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After the GTA IV trailer, the backlash begins

Posted Mar 31, 2007 at 12:52AM EST by QJ Staff

Listed in: News Tags: Disneyland, New York, Take-Two Interactive

Perhaps here, things will be different. - Image 1

Not too long after the changing of the guard and the release of the Grand Theft Auto IV trailer comes another new, yet unsurprising news tidbit for Take-Two Interactive. Its media and political backlash for the trailer of the game which, for all intents and purposes, looks to be a caricature of New York City.

According to Game Politics, there's a rather bleak reception towards the inclusion of a fictional "New York" within the game. Of these though, perhaps the most expressive was the one from the NY Daily News' own declaration, which reads:

The latest version of an ultraviolent video game will unleash its murderous mayhem on the streets of New York. And outraged political leaders say the rampant brutality of the game, Grand Theft Auto IV, has little in common with reality. Â…(GTA4) is set in a mythical city that bears a striking resemblance to New YorkÂ… the trailer shows well-known landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Cyclone in Coney IslandÂ…

Of the comments from the politicians, however, the analogy by City Councilman Peter Vallone also put the political perspective behind it best: "Setting Grand Theft Auto in the safest big city in America would be like setting Halo in Disneyland."

As the protagonist says in the trailer, "Life is complicated; I killed people, smuggled people, sold people. Perhaps here, things will be different." Perhaps, dear reader, there's hope that GTA IV won't be as one-sided as people make it out to be. We definitely hope so.

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it says "screamer" but thats because of what rockstar has always done. to cheap to get copyrights to these items so they get called sprunk+sprite ferrari looking car+ infernus.... get the picture it was the cyclone but its called scream like the building that says getalife in nyc its actually called metlife i believe

# Master Chief in Disneyland!!! — Guest 2007-03-31 02:59

THAT would be the BESTEST!!! He could go on the rides, eat cotton candy, and hug Mickey.

You cannot compare HALO and GTA. Nowhere in HALO do you jack somebody's car then laugh miniacally when you run over them. Nor is there plama rifles in GTA (that would be cool though!)

This shows just how much they understand video games. Millions of normal people have played HALO and the GTA's and no normal person has killed somebody after playing these games.

# Clue in... — GordLacey 2007-03-31 03:00

Maybe we should clue in the press to the fact that Liberty City from GTAIII (and Liberty City Stories) was also NYC, that Vice City was Miami, and *GASP* San Andreas is LA! Did London ***** when the game was set there (GTA 2 expansion)? The press likes to jump on the "GTA is evil!!" bandwagon because they think it's cool, and it's an easy article to write.

Gord

# B — Guest 2007-03-31 03:39

This is liberty city revamped.

# who gives a rats A$$ — soopergooman 2007-03-31 03:45

Man who gives a goddamn what these people think, NEW YORK a safe city??? who came up with that line or did they forget what happened there?? Maybe its the cheap cocaine you can buy and they got there heads all stuffed up their collective A$$3$. Gimme a F**King break. all these ANTI Violence groups seem to use violence to get their point across. It's a game people, a F**King game. I wouldn't walk the streets of New York alone at night, ever! Safest city, HA! All the GTA games give us a release to our inner most desires to beat the carp out of every living soul we see, I know today there are quite a few peeps that I'd like to blow up, if not in a virtual environment. For in real life if I were to do that I would be in jail. See I know the difference. Lay off the games guys, Jack Thompson. Grow up and stop being a damn child and crusade agasinst drugs and guns for everyone. If there is anyone who is acting out a gta-ish fantasy it's HIM.

it's based on your society so if you want the violent games to stop, then change your violent ways in you culture(tv, movies, cartoons) then maybe the games will follow. without violence you would not be human.

GET BENT!!!!!M|_| THER F**KERS

# ??????????? — antbing 2007-03-31 03:46

where the hell did you get PSP from?

# yep — Guest 2007-03-31 04:05

Agreed. New York a safe city my A**. Is that why everyday theres a story about some psycho who killed someone or the few random people who get hit by a car or bus just for crossing the street or the random drunk who at least once a week sends his car careening out of control into the sidewalks and nails pedestrians? Any government/authority figure in NYC needs to shut their mouths about video games and fix the REAL problems in NY.

# hahah — jiggy410 2007-03-31 04:06

THATS WHAT I WAS SAYING....that would be the best, halo in disneyland SOMEONE MAKE THAT GAME PLEASE, not bungie cause they wont talk about it till the game comes out a week later, those punkasses

# Ever since Janet Reno and Mortal Kombat — Guest 2007-03-31 04:24

Why is Democrats always appear to be trying to stifle violent videogames? That includes Jack Thompson himself, who supported the Clinton administration when his protege Janet Reno of the Justice Department tried to ban Mortal Kombat.

I think it's because of little things that tick them off such as the "Kill all Hatians!" mission, black thugs using the "N" word in San Andreas, and killing whores, etc. And yet they have the gall to call it in the name of violence when it's really a racial thing to these liberals. Yet stereotyping Italians is no big deal!

If they made another South Park game, the libs would go crazy! I mean, you never see people on the right trying to ban this stuff. We like South Park and other politically incorrect things that make wussies cringe. I support Rockstar all the way but they really need to stop doing this ghetto cRap. And screw the European guy who discovered Hot Coffee, he was looking to ban GTA also.

# lmao! — Guest 2007-03-31 04:30

ah duh...gta3 anyone? it didnt bear all the "famous landmarks"..but *shock horror*...that was new york!

& new york the safest city in america? is that why theres so many murders? & was hit with 9/11? This so called game politics is bull*****. The gaming industry is too easy to target..and these idiots cant get off their asses & do something real with their lives.

# Read for once! — Guest 2007-03-31 04:48

I believe the quote says "safest big city in America"... Not "safest city in America".

Compared to LA, Miami and the like... yeah, NY is safe.

# HAHAHA — Guest 2007-03-31 04:56

anyone who tries to ban MK deserves to get jacked, what an ugly dyke

mickey mouse=masterchief

donald duck=Captain Keys

goofy= johnson

alladin=arbiter

# OMG... — Guest 2007-03-31 05:03

Rockstar, as quoted in Galaxy Quest (at least I think it was Galaxy Quest), "Never give up, never surrender!" Forget the people that are trying to destroy you. You can only become stronger. Stay cool (not too hard for you guys to do) and keep cranking out the good games! It's parents' faults that others are trying to put you down! They need to get off of their lazy butts and find out which games won't become bad role-models toward their kids. They need to know whether or not their kids are mature enough to be able to handle their video games' content (and if not, they should strengthen their kids to think maturely when playing a violent game, not ruin it for everyone else). Rockstar, please continue to make great, great games for all.

# wrong name — Guest 2007-03-31 05:15

technically this is nt gta 4 its gta 6

# Oh dear. — Guest 2007-03-31 05:19

You're an idiot.

# Respect to gooman and chaos — Guest 2007-03-31 05:51

Any person that thinks they have the balls to decry rockstar and this game is absolutely retarded. Safe city? Do they remember, oh not but a few weeks ago, the manhattan shooting rampage? Real life GTA in the streets of NY anyway. Realize that as long as you have 16-17 million all packed together, they'll eat each other like dogs. Punk b*tches!

# personal responsibility — Guest 2007-03-31 07:05

A kids brains is like learning AI. His memory that will control and make his morals actions,etc, is like a big empty book fill with blank pages ready to be written on.

What a sad sad world.

# ***** — Guest 2007-03-31 07:58

*****ING ***** ASS LIBERALS MESSING THINGS UP FOR PEOPLE ONCE AGAIN! Y THE ***** DONT THEY WORRY ABOUT IMPORTANT THINGS SUCH AS WTF THE REST OF THE WORLD IS DOING THATS KILLING AMERICANS *****ING LEFT WING COMMIE BASTARD!!

# Maybe not in Halo — mikekearn 2007-03-31 08:00

But in Halo 2, you can totally jack peoples' cars. And then you of course have to laugh maniacally as you attempt to run them over with their own vehicle, while hoping they don't jack it back from you!

Just thought I'd point that out. The games are still completely different of course.

# ah — Guest 2007-03-31 08:05

ahhhh i hope they dont screw with gta anymore

# Personally... — Guest 2007-03-31 08:38

I think a Rainbow Six game, not Halo, in Disneyland would kick ass }:D

# Idiot — Guest 2007-03-31 09:09

What are you, like 10?

# other idiot — Guest 2007-03-31 09:13

They should make a "The Pet Goat" game. You'd love it.

# mods — Guest 2007-03-31 09:14

I'm still waiting for a good School mod, like Columbine.

# funny — Guest 2007-03-31 09:17

1) NO way in hell is NY the "safest city in America" that's complete *****. Baghdad is safer that NY you R-tard..

2)Halo in Disneyland=teh best...someone make that map man, that would kick major ass...

3) It's funny that politicians get bent out of shape by any thing Rockstar does...yet they continue to make policies that KILL REAL PEOPLE...

Over 600,000 civilians are dead in Iraq, thanks to the U.S. Government, how many people have video games killed?

# Guess What — Guest 2007-03-31 09:19

I love to suck the C0ck and get it up the A55

# Good points — Guest 2007-03-31 09:32

The people in Iraq are dying because of Islamic-fascists suicide bombing civilians, not because US Soldiers are lining people up and shooting them for fun.

Though I could imagine Jack Thompson making up connection between Iraq and GTA...

Other than that, I agree with you totally. NY isn't 'safe'; Halo in DisneyLand would kick***; and politicians are two-faced stick-men, no matter how you slice them.

# I bet... — Guest 2007-03-31 09:35

I bet they'll come up with some bull***** like it kills people's souls because the devil made this game.

***** politicians, ***** Jack Thompson. They're never going to win, and if even if they SOMEHOW did.. they'd all be killed by a crazy GTA fan that went crazy because these retards stopped GTAIV.

I *****ing hate this world. I wish God or whoever the supreme being is would kill all the idiots in the world. That'd be like being in heaven.

# not really — Aces In The Palm 2007-03-31 09:49

even though you paid full price

vice city and san andreas were kinda add-ons to GTA3 (they all used same graphic engine, slightly tweaked each time)

# Idiots — Guest 2007-03-31 10:10

Okay all you idiots from Ohio Nebraska where ever the ***** you live. This Is New York City and the 5 Boroughs. The Boroughs that are there are Brooklyn(Scene With the Brown Stone Houses and Apts. In the Back), FlatIron Building(Lower Manhattan), Times Square(All the people and ads such as sprung), Staten Island (Scene where it says Ferry), Brooklyn- Coney Island ("screamer" is the cyclone its on Surf ave) THats it. Stop being *****ing idiots when you have no idea what you are talking about i live in NYC. ITS NOT *****ING LIBERTY CITY FOR GTA 3. IT MIGHT HAVE THE NAME BUT ITS A BRAND NEW CITY DID YOU SEE ANYTHING THERE FROM GTA 3??NO

# LOL — Guest 2007-03-31 10:21

MUST BE A WII FANBOY NO GTA IV FOR YOU LMAO!!FAILURE GO PLAY MARIO PARTY 60

# another Idiot — Guest 2007-03-31 10:40

Please every bodied don't sniff coke and read the bible or you'll up like this nutcase.

# Uhh yeah... — Guest 2007-03-31 10:55

And while they are at it they should make a mod for torturing parents, raping 8 year old boys, banging your mother while she's tied up with barbed wire, and how to scalp crack whores and *****s.

# I believe even rocstar themself said theyre not worthy the GTA4 title — Guest 2007-03-31 11:24

Vice city and San Andreas is not number 4 and 5 because they used the same engine for everything such as graphics and fysichs and stuff like that, there is a huge difference from SA and GTA3 and lot of impressions, but now EVERYTHING is redone, and thats why its GTA IV.

# Ugly f**king lead character — Guest 2007-03-31 11:27

That's all I have to say.

# lol — Guest 2007-03-31 11:29

Even though i agre with you, you realise you are amongst those who would have been killed? LOL OWNED!

# They should make the gameworld in Iraq — Guest 2007-03-31 11:45

Then we can waste some real criminals like yourself!

# whoo — Guest 2007-03-31 13:04

i hope the butt secks in this game is better than SA

# asdf — Guest 2007-03-31 14:42

its not going to be better than SA becuase the firs GTA came out it was in newyork and it was the first sand box game i think so it didnt matter where it was. GTA 3 was fun. THen vice city they added islands and flying.Then SA wich they added 3 islands with forest mountaings desert a las vegas city a detrioit getto city and a normal city. Now they go back to the same city before with no islands. THey showed a sheetload of new stuff in SA now they go back to the first game witch brings rather nothing new thats pretty gay. SA will always be the best. Also the graphics are pretty crappy i was expecting more. Im not saying i wont like the game or play it. ALso wtf why is he russian he should be italian. Wadd madda fo u.

# sdfwe — Guest 2007-03-31 14:47

Listed in: PlayStation 3, PSP, Xbox 360

# asdf — Guest 2007-03-31 14:48

SA will always be better. WHen GTA 3 came out it was cool it was one of the first sand box games out i think. It didnt matter where it took place. THen Vice City wich they added islands and planes. THen san andreas wich they added 3 islands with 3 cities one las vegas type a getto detroit type and a normal city. THey had mountains forests hills cliffs deserts. Now they come back to the first city even after they give use so much in sa. What new thats so great can 4 give us. Not saying the game will be gay.WTF why is he russian he should be italian.Wadd madda fo u

# WE — Guest 2007-03-31 15:38

Your gonna get GTA IV Stories probaly lol

# idiots — Guest 2007-03-31 17:01

oxymoron there, telling those people to do something "real" with their lives when all you're really doing is discussing a videogame. im not with them, i enjoy gta but all this discussion about the situaion, shows how juvenile we can actually be.

# yaaaaaaay — Guest 2007-03-31 17:36

im an idiot from ohio just cause some jerk off with an attitude says so hahaha so wait ur mad cause a game is targetting ny but ur targetting others hahaha retard

# @ bobby — Guest 2007-03-31 19:50

XD HAHAH I LITERALLY ROFL'd WEN I READ MARIO PARTY 60 XD

# ... — Guest 2007-03-31 19:56

I actually am from Ohio and I'm smarter than these jackoffs

# I agree 100% — Guest 2007-03-31 19:59

# real fact — xche78x 2007-04-01 01:14

politicians ride every issue that can promote their name be it good or bad or whatever just for the sake of being popular. now its up to the people to vote either politicians that are popular in riding any mass controversy or simple popular because he does good service to the community. citizens and politicians please just be SMART.

# well... they shoud make the city ''Oslo'' in norway... then noone would care... — Guest 2007-04-01 03:13

yep, i've said it! and there could be islands in gta iv... you know... they could MAKE some!

# sdf — Guest 2007-04-01 03:29

a disneyworld map wouldnt be half bad.

# I When I get the game — Guest 2007-04-01 03:59

Im totally re-inacting 9/11

# . — Guest 2007-04-01 06:18

serial killer molester rapist *****got has a group of kids in a hostage at disneyland.

your mission: make your way through the theme park to the destination mark on the map.

# dum — Guest 2007-04-01 06:29

wow you are such a idiot. yea, damn those democrats butting into peoples business and telling them not to play violent video games. you kno what they should be spending there time doing, trying to tell gay people what to do, that sounds like a much better way to spend there time you conservative zombie, haha you are such a terd, do america a favor and kill urself u closet homo

# urallstupid — Guest 2007-04-01 06:34

U PEOPLE ARE SO *****ING STUPID!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!! NY IS NOT CANDYLAND BUT 9/11 HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH NY'S VIOLENCE, IF YOU DONT RENEMBER IT WAS A BUNCH OF SAND-NIG@ERS WHO ATTACKED WTC. IT WASNT THE MOB OR THE BLOODS OR THE VATOS LOCOS OR ANY1 WhO WILL BE INCLUDED IN GTA 4.

# so stupid — Guest 2007-04-01 06:37

At least there not spending there time telling gays how to live, becuase there not a bunch of closet homo's like yourself. kill yourself..pleaseee i beg of you to kill yourself.

# ok good idea rockstar — Guest 2007-04-01 06:53

Finally they chose a character that nobody likes. I mean whos like russians anyway. So now the finger is pointed at russians for crimes. Way to go R*... unless the dude is muslum or indian or something. Oh well. The graphics llok like true crime and driver but this will be the best game when it comes out so who really cares.

# Its actually Liberty City — Guest 2007-04-01 07:33

Yeah, I was watching the trailer a few times and I noticed a lot of the parts in "New York" had "Welcome to Liberty City" on them.. Although the Ship said "Liberty City" underneath its name.

I saw the trailer 5minutes before the countdown hit 0

# The so called "Protagonist" voice — Guest 2007-04-01 13:34

thats totally not the voice of the protagonist...Thats probably one of the guys you work for...They did the same thing in GTA 3 With Sals voice...

# The Character — Guest 2007-04-01 13:41

It could be Ped or if it has fully Customizable characters, they could of made a charater to fit the voice of the guy...But the game looks Totally sweet

# back farther — Guest 2007-04-01 14:50

in gtaIII, vice city, etc. they took the names from cities with the same names in the older GTA and GTA2. theyre doing the same thing here with GTAIV. And San Andreas is based off the whole western U.S. Los Santos is LA, San Fierro is San Francisco, and Las Venturas is Las Vegas.

# wtf — Guest 2007-04-01 14:54

probably 70 percent of us don't even know where norway is. plus its no fun driving some crappy norwegian car.

# aussie all the way — Guest 2007-04-02 23:41

yeah about 70% of americans are complet retards who have sex with their cousins, you guys dont know if other countries besides america exist. and when u do find out u probably want to bomb them cos ur so up urselves. btw norway is next to sweden which is next to finland which is next to Russia (you know bigest country in world (land mass) which is next to alaska. and i hope to god u dumbshi*Ts know where alaska is. anyway go screwyourselves america. btw gta 4 look greats, good work rockstar

# LET US TELL U SOMETHING — SONY_USA 2007-04-04 12:01

THE GTA 4 FOR THE PS3 WILL HAVE ONLINE MULTIPLAYER WHILE THE 360 WILL NOT AND ANOTHER THING IS THAT IT WILL ALSO HAVE DOWNLOADABLE MAPS NOT TO SAY BETTER GRAPHICS. SO BUY IT THIS OCTOBER AND I DIDNT SAY ANYTHING ABOUT A PRICE DROP FOR THE PS3......

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After the GTA IV trailer, the backlash begins

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