I love it when the moral guardians come out in force over GTA3 being an evil, evil game. For a start, there's no missions which involve killing innocent people. Far from it, you are amongst the criminal element of Liberty City, and you deal with them alone.

To be honest, when I first started playing, I did beat the crap out of an old lady, just to see if I could. Then, it's like "Hokay, down to completing missions". People will soon realise that the police aren't pushovers, and any shennanigans involving guns and passers-by will be dealt with via Liberty City Police.

Still think it's one of the best games ever though, totally non-linear and very, very immersive. Plus you can pick up prostitutes and take em for a ride. *ahem* Ace, ace game.

Steve ;)~

The impact of that game engine on the psyche is huge, no doubt. Me and my girlfriend had a car at the time I purchased that game, but I didn't drive very often. I remember, we went down to EB, bought it, and I began playing it. For hours.

Three days later, I drove for the first time and was impressed with the intensity of drive I felt to careen around those bastards just sitting at the red light, pull through the intersection like nothing mattered.

Then there was the problem with cops. I truely mad a game out of stealing cop cars, and running over as many of them as possible. In that post-GTA3 binge, the site of a cop car gave me an odd tingling sensation in the back of my head.

The truth is that there was never any real danger of me acting out any of these GTA3-inspired impulses. More so I feel happy that GTA3 gave me the opportunity to act out these transgressions in a safe and security environment without endangering real people.

I have to admit, I felt tremendously guilty during the East coast sniper attacks, all those pot shots from the railway came back to me in a blur.

I must agree. I was playing GTA 3 obsessively since the day I bought it. And usually, I am a careful, courteous, safety-conscious driver.

One night, on the way to a gig, we approached an intersection. The lights were green, but someone in front of me slowed, waiting for oncoming traffic to abate so they could turn.

A car in the lane next to me was barely behind me, almost right in my blind spot. What I should have done is stopped, waited for them to pass, then continued. But I didn't. On a sudden impulse, I sped up towards the stationary car, then suddenly cut between it and the unsuspecting vehicle beside me, leaving a space of what must have been inches between the corners of the 3 cars, a move that if only a split-second mis-timed, would have been a 3-car pile up.

My passenger said "JESUS CHRIST, DUDE!!!". The driver I cut in front of braked loudly and honked reproachfully. And then I realised -- that dangerous move was something I often did in the videogame. I had actually risked the lives of real people, by unconsciously using a learned behaviour from an action game.

I was shocked, and chastened. I now drive ultra-responsibly with an extra layer of "thought censorship" on my impulses. Because I don't trust my mind anymore.

I don't believe the game would drive people to violence, in fact I don't even blame the game for what I did. Rather, it's a more an aspect of my own dizzy perception of reality. However, I am giving serious thought to leaving the more "realistic" games out of my gaming time from now on.

gta3 is great fo rkiling innocent people, as well as criminals. i kill cops firemen/medics/pedestrians/gangsters all kinds, cuz that why i bought the game ok

Wow other people feel the same way I did.. I remember playing GTA3 with my friend for 4 hours at a time some days.. We barely did the missions so it was more multiplayer, we passed around the controller after trying to get as many stars as we could but the longest run. It was fun to watch and to play and it almost made the game multiplayer..

Anyway, we go out for dinner half the time and I'd get these weird feelings like "why is he stopping at the stop signs" and "look at all the people on the sidewalk =)".. Stuff like that, it was pretty weird. We all agreed that it really does mess with your head.. It's only the crazy people who will act on it in real life, that's why the media shouldn't have the right to say games corrupt us.. If you aren't insane already a game isn't going to make you do anything wrong, it will just make you think funny things for awhile.

yeah, i guess that's what they mean by an "immersive" game... after playing GTA3 for a long time i really had the urge to race a car over a sidewalk and take out some streetlamps or something.

i noticed an interesting phenomenon: while i was playing the game, the violence didn't bother me at all - when i'm in control of a game, i realize that of course it's just a game. the characters in the game become elements and obstacles, i get caught up in making the missions and so on that i stop thinking about what the visuals mean.

but oh my goodness watching my sister play the same game gave me the creeps. it's one thing to play, and it's another to passively watch someone else beat up little old ladies for cash. and to hear her (she's a LOUD game player) cussing and swearing at the screen (i don't notice it of course when i do it). so i think something happens when you're interacting rather than just observing - you understand the fact it's a game more, you're engaged in the game as a game-player.

maybe all those people who judge level of violence in video games need to play the games rather than watch someone else play - or, more likely, watch selective footage of a potentially "offensive" game.

where i can download multiplayer mode for gta3?

Yep, I got all those things from GTA3 too... but what was even worse than that for me (in terms of reality-warping) was The Sims

After playing that game for a while (read: too damn long :) I couldn't walk around my house without trying to correspond my movement to some invisible grid... if someone came across me in a corridor I'd stop and think, stumped b the complexity of the puzzle, before realising that this wasn't a game, and the corridor was wide enough to fit three people

I'd go to the toilet and think afterwards, 'well, that took about an hour, if I brush my teeth now I might be able to get to work in time, but I'll have to hurry... I've only got half an hour', of course thinking that I only needed to get to the waiting car to actually make it to work.

That game seriously screwed up my sense of time.
I can't wait for The Sims Online :)
(yse, this is a topic shift, but so what? :P)

I think if you do anything for two long it's gonna warp your mind. Whenever me'n my friends would go out we'd always look at the busy sidewalks with a strange gleam in our eye... but then again, there's also the point system that was set up long before GTA came out. Reguardless, I think senseless violence in video games is a good thing.. I'd rather have that than letting off stress outside the game, right?

Still kinda reminds me how I started saying stuff aloud like "slash me is gonna go get something to eat" after using the mIRC clinet for too long. o_O

how do u stop the crazy people being crazy.
how do u make them back to normal. they keep on runnin in the road and pullin me out the car.
please help me stop this.
it's really annoyin
shaz

salut
je dommand 1cd de gta3

adress:basli ahmed rue de loummissi elhadj cite mounibe ouled djellal w.biskra alger

merci

To Shaz: It sounds a bit like a cheat code I've encountered, If you havent already figured it out already, then perhaps check out some sites with cheat codes..

When i start gta3,then comes a sign that i need at least 12mb of video memory.Can you help me!!!!!! 8(

GTA3 is 1 of my fav. games but i cant play it cause i only have an 8mb vid crd and it says i need at least 12mb i now thats not true because it is 4 mb less than i have and i no my computer will play it
now dont tell me to get another vid card because i have a laptop and u cant replace the video card so i need a patch to override this warning so i can at least get into the game. so if u could look for 1 in your spare time or if u now how to program please make me 1 thank you so much but please try please please try and could u email me if u make 1 or find 1 (with the link)

sorry, i don't really know how to help you. i would suggest trying to do a search on google.

good game and that

I can help you. Here's exactly what you do.
1. Get two screwdrivers.
2. Stick them both in your ass.
3. TRY TO PRY MORE THAN A BUCK OUT OF YOUR ASS THIS TIME AND GET A REAL VIDEO CARD.

I promiss positive results, in your gameplay, not your ass, or your money back.

this place is plain stupid

Yeh. I get immersed in this game too much, and when I come out I keep thinking of all the stunts I could do in my car.

Same with IRC, I would constantly feel like typing ":)" ">:(" and crap like that or saying "brb"

What in the world?? Who are all you people who cannot tell the difference between between a game and real life? It's a serious problem. You nened to go cold turkey now if you cannot handle these games. You are not in control of yourselves at all. I've been playing these type of games for some time and I still have no impulses of road rage like some of you have described. Go pick up a good book instead and stay off the road.

Don't forget those of us who had an impulse to roadrage before playing games like Grand Theft Auto.

this game is the shit no fillers and no byproducts i mean c'mon this game isnt dangerous i feel fine when im driving my car down the road i dont get no ideas of hitting someone then stopping and doing a burnout on there face :P.Plus seriously if this game is fucking with ur head think about what there gonna be comming out with in the future u guys are gonna probably become serial killers just from playing the games hehe

hey man

does anyone know how to clear the videomemory??

Now we want a multiplayer gta3 so we can hit ur brother then stopping and doing a burnout on there face!!!!!

That would rule!!!

Father Blames Video Game For Daughter's Murder

The suspected killer was a teenager that played GTA3 a lot. This connection is, of course, nothing new to the media, but wouldn't it be more responsible of them to lead with the fact that violence in video games has never shown a correlation with violence in real life? Instead, it's more of a footnote near the end of the article. And I suspect that a lot of readers don't get that far.

Also, I don't think it's appropriate to air the father's speculations on the cause of his daughter's death a mere two days afterward. How can that be responsible reporting? It's obvious that he's grieving and not being entirely logical. He even stated that he wants all video games taken off the market.

How about letting the guy grieve for at least a few months, allow the police to investigate the matter, and then ask him his thoughts on the matter?

The only thing that article can do is mislead parents about the "evils" of video games, thereby hurting and stifling the gaming industry.

bla bla come on beach ! oh yeah

Hey Stan! I know a good doctor that could remove the pole thats stuck up yo' ass!

Playing any game for too long will screw with how you see reality. I remember after GTA3 my friends and I would sit on and overpass watching cars go by, naming what their GTA3 equivalents would be called. And of course in traffic there was the "the guy's got a better car than I do... I should just take it."

Even weirder though, is after playing adventure games for too long. I'd pick things up and put them in my pocket thinking "well I don't need this now, but maybe later I'll be able to combine it with something and it'll be useful." That was weird.

The problem with some people is their inability to determine the difference between what will and what won't affect the people around them. Video games are supposed to be an escape from reality that gives the player a chance to do something they can't or shouldn't do in their everyday lives. Once you take that video game reality and apply it to your real life, you've reached a point where video games shouldn't be your hobby. If you can't let the innate thoughts of beating an old lady to death leave your mind once you turn off the game, you've essentially lost all grip on what the purpose of video games actually are. Hell, if you do that, you're not even a gamer to me. You're more of an actor that doesn't know how to have his own style of acting. I love video games as much as the next guy, but if you're going to let them take over your reality, the most humanitarian thing you could do would be to lock yourself in a dark room and make a point to not run over me.

aw, come on, another mike; we're not saying we let them take over reality; it's like anything else you do a lot - it trains you. remember playing hours of Tetris and then closing your eyes and seeing the shapes fall in your mind? like that - totally subconscious, totally out of your control.

i think it's naive to assume that things we experience in life - including playing videogames - have no effect whatsoever on our thought patterns, whether we want them to or not.

but the key is that free will still exists - you still have the choice not to jack that car, even though the thought may cross your mind! and that's the important thing.

I never said you allowed them to take over your reality. I said that once you reach that point in your life, you probably shouldn't be playing video games. EverQuest addictions is one example. Those people have no lives beyond that game due to their inability to a the reality they have not created themselves. You can't seriously tell me that these actions are alright. I hate people who say that video games cause violence and destroy lives as much as the next guy, but I hate the people who prove those other people right by not being able to let the virtual world go and live a normal life. If you're going to play video games, keep them in your world and not mine. There's only a split second between choosing to act on an urge and not to. That split second can determine whether someone lives of dies. It happens all the time, video games or not. Video games just give you a visual sense and control over what happens and you don't have that fallback in the real life. If you can't realize that, you REALLY shouldn't be playing video games.

I was surprised to find myself reacting in real-life traffic based on patterns formed in GTA3, but once I realized it, preventing was simple. Still, it was thought-provoking to see a small example of the type of "anti-social programming" people have been bitching about for years.

I played Dungeons and Dragons in college, but never felt the temptation to crawl through caves or try and use magic. I have played every shooter game since Castle Wolfenstein and, though I carry a gun in real life, have never had the temptation to resolve a situation with a blaze of gunfire. Yet GTA3 imposed itself upon my driving consciousness...

I would pose a guess that this is because driving has become automatic and reflexive for me, having racked up several 50,000+ mile years. The lack of any rational interface while driving allows subconscious implulses to leak thrugh...

Not driving toward any kind of moral conclusion here, just musing about why this one game showed an effect on me, after years of playing everything that came down the pike.

Gersen

i would argue also that of all activities, driving is the most like a video game. the windshield mimics the frame of the t.v., and so it feels like you are looking at a screen and not into the real world. you are also isolated in the box of your car, removed from the rest of the world, just as the video game is removed from you, except backwards (remember the ngc commercials a while back? it's kinda like that.) and finally, i imagine, though have no scientific evidence for this speculation, that driving stimulates the same kind of synaptic responses that video games do. as you mentioned, you are kind of on autopilot, you are in large part reacting subconciously to external stimuli, and also your reactions are channeled into very specific and limited physical responses. that is, when you swerve to avoid a pedestrian, you are turning the wheel of the car with your hands. intuitively and evolutionarily, this sort of response would not normally result in your changing direction. however, we have successfully retrained our synaptic responses to react the the stimulus of a pedestrian in the way into the trained response of turning the wheel, which would normally be incredibly unnatural. this is exactly what goes on when you play video games. when you want your character to kick some ass, you manipulate the controller in a very specific way.

Ok folks, I played GTA3 and Vice City all the way through to completion, and I have to say that I NEVER fantasized about stealing a real car or running through intersections to get around people stopped at a light except as anything more than an occasional joke out loud others in the car who had played the game.

You must be those people that the media thinks will be tempted to do stupid things after playing a video game.

It's just a simulation of a city, and not even a really accurate one at that. It's fun because it's a game that gives you lots of latitude to do things. Look closely and it's a cloud of finite state machines all whirring and clicking quietly away, clockwork pedestrians, cars, daytime lighting, and nighttime lighting.

A quick rundown of my own experiences in this matter:

I've been an avid reader since I was a young child. I can run through 400+ pages in school day(as long as I don't mind not learning a thing...) and I get very involved in my books, shutting out the real world almost completely. Even my senses seem to tone themselves down, preventing me from hearing my name called until the person has repeatedly yelled at me. In addition, I've been a gamer since the age of five.

Whenever I play a game incessantly, it does begin to affect my thought patterns. I've recognized it time and time again. If I've just been playing a shooter for the last week, I'm always lining up targets in my head. RPGs make me think obsessively about stats and character development, and run scenarios with the game characters as if they were real people, experiencing real life, albeit life twisted by the particular rules of reality the game uses. And when I bought GTA3, it had the same effect.

I of course played the game non-stop for at least 3 weeks before being able to put ANY other game in my system. I noticed that when I was driving, I'd occasionally have the impulse to cruise through a light or a stop sign - remember, traffic signals are practically invisible in GTA. Even stronger was the impulse to jump out of my crap-ass car and grab that sweet Z3, or Altima, or open-top Porsche idling next to me. Lucky me, though I often played with the cops in GTA, I never thought of grabbing one of their cars or beating them to death in the streets with my bare fists just so I could run, laughing maniacally, while the sirens chased me. Never. ^_^ Eh, a speeding ticket and some warnings had instilled a healthy fear of the cops into me. But I could still feel the impulses trying to force my hand, wanting me to fly in front of a sweet car and handbrake the turn, hitting them head-on before jumping out and jacking their vehicle. It disturbed me a little, but only because these impulses were literally dangerous. I had become used to games impinging on my thoughts, it was simply the legality of the current impulses that messed with my head.

Some people, such as Another Mike, might interpret all of this as a sign of mental instability. Though in some people it might be, I would disagree in my case, and the majority of other people's cases. Some of us are just naturally adapted to put ourselves into fantasy situations more than most. We identify with the character and mold our own personality into what the game desires, especially when the actual character is so devoid of personality, such as Guy from GTA. In addition, GTA happens to be a relatively realistic game. More important than realism, though - racing games and such are often intensely realistic, and we don't often adopt those thought processes - is the immersiveness of the environment. GTA is so freeform, so easy to just say "Screw the missions, I'm cruising for a few days" to, that it feels more like real life than most. This makes us identify ever more deeply with it, and tricks our mind into believing it is a real situation, somewhere deep in our subconscious. Though in our normal mentality we know it's just a game, our mind is still busy imprinting the behaviors we gain into that area that controls our impulses. It's just a natural consequence of the combination of an active imagination, the ability to immerse yourself fully into a situation, and something that feels more like real life than most.

I am happy to say that now that I have moved on to other games, those harmful impulses have completely dissapeared. GTA3:VC temporarily revived them, but my previous experience had shielded me, and I was only barely affected by it. Of course, now that I've started playing Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy Tactics again, my desire to swing a Keyblade or dress like a monk and punch people to death seems to be rising...

I found myself doing similar things. For instance, one night I decided I was going to complete the ambulance missions no matter what. By the time I'd done it, I'd been entranced for several hours. Afterwards, I went outside on my balcony to smoke a cigarette. It was late (early actually) and it was foggy out, which kinda reminded me of Liberty City. My balcony sits over top of an alley that has a similar feel to the alleys in which your Portland and Staunton hideouts are located. Just as I walked outside, a police cruiser rolled through the alley, and my first thought was "Wouldn't it be funny if I tossed a grenade at that cop?" It's not that I think the game affected me to the point that it altered my sense of reality, but rather that spending that much time playing the game actually put me into "game mode" and it takes some time to ease out of that mode.

Incidentally, I'm glad I read all the way to the bottom of these comments. Anne, that was a wonderfully insightful thought.

I have to admit, sometimes after a long lonely night of Vice City, as I'm driving somewhere the next day I'll pass by some heavy construction equipment and a little part of my brain will go, "Oooohhh yeah". Quickly followed by, "Oh, wait, right, heh."

thanks, exick!

and xanthir, i think you eloquently described the gaming experience for many of us. i think the people that are so involved in games are characterized by having a powerful imagination, and not, as infinity implied, some sort of mental instability.

i think the point is that we are *not* mentally unstable, that despite our obsession and involvement with games, despite how violent thoughts are more likely to spring to our minds unbidden, we are still clearly aware of the line between reality and virtual reality. What that suggests to me, then, is that people who do act out violently (whether or not it this behavior is the result of video games remains unproven) have already lost this ability. Playing video games will not make you lose this distinction. People who have lost it have lost it as a result of some other mechanism, but more importantly, will act out violently on many triggers.

I'd just like to say that I, too, have had such impulses. The difference, to expand on Anne and Xanthir's points, betwixt mental instability and overactive imaginations is that with mental instability there is more than just an impulse. It's a full-blown URGE. An actual WANT to go ahead and do such things, whereas with an active imagination, the images play through your mind, you chuckle to yourself, and move on, no intention, want, or urge to actually commit such actions, just an amusement in the play-by-play that you "see".

I get this affect from a great many mediums, be it video games, books, or movies. And, generally, the internal reaction I have is much like *watching* a movie, just only seen inside my head. To give an example, most of my time playing GTA3 consisted of me driving down the road, and every time I saw an old lady walking, I'd stop the car, jump out, and beat her to death with a baseball bat, specifically because my friends thought it was hysterical. Copious amounts of smack-talk and language inserted at the proper times.

After long hours of playing the game, occasionally I would make comments to said friends when we were walking down the road, and old ladies were walking by, we even saw one woman that was dressed EXACTLY like the ones in the game, AND carrying two plastic bags of groceries. I said to my friends, "Damnit! I don't have a bat!" which instantly caused side-splitting laughter.

That doesn't mean I'm going to do it.

And I would have to say, Anne, the arguement of computer games vs. driving was pretty sound, I agree. ;)

Me.

Personally, GTA:3 or GTA:Vice City have never given me the urge to do something like start firing a gun at pedestrains or run people over in a car etc etc. It's never done that to any of my friends who play violent video games.

Over the passed little while my friends and I have been playing a lot of Vice City.
My girlfriend has to grab me everytime we walk passed a motor bike else i make a move for it.
Teh GTA series has given me a much grander insight into how immersive video games can get.

I have played what have been considered violent videogames for nearly as long as I can really remember, and I agree with the point about how people playing them don't notice the graphic/gruesome/whatever side of what they're playing, because I myself know it is just a game, and other people around me feel the need to comment on what I am doing.

I personally see "violent" videogames as a release. If everyone is pissing me off, I'll just load up a game of SoF2 and just go through a few levels to relieve my stress and such. It may not be politically correct, but it sure is fun, and much cheaper than therapy.

Truthfully, I don't believe video games cause mental instability. I believe that previous to any sort of game play, a person has to already be mentally unstable in order to have a game affect them in a way that causes them to lose what morals they have, even if it is for that one second it takes them to remember that what they're thinking is wrong. I spent last night playing GTA3 from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. then went for a drive in the city and found that even after extended play of the game, I did not the feeling to run over pedistrians or drive on the sidewalk. I suppose some people are just more susceptable to outer stimulus than others. I'm more than aware that video games will most likely affect your think processes if you allow them to, but you have to keep in mind that the character in GTA3 doesn't have a set of morals he must abide by. If he gets arrested, he gets out 5 seconds later without incident. The point I'm trying to make is that if you're allowing video games to affect you in a way that causes you to have thoughts mentioned above, your morals have been altered. If you lose your morals, even for that one second it takes for you to realize that what you're thinking is wrong, you're bound to make a decision that you wouldn't normally make thinking rationally. This post is feeding fuel to the media blaming video games for violence flame. I'm sure that one incident or another video games did play a part in a violent act, but it shouldn't ruin video games for everyeone else. You may be able to stop yourself from hitting the pedestrian, but who is to say that Joe Shoe who can't shake the gamestate from his head does. You can't let games affect you thinking that much in the real world or you're just going to further give the media more reason to exploit how video games cause violence and before we know it, Senator John Ashcroft will be over at my house trying to pry my beloved video games from my hands. Everyone needs to do all games a favor and not allow games to affect them in a way that causes their morals to be questioned, if even for a second. The same with any other form of entertainment. Leave the innate thoughts with the console, TV, VCR, or book and not with the real world.

I'm glad someone posted an article like this. I know that my friends and I have had similar experiences when playing GTA3, and then later Vice City. While of course it's a video game (What fire arms store near you sells grenades, automatic weapons, and bazookas?), it's also very real. They way Rockstar immerses you in a world that has amazing depth and absolutely no scruples is like nothing I've ever played.

On the other hand, it's not merely violent games that can trigger responses, like another poster pointed out. After going to see Legend of Drunken Master my friends and I fooled around for 2 hours trying to pull off some of those rediculous moves (it doesn't help that 2 of them take martial arts). And other games grab me, too. Back when football season was in full swing, I wanted to re-create what my favorite team was doing, so I popped in Madden, since that's easier than buying my own football team. After a few long sessions of Madden, I have the urge to go out and play some football. Baseball season just started, and now every day I want to go have a catch. Games, especially immersive games, can absolutely plant impulses and trigger suggested behaviors in your head. Obviously, I'm not a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, just like I'm not a horrendously violent underworld criminal. It's just that I realize that they both suggest, "Hey, it'd be cool if you did that!" in relation to the context. But I can tell the difference between a touchdown pass and an uzi to the noggin.

Lastly, the way things are presented affects your subconcious differently. Lately I've been playing a lot of Unreal Tournament 2003. It's a well-detailed game with a realistic physics engine, and yet it has no impact on how I think things through. It's just not real, and it doesn't play with my mind the same way. Continuing with the football reference, take the old Nintendo favorite Tecmo Super Bowl. Wonderful game, but so unrealistic. I never though I could go out and throw a 95 yard pass.

This is starting to sound like I think video games do change the way you act, but I don't feel that way. The same way that watching football wouldn't encourage someone who doesn't like the sport to go out and play, games with violence do not create aggressive and violent behavior in people who aren't already unstable to begin with. Any conclusions without in-depth research are just unfounded.

Ok, i only read a few comments, so sorry if im repeating. I did have a problem with running over ppl randomly when i first played, it was my friends watching {i think they had bot played before} who wanted me to run ppl over, never let go of the accelerator when driving.
It does affect how you think outside the game, just picturing what you could/would do if you were inside the game. However, I haven't had the urge to actually do any of it. I'm only learning to drive, so not much oppurtunity for it, i guess, but regardless. I agree with the comments that i've read, someone who will go out and [kill] people because they played a videogame was already mentaly unstable, the videogame did not cause it. GTA is a greatly immersive game, but I come out of it when I stop playing. I may run scenarios in my head, as someone said, but i don't act on them. My brother and i routinely get each other matrix style as a way of greating, though the first time we did this in public i realized how it may seem unacceptable. Games affect me as anyhitng does, but i know they are games, ...yea.
oops, lost my train of thought

I agree with a few of the previous comments in regards to the reasons that GTA3 might be more apt to induce "peculiar urges" during real life, especially driving.

-Driving is like a video game. It's remote control, even though you're inside of it. You don't "feel" the car as you drive, but it does become an extension of you. You're extended, powerful, inhuman.

-GTA3 is not like other games. If you were forced to walk through a castle with a rifle held at the ready, you'd probably get Wolfenstein "urges", or at least "images". GTA3 gives you the freedom to go "off the track". It has a freeform quality that mimics real world interactions in a multitude of fundamental elements. It's designed to allow you to undertake ordinary actions in extraordinary ways, so you associate these ordinary actions to varying degrees with your own extraordinary performance in the game.

In my own experience, after playing for a while and taking a drive, I'd think about what it would look like to be seeing my car from the game's elevated 3rd person perspective as I drove.
I'd idly wonder what would -really- happen if I wandered over to another car and attempted to just pull the driver out. (They'd just look at me like I was a moron and speed off, right?)
I would laugh at the thought of an ironic twist of fate that would have me jacking the car of a voice actor for the game, and hearing one of the exact same exclamations.

Did anyone see the Dave Chappelle sketch about Real Life GTA3?

Among my group of friends those who play GTAIII must occasionally fall back on an old mantra a friend of mine and I devloped after we played the newly purchased game to completion by playing for 2 days straight. "Life is not GTAIII" At the time, I would frequently get the urge to take any nice looking cars i saw for a joyride, park ON lines i didnt want to wait in, etc. I never acted on my evil impules, and i thank the game for allowing me to try to see just how many police helicopters i could get before they brought me down. I was pretty amoral though. I backed over people for the crim of not splatting the first time I hit them, or shot people from on high with a rifle, then shot rockets into the resulting crowd. I drove on sidwalks because I could, slaughtered innocents frequently, and stole every authority conveyance existing, up to and including the tank. With said tank, I proceeded to destroy as much of the city as was possible. I personnally slaughtered thousands with flamethrowers, rocket launchers, assualt rifles, baseball bats, and cars. I still drive highly safely, considering I live in Massachusetts. I also occasionaly have to remind myself not to think of cars as mine simply because they look fun to drive. This game, however, is not the only one with this effect. Jedi Knight II, for the PC, has created an incredible and perpetual urge for me: I must learn t force jump. In malls, stairwells, auditoriums, etc, I keep wanting to simply jump over the line at the escalator. I think this is probably the greatest sign for me that I really believed in the charachters, that the story was well told.

As I see it, both sides are right... to a point.

Human behavior is a wide spectrum, all the way from completely amoral serial killers to saintly figures like Ghandi or Jesus, so anyone who oversimplifies it to, "this is the way it is [for everybody]," is partly right and partly wrong.

There are those who can play games like GTA and simply not be affected by it, because they have a very strong ability to differentiate fantasy from reality, even unconsciously. They don't shoot up schools or club old ladies or even drive differently after a game like GTA, because there's a very solid line between a game and the real world.

Conversely, there are also those who don't have the ability to draw that line at all, or do so so weakly that it doesn't impact their actions. These people are the ones who draw blame for videogames via their horrible actions. The problem is that they wouldn't have that distinction between reality and fantasy regardless of whether or not they played violent videogames; unless we managed to eliminate all violent media entirely from their lives, there will always be an external "trigger" of some kind to set them off. Even if we somehow managed to do so, we cannot shut off access the most powerful and potentially destructive of sources: their own imaginations. This is a problem with no simple answer.

Naturally, the vast majority of people will fall somewhere between these two extremes. Most people will probably have some sort of residual impulse towards violence as a result of exposure to violent videogames, but they won't ACT on that impulse because they know better. The difference between feeling that impulse and actually acting on it is a big one folks; don't forget that!

That means that there's a very strong need for conscious direction where these impulses are concerned. To use an example cited earlier, some people will find themselves driving differently as a result of subconsciously formed gaming habits applied to the real world. What's necessary is a conscious recognition of what's occuring (as was the case in Karasu's example at the top) so that one maintains control of one's actions. While some people on the far end of the spectrum will have built up such strong barriers between life and games that even SUBconscious bleedthrough doesn't take place, this isn't the case with the majority. That means that one must make an effort to be continually aware of how games might be affecting your behavior in the real world, or one risks a certain amount of risk due to that bleedthrough.

Outlawing violent games is not an adequate solution in any form. It addresses a potential vehicle of the problem rather than the problem itself. Instead, one must tackle the far larger and more elusive problem of dealing with those on the far of the spectrum, those who cannot distinguish between fantasy and reality, right and wrong. Doing so will, unfortunately, be infinitely harder than taking a knee-jerk reaction against enjoyable games like GTA.

Oops, forgot a point!

For those who can differentiate between reality and fantasy, games like GTA provide a valuable outlet for certain natural impulses, some of which are socially unacceptable or unsafe in the real world. Two good examples of this from above are, respectively; killing innocent pedestrians simply because one can, and using a car to do a powerslide in the middle of an intersection. It's only natural to wonder for a brief moment what it would be like to do those things, but one knows that those impulses cannot be acted upon in the real world. Doing so in a virtual world, however, gives nearly the same experience with none of the consequences.

After a hard day, one of my favorite ways to unwind is to load up CounterStrike and, as I jokingly refer to it, "pop some heads." It's a very cathartic experience, but I'd be insulted if anyone really thought that that would in any way carry over to the real world.

Nicely put.

I'M A BIT LATE... THERE'S ALREADY A LOT OF COMMENTS BUT HERE GOES... GTA3 = A GREAT GAME.

IN REALITY IT'S HARD NOT TO DO THINGS YOU WOULD IN GTA3 -- ESPECIALLY WHEN I BURNED CHATTERBOX RADIO STATION ONTO CD AND STARTED PLAYING IT IN MY CAR... :D

WHAT CONCERNS ME THOUGH IS THIS - I'M NOT A CRAZY PERSON, SO I WOULD NEVER REPEAT ANY OF MY ACTIONS FROM GTA3... BUT I WONDER... WHAT IF I'M PUSHED TO THE EDGE SOMEDAY, WILL THE 'GTA3 IN ME' BURST OUT? WILL I BE MORE PRONE TO BREAKING THE LAW?

WE CAN ALL MAKE EXCUSES LIKE "ITS JUST A GAME"...BUT WHEN REALITY AND THE GAMES WE PLAY BECOME CONFUSED, THAT EXCUSE IS BECOMES A BLURRY GREY LINE.

You know, you're not the only one to have burned chatterbox and listen to it in your car...

Not the only one by any sense of the phrase. . .

Yeah GTA - is cool game!
First: It's dont need more system resourses
Second: there are a cool accesible enjine
Third: Cool musiC!
-----
Thanx, LoSt

To make it short. I must be crazy. I played the game for a VERY long time. Maybe 2 weeks. I don't play much other video games but was just HOOKED! And so one night in my rice rocket I was being followed by a cop and I impulsively made a right turn and parked the car. Without GTA3 I would have kept driving carefully and hope the COP wont flash me. But since I drive a rice rocket, they would stop me anyway. Anyhow, I actually thought that maybe if I parked my car and walked off then they wont give me a ticket for no reason. So I parked the car, got out and the cops stopped me. You can imagine how suspicious they can get if you get out of your car in a hurry. So they ended up searching my car as if I stole the car or did something but luckily I got off without any trouble. Yes feel free to say I am crazy. It was a true impluse. Everyone please forgive, I know I'll get bashed for admitting all this.

Hah, I still remember when I played GTA 3 for so long... There was this really sweet car in the parking lot of my local mall, and every time I seen it I just wanted to hop in, allow the alarm to run it's course and speed away.

I have experienced the same almost subconscious reactions to real world events that mirror choices that I have been presented with in GTA. I have dreamed I was a character in Diablo, Counter-Strike, Serious Sam, you name it and woken up wondering what was wrong with me. I get immersed I am a gamer and that is the point...

I dont play games that present me with a world that is not better than the world I am in -- on my couch with the controller in hand. Games are great when they are more just, more fair, more fun, and more worthwhile (in the sense of actions reaping more rewards in the game world than their counterparts in reality). That's us gamers. I play to find an ideal world. To escape the reality that bites into our heads with questions and problems and pain.

Sometimes I find myself secretly wishing for a "Fight Club" fantasy in which the credit standings and bank information for all humanity would be destroyed, the governments toppled and the people forced to live in a harsh and unguarded, uncontrolled reality where the mundane tasks and choices of supporting one's own life would be real, vibrant and potentially fatal instead of a burden soon to be removed by technology. Where the argument of Gender roles in video games is as masturbatory and stupid in relation to reality as arguing the chicken or the egg. I want to live in Fallout and Diablo, and that is precisely why I play them. Its as close as it gets. But thats my weird head, we all play for different reasons and this sort of stuff is important and it does cause weak fools to kill and steal but thats the way it should be... unless you all want to play pong from now on and give up the scary, fascinating significance of in-game actions and choices.

my name is tas.

I've found that GTA3 and GTA3:VC have had a dramatic impact on my life. I've only recently begun learning to drive (I'm lazy, sue me) and it's been a bit of a learning curve, what with un-learning all the "strategies" I'd learned from the two games. Of course, I did have the benefit of learning real-life in a '92 Geo Metro. Not exactly the car to use if you want to do a police chase or anything. Even though in-game I got used to ignoring the speed limits, hitting peds instead of cars, opting which cars to slam into...all of it was just a game. While I do get those urges and twitches now and again to just go wild on the REAL roads, I remind myself that I usually have more than myself to think about.

I've found that the best way to calm these urges, at least for me, is a dose of one of the two games every now and then. It's like an addiction, much like Everquest, Ultima Online, Counter-Strike, or any other intensely interactive game. So, maybe taking a hit or two of Mr. No-Name or Tommy Vercetti now and then will help out the urges, I'm willing to do that. In the mean time, I'm weaning myself off of the violent parts of the game. I still get my fix, but without the blood and flying bodies...most of the time. Call it Gamer's Re-Hab. :)

I dont think it is fair to blame GTA 3 for any lapses in concentration while driving or other changes in your thoughts.

People want to cut cars up, speed, swear at pedestrians...etc, not because the game makes them think its alright, but because they want to. It gives people a rush, thats why most people do drive cars fast...etc. The game gives people the ability to go with those emotions in a safe environment. There is also a police force that do stop you for your atrocities, showing that you cant act how you please.

Anyway, what is more fun than pulling beside a police car or crowded street. Hitting the side view, and emptying your uzi in to the car/person next to you. That`ll teach them not to cut you up :).

An absolutely amazing game. It would be better if they could implement the gib system from SOF2 to give more violence though.

what ever

OK dokie.

I play gta also

I have a somewhat different story to tell. I was always (and still am) fascinated with computer graphics in games. I obsess about game trailers that show next-gen game engines. And after playing a lot of GTA3 I started to mentally reconstruct the real world around me as a GTA3 levels. I look at the houses, lampposts, roads, sidewalks, etc. and think how they can be changed to the GTA3 style. When I look at the cars around me, I mentally replace them with their GTA3 counterparts. The most hilarious thing happened a copuple of days ago, when I saw a news footage of some car chase on TV. The car with the criminal was badly damaged by machinegun fire. Windows blown, tires popped, but the guy in it still haven't stopped. The picture was very close to a typical GTA:VC chase. :) Don't know if the guy fancied computer game, but probably not, they said he was some kind of criminal, not a lunatic. :)

Another crazy/cool thing happened recently when I saw some real water in the lake (not computer-generated). I was stunned when I saw that it looked almost like the water in modern computer games (not vice versa). The highly reflective water with ripples that appears basically in two colours (a very light one for the sky reflection) and almost black patches (reflections of the trees). I always though that it looked like some kind of molten metal, too mirror-like, but apparently, real water sometimes looks that way...

Well, I expect the border between games and reality to blur even more in the near future. We are living in funny time. ;)

well i don't have a PS2 or money to shell out for a new game right now... but I have a ps1 and gta2 and gta for gameboy i think that the reason you all feel this way with GTA3 but not the previous games is because before you are away you controll your character but you see him as a tiny dot from a helicopter. when i play vice city at my friends house, yes i had an urge to steal cars smack old ladys and shoot barmaids at the dance club....lol

any ways....yeah......

GTA 3 is probably one of the best games out there. Yes, I have to admit that the urge to beat every old lady that I see into a pulp is a bit of a nasty side effect for some, but personally I have had that urge since before playing the game.

This game has led to hours of hilarity. Every now and then after a night filled with GTA mayhem, I would run beside one of my friends cars in the school parking lot, shouting Triangle, and trying to get the door open.

And the claim that GTA promotes violence is complete bull. I mean seriously, how is hitting two buttons promoting buying an AK 47 and laying into the nearest crowd of innocents. If it was a completely VR game in which you went to work, cashed your paycheck, etc. then I could see the argument. (That would be one awesome game, for the etc. not the first part).

Something similar happened to me, but not with GTA, I never played that. After playing Mario 64 non-stop for quite some time, whenever I walked outside and was moderately above the ground, I always thought about jumping down and pounding the ground before I hit. Then I would go, "whoa, what the hell?".
If you do something for too long, it will start to effect you until it leaves your mind.

So the lesson here is, don't go outside.

If you have trouble differentiating from the real world and the fantasy world of video games, to the point that you're having strong impulses to act out these fantasies that defy all common sense and moral values, you need to get some professional counseling. Seriously. And if you did do any of those things it wouldn't be the game's fault. It would be your fault.

Oh sure, games are becomming more realistic now. And there are games where you identify strongly with the characters. But that doesn't mean they're making any more of an influence on our real world bahaviors, unless you have some serious mental issues.

I don't see any problems with video games somehow corrupting anyone. For example, you can identify far more strongly with a character in a book than you can with a video game character. Not only do you often times fully understand the character's thought process and motivation, but the aspect of reality is much more vivid, as the actions that take place when reading a book are viewed in your own mind rather than on a television screen. And guess what, characters in books have been doing horrible, ammoral things -for centuries-. But somehow we don't see people corrupted by books, do we? Know anyone who sold their soul to the devil because they read Faust? Didn't think so.

This is such a stupid argument I'm tired of hearing it. First it was with TV and movies, now video games. The truth is, if you do something illegal you choose to do it. You can't blame a video game. You've got no one to blame but yourself.

I'd say so what a great line!

I've tried to an objective look at GTA, and it just doesn't seem particularly interesting or innovative in any way. Yet GTA-3 and it?s almost identically uncreative sequal, Vice City were both best selling games that generated an extreme amount of media hype. So I tried to understand why; it didn?t look that interesting from previews, but there was so much hype and controversy that I ended up renting it to see if it really deserved any of its excitement.

I've seen some vague arguments about things about its "innovatve" graphics/art and open-ended game play. I'm sorry, but the graphics and art in this game are completely sub-par. Lots of faceless polygonal people in a city without any interesting personality. Which I guess is the point, b/c everyone in the game is as faceless and uninteresting as the faceless thug of a main character.

If you want to make a game about random violence and chaos, at least make the main character something slightly creative, and not a faceless thug that for no apparent reason can withstand gun shots, rarely get noticed for committing random violent crimes in a city, and take down hundreds of armed police alone! Make the main character a demon, like a diablo or something! Or an evil mage in an interesting fantasy world... or hell at least make the main character an evil mage or something! And you can set it in realistic cities, but at least throw in some areas that aren?t redundant city-textured rectangular walls! Otherwise, it gets boring fast!

And the same goes for the open-ended world exploring. Anyone who tries to argue that must have missed out on pretty much any decent RPG or Adventure game, especially those with amazing worlds in last 5 years. They must've missed Zelda:WW, EverQuest, Morrowind, Star Wars: Knights of the Republic, Wizardry 8? just to name a few (I?m sure I missed some better examples).

We won?t even analyze the topic of story, or themes, or artistic merrit in GTA - they simply aren?t even wanted in GTA ? the game isn?t intended to be taken seriously. That?s not entirely true? I?m sure Rockstar wanted people to hate it for it?s disgusting content ? that?s how they got publicity. (Note that I don?t take the game seriously; I just find it slightly interesting how an industry can sell crap (low entertainment) so well through this kind of scam).

My conclusion is that the game became widely popular primarily because of the controversy. It's so much like Eminem or Marilyn Manson in music, and I?m sure a lot of vulgar or ultra-violent movies and tv shows. Violence is taboo in our culture, so is promiscuity. Therefor, there is an extremely large niche market towards typical ?I hate my life and the world?-style rebels. It?s extremely interesting to note that this kind of stuff wouldn?t sell so well if it weren?t for the taboos that encourages the ?anti-conformists?. Non-artistic shock crap sells; mostly to a niche market of teenagers and immature college males? but that?s more than enough to get rich from.

GTA is a sub-par 1-player only car racing; face it ? the game is not creative. The art is not creative; the graphics are not innovative; the world is not at all impressive/original/interesting compared to many other games (a lot of which are MMO), it?s a 1-player simple car racing game with button jamming shoot-outs in between. This definitely would not sell ?like hotcakes? in its own right. But if you play the politics right? Make the game offensive, yell some crap about freedom of speech and artistic expression (LOL! sorry; that?s just too funny - to refer to something like GTA as art), and there?s a big enough niche market for the hotcakes to make Rock Star Games freaking rich ?

Until Rockstar releases GTA RPG you'll have to wait my friend. GTA was never meant to be logical or something. I could point at several "flaws" that make GTA not that realistic: spawning and dissapearing cars, stupid firefight gameplay, people reacting in stupid ways, the ability to take several shots, respray your car and the police loses you, you can't swim, etc.

Edge Magazine complained about the same things. See, every game have to know its limits. You cannot and will never recreate real life 100 percent, but if you define the limits it's great. Driver 2 tried to push the Playstation over it's graphical limits and the result was a disaster.

But IMHO Rockstar has limited and balanced the game very well between arcade action and simulation - approx. 60/40. Oh and the atmosphere! Lemme tell you that never before I have had such ongoing thoughts about jacking cars myself. Sure I could imagine shooting people after playing Max Payne and Rainbow Six, but the gameplay in GTA scared me when I felt the effects of it in real life and after reading this I'm so happy I'm not the only one :o)) !

i would like to play gta3

none

Enjoyed the read, thanks

Gosh can I relate!

Before a buddy of mine left to go overseas we spent the evening before his departure in front of the television taking turns at wreaking havoc in GTA3 (It had just been released at that point). We spent about 6 hours straight at that game when I drove round after work.

At about 2:00 AM I'm driving home, dreading having to get up early in the morning to go churn out more code for a deadline. I see a red light ahead and without thinking I just drive througt. Just like I'd done in GTA3 for 6 hours straight. Only once I was through did I catch myself.

It got worse. I see a cop on the opposite side (luckily he didn't see me skip the light) and the first thought that goes through my mind is "I wonder what star rating I can get if I ram him off the road"

I love Rockstar Games *g*

I didnt realize that GTA had affected me untill i totaled my first car (6 days after getting my licence)

i then found out that cars just dont explode and dissapear. i had to sell it to a wrecking yard.

i cant get a new car by hijacking it. i have to buy one.

and my insurace went up hella lot.

and i fractured some ribs when i hit the steering wheel. i cant just find a floating heart in an alley or in front of a hospital. i have to let it heal.

before i got my car (as a gift), i played a lot of GTA and pictured reality as GTA. after the crash, i realized a lot of things about life. (and how it's not like GTA)

i was a crazy driver. it's amazing how much power a 70hp '89 Geo Spectrum has, and what it did to my life.

I agree. Kind fun.

I agree. Kind fun.

Morlok8k is my neighbor. I have the car on tape and plenty of photos too bad i cant post them.

Watcha neams iut

I agree

please game gta3

Better die standing than live kneeling.

Better die standing than live kneeling.

hows dat?

hey all killer pilker

hey all killer pilker

YOU SUK!

:D

:D

:P

the most game I'd like to play till now
its great
that's I want tell
thanks

hey, Gersen and any other of u gun crazy americans.

whats the point in carrying a gun if u dont think ur going to have to resolve a situation in a blaze of gunfire? guns are designed to kill, to say they are designed for protection or anything else is wrong, unless you mean protecting urself by killing others.

the idea that u need a firearm to protect ur self from hypothetical situations shows a lot about american gun culture doesnt it?

have u considered that there might be a reason that america has the highest shooting rate in the west.

i'm for freedom of speach and of expersion and i con do nothing but appreciate what people that have layed down their lives for it have done.

but freedom to kill, power to kill so easily? that is something no human should have.

hey, Gersen and any other of u gun crazy americans.

whats the point in carrying a gun if u dont think ur going to have to resolve a situation in a blaze of gunfire? guns are designed to kill, to say they are designed for protection or anything else is wrong, unless you mean protecting urself by killing others.

the idea that u need a firearm to protect ur self from hypothetical situations shows a lot about american gun culture doesnt it?

have u considered that there might be a reason that america has the highest shooting rate in the west.

i'm for freedom of speach and of expersion and i con do nothing but appreciate what people that have layed down their lives for it have done.

but freedom to kill, power to kill so easily? that is something no human should have.

hey, Gersen and any other of u gun crazy americans.

whats the point in carrying a gun if u dont think ur going to have to resolve a situation in a blaze of gunfire? guns are designed to kill, to say they are designed for protection or anything else is wrong, unless you mean protecting urself by killing others.

the idea that u need a firearm to protect ur self from hypothetical situations shows a lot about american gun culture doesnt it?

a nation of fear.

have u considered that there might be a reason that america has the highest shooting rate in the west?

i'm for freedom of speach and of expresion and i can do nothing but appreciate what people that have layed down their lives for it have done.

but freedom to kill, power to kill so easily? that is something no human should have.

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