium.
And it strikes me that one could easily make the point if one wanted that it teaches basic social interaction skills.
No, wait, put away the strait-jacket
The thing is that a lot of the gameplay is based around action = consequence principles. This is especially true of the dating minigame - to be good at it you've got to pick your date up on time, take them to a wide variety of activities they like while not doing things like, oh, killing everyone in a 10 block radius, and then getting them home safe and sound. It'd be fairly easy to point this out to the people claiming 'MURDER SIMULATOR OUR CHILDREN ARE NOT SAFE' - well, OK, they won't listen and to be honest there's some fairly telling points in their favor in the main gameplay.
I'm just saying, if you really squint hard and look at it sideways - there's some socially responsible conditioning going on there.
Anyways. Verdict on the game itself?
Game of the Year, no question in my mind at all. I can't think of any new release on the horizon that stands a chance in Hel of knocking it off the podium.