Players may have been able to get their hands on Rockstar North's Grand Theft Auto 4 already, but that doesn't mean that the game has escaped the notice of certain concerned parties. In fact, Jack Thompson and Gavien Mckiernan of the Parents Television Council are still speaking out on this controversial game. It's all in the video after the jump.

Seems like another storm's a-brewing for the already controversial game, Manhunt 2 (Wii and PSP), and this time around it's not Jack Thompson. GamePolitics managed to unearth a short but meaningful post in an obscure blog titled Veggie and Boston Blog authored by Maynard Clark from Harvard Medical School. Here is an excerpt of the post:

CCFC has big plans for the months ahead. In the next few weeks, CCFC will be launching new campaigns to stop a horrifically violent video game from being marketed to children…

It's very likely that the video game being referred to is Manhunt 2, given its July 9 release date. However, it speaks of a "game being marketed to children". With Manhunt's apparent M rating and its graphic cover, its hardly something that spells out "CHILDREN'S GAME" with loopy, colorful font, so it's a bit surprising that Campaign for a Commercial-free Childhood (CCFC) can mistake Manhunt 2 as a game meant for children.

Developer Rockstar Games and publisher Take-Two Interactive may have some cause for worry. CCFC, along with the Parents Television Council (PTC), was able to win in its past case against GTA Vice City Stories being advertised in Massachusetts' buses and trains.

As revealed by a report on GameDaily, the censorship wars just extended its battlefields to include game advertisements. The Parents Television Council previously started an anti-game ad campaign in Denver against those ads of mature nature posted in the public rail transit system. Although it heavily backfired, the PTC has succeeded in similar campaigns over in Boston and Portland.

 

PTC director Gavin McKiernan said that they were targeting mature game ads on video games and not those on TV or cinema (at the moment) because it is difficult for inappropriately aged viewers to enter a theater sporting an R-rated movie. Unfortunately for the gaming side, it's pretty easy to spot a game poster ad with M-ratings and remember the game's name.

Nowadays that shouldn't be a problem, as the Federal Trade Commission noticed the climbing trend of point-of-sale restrictions with inappropriately aged buyers of games. But it seems that the PTC wants more than a couple of huge retail chains complying with the restrictions.

In fact, it appears they want absolute barring of Mature content, even if it comes in the form of just ads. McKiernan also said:

It's marketing [mature games] to kids, that's our main issue. There's a reason why the [game companies] buy these ads; they're effective. Billions of dollars are spent each year so they can get the message out to every member of the buying population.

With the Video Game Decency Act and several other regulations closing in, the game industry might just end backed up into a corner. It's future: can you say, "Alamo?"

Although some folks may have their objections, it seems that it has been decided that Grand Theft Auto ads can remain on mass transit in the Denver area.

Rocky Mountain News reports that the directors of the Regional Transportation District (RTD) has rejected a campaign led by the Parents Television Council and the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood to ban advertising for games rated M and above.

It was reported that it was the Operations, Customer Service, and Marketing Committee of the RTD that recommended the ban. However, after meeting with an attorney, the board voted 12-3 in favor of the game advertising. John Tyler, a board member notes:  "It was a tough decision because I think our hearts as a board were with trying to limit exposure to advertisements that promote violence. But the overwhelming weight of the legal advice was that if we pursued this, we would face an uphill battle in court."

ESA representative Peggi O'Keefe spoke to the RTD board, and reportedly called the ban: "...both unnecessary and unconstitutional. This proposal ...would restrict fully protected expression on the basis of content ...Such restrictions are constitutionally impermissible."

The folks from GamePolitics note that similar bans are already in place in Boston, Portland, and Oregon. It can be noted that a series of adverts for GTA: Vice City Stories that prompted a call for restrictions on advertising.

It seems that at the end of the day, the game may be violent as hell, but the advertisement isn't. Do you see folks banning R rated movie ads?

Weeks after the Parents Television Council (PTC) announced its complaints regarding offensive game advertisement s on buses, the Regional Transportation District (RTD) board has replied that it will be taking the PTC's complaints into consideration at its upcoming meeting next week on March 27.

"RTD has some very serious and important issues that it needs to focus on," said John Tayer, Boulder City's RTD representative. "While we need to pay attention to these types of issues, I'd rather see our resources, time and energy focused on implementing FasTracks and addressing other priority transit issues."

Last February, the PTC had filed a joint press release alongside the Commercial Free Childhood (CCFC) organization to prevent advertisements of games of M (Mature) and AO (Adults Only) ratings from being placed on buses on the transit authority's (RTD) jurisdiction. At the moment, the RTD's advertisement standards prohibit deceptive, illegal, or obscene material, ban ads of tobacco (cigarettes), and require ads to be "of a reputable character". It will be remembered that last year, the RTD had entered into a contract with Rockstar Games to post Grand Theft Auto (GTA) ads on its public transport vehicles.

While the Truth in Video Game Ratings Act by Senator (and 2008 presidential aspirant) Sam Brownback is still picking up steam, legislators backing the bill appear to have gained a new ally. The Parents Television Council (PTC) group has recently announced that in line with its advocacy for family-friendly television, it is now backing Senator Brownback's bill.

Twenty percent of the complaints lodged against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) were filed through the PTC. Gamers in particular may also recognize this group when it campaigned alongside the Commercial Free Childhood group (CCFC) to have M-rated game ads removed from buses in Portland, Oregon, and Chicago (that leaves alcohol, cigarette, and R-rated movie ads...).

Getting back on topic, current PTC president Timothy F. Winter said via press release that they were siding with Senator Brownback, further noting that they saw a "clear conflict of interest" when game producers intentionally left out game segments they did not want to be reviewed. This move signals the PTC's early frays into the world of videogaming, with its earlier campaigns most visible in monitoring television shows. It remains to be seen how this will affect the pending bill, all the more in light of recent attempts at gaming legislation, or the ESRB's recent call for full-time raters.