Grand Theft Auto IV Release Impressions

Yes, indeed this is a blog about controversial video games and none are more controversial than the Grand Theft Auto series. Obviously, you know that the fourth edition (that's not right, it's more like the sixth, seventh if you count London, disregarding the PSP games) was just released and that I have already played it through quite a bit. I'll get back to playing it shortly, but I needed to mention a passing few of the thousand political mentions the biggest video game release ever has gotten. (Just scroll down the main page at gamepolitics.com and you'll get far too many)

MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) has come out against the drunk driving in GTA IV. The producers had predicted that aspect of gameplay would come under fire, even though it really shouldn't. I've experienced the drunk driving once and it was so incredibly irritating (especially if cops chase you down for it) that every time since I just called a cab to get back home. Yep, I learned a lesson from Grand Theft Auto IV about drunk driving. Case closed, moving on.

Barack Obama casually mentioned GTA in a vaguely negative way that was pretty consistent with his past remarks that kids should study more and play less video games. Yawn, moving on.

Not too surprisingly, the mother of a slain NYPD policeman was fairly upset about Grand Theft Auto. The linked article there also mentions a man who says there are no consequences for a shootout in Grand Theft Auto, which is ludicrous, but at least not so bad as the dumb people who think you get points for stabbing old ladies.

Sorry, but that's quite enough of that right now. I've got to get back to playing this game and chances are that you do too. If you're curious, my PS3 ID is kingpenguin1029, in case you miraculously find me playing online multiplayer or want to friend me. Hasta luego.

Jack Thompson Letter to Take Two Chairman's Mom

Just read this letter Jack Thompson sent to Take Two chairman Strauss Zelnick's mom. Clearly, this is all in continued protest of Grand Theft Auto IV, but we'll all get tired of this sort of thing within the next week before it's finally released.

Afghanistan May Ban Video Games

In a rather long line of "via"s going through at least GamePolitics and Bloggey Kong, I've heard tell of a potential video game ban in Afghanistan through some new, very restrictive legislation. Among other things such as billiards, dancing women on the telly, and pigeon-flying, video games would be included among banned things in the new legislation. It's not... erm... good. But I'm no Islamic moralist, so that's just my opinion.

Completely unrelated: Richard Quest, that crazy preppy guy on CNN who always seems like he's got a natural high going? It wasn't natural!

Europa Universalis: Rome Released (For Real)

Despite my odd post-April Fool's Joke earlier, I have already downloaded and installed Europa Universalis: Rome to play later tonight. I plan to have a review here pretty quickly. I'm very excited to begin that tonight, as I've always been a fan of Paradox Interactive's grand strategy games. Not really a lot of news here, but be on the lookout for the first of a series of Legal Arcade reviews.

Paradox Announces New Project: Europa Universalis Mario

The players asked for it and Nintendo said yes, so Paradox Interactive has finally announced the next big project in their strategy wargaming series, Europa Universalis: Mario. Set in the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario and his various Yoshi and Toad-like troops will square off against the Koopa forces and a hidden locked Wario nation. Nintendo and Paradox together have announced that Mario is finally going to star in the absolute last genre of game he hasn't yet been in (talks with Microsoft over a Mario flight sim have recently broken down) and complete his conquest of the gaming culture. Clearly, that above won't be the real cover of the game but is just something I whipped together with the GIMP. Here, however, are some real screenshots of the game, which have apparently been kept secret all the way through its alpha stages, with a demo ready to come out in the early summer. You'll have to click them to get a really good look.


I'm personally very excited and I can't wait to get a better look at this. I don't typically divert my blog just to get worked up about a specific game, but this one looks terrific.

Play the News Game.com

Ian Bogost recently pointed out www.playthenewsgame.com, an interesting predictions site he describes as basically like fantasy sports with the news. Ranging from Oscars picks to the Pennsylvania Primary, there are lots of little "games" that tell you everything about a current situation then allow you to share your opinion and make a prediction from several different sides of the story. I find that they tell the actual stories of the news very well and can summarize points of view nicely. The opinion and predictions after you've read what's going on serve community functions, like a point system for each player. After you've earned enough points from playing, commenting, and accurately predicting, you can move up their ranks from citizen to politician, and eventually up to president. Anyway, it's neat and useful, though not exactly a game like you might expect. It definitely matches people who want to read the news more than someone looking to play a game online, as you'll see when you've played through one. Anyway, I'm recommending the site, as you can go there to get a nice perspective on the potential Take Two takeover.