GRAND THAFT AUTO

Sunday 16 November 2014

Similar games[edit]

Similar games[edit] This section needs additional citations for verification. Relevant discussion may be found on Talk:Grand Theft Auto (series). Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2011)

See also: Grand Theft Auto clone

The release of Grand Theft Auto III is treated as a revolutionary event in the history of video games, much like the release of Doom nearly a decade earlier.[171]

During interviews to mark the 10th anniversary of the release of Grand Theft Auto III, producer of the Street Fighter series, Yoshinori Ono, said "It would be no exaggeration to say that Grand Theft Auto III changed the industry, and we can basically separate the time before and after its emergence as distinct eras." In the same article Bethesda studios director, Todd Howard, said "The mark of a truly great game is how many people try to recapture or emulate it and fail. There's a long line behind this one."[172]

Subsequent games that follow this formula of driving and shooting have been called "Grand Theft Auto clones". Some reviewers even extended this label to the Driver series, even though this series began years before the release of Grand Theft Auto III.[173] Grand Theft Auto clones are a type of 3D action-adventure game,[174][175][176][177][178] where players are given the ability to drive any vehicle or fire any weapon as they explore an open world.[179] These games often incorporate violent and criminal themes. Notable games that are comparable to Grand Theft Auto are Saints Row,[180] Scarface: The World Is Yours, True Crime: Streets of LA,[181][182] Watch Dogs,[183] and Sleeping Dogs.[184]

Sales[edit

Sales[edit]Year    Game    Sales    Acquired label(s)
1997    Grand Theft Auto        PS1 Greatest Hits, Platinum
1999    Grand Theft Auto: London, 1969
Grand Theft Auto: London, 1961
Grand Theft Auto 2        PS1 Greatest Hits
2001    Grand Theft Auto III    17.5 million?[163]    PS2 Greatest Hits, Platinum
2002    Grand Theft Auto: Vice City    20 million?[163]    PS2 Greatest Hits, Platinum
2004    Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas    27.5 million[164][165]    PS2 Greatest Hits, Platinum
Xbox Platinum Hits
Grand Theft Auto Advance    100,000
2005    Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories    8 million[163]    PSP Greatest Hits, Platinum
PS2 Platinum
2006    Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories    4.5 million[163]    PSP Greatest Hits, Platinum
PS2 Platinum
2008    Grand Theft Auto IV    25 million+[166]    PS3 Greatest Hits, Platinum
Xbox 360 Platinum Hits
2009    Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned    1 million+[167][168]
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars    200,000[169]    PSP Greatest Hits
Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City    160,000+[170]    PS3 Greatest Hits
Xbox 360 Platinum Hits
2013    Grand Theft Auto V
Total series sales: 150 million+[5]

Reception[edit]

Reception[edit]
Aggregate review scores
As of 25 September 2013.Game    GameRankings    Metacritic
Grand Theft Auto    (PC) 78.50%[96]
(PS1) 68.33%[97]
(GBC) 57.33%[98]    —
London, 1969    (PC) 75.44%[99]
(PS1) 69.00%[100]    —
Grand Theft Auto 2    (PC) 71.50%[101]
(DC) 70.80%[102]
(PS1) 69.92%[103]
(GBC) 35.00%[104]    (PS1) 70[105]
Grand Theft Auto III    (PS2) 95.19%[106]
(PC) 93.54%[107]    (PS2) 97[108]
(PC) 93[109]
Vice City    (PS2) 94.43%[110]
(PC) 94.39%[111]    (PS2) 95[112]
(PC) 94[113]
San Andreas    (PS2) 95.08%[114]
(Xbox) 92.29%[115]
(PC) 91.94%[116]    (PS2) 95[117]
(Xbox) 93[118]
(PC) 93[119]
Advance    (GBA) 70.35%[120]    (GBA) 68[121]
Liberty City Stories    (PSP) 87.45%[122]
(PS2) 77.38%[123]    (PSP) 88[124]
(PS2) 78[125]
Vice City Stories    (PSP) 85.01%[126]
(PS2) 75.96%[127]    (PSP) 86[128]
(PS2) 75[129]
Grand Theft Auto IV    (PS3) 97.04%[130]
(X360) 96.67%[131]
(PC) 88.48%[132]    (PS3) 98[133]
(X360) 98[134]
(PC) 90[135]
The Lost and Damned    (PC) 94.00%[136]
(PS3) 94.00%[137]
(X360) 89.73%[138]    (X360) 90[139]
(PS3) 88[140]
Chinatown Wars    (NDS) 92.71%[141]
(PSP) 90.39%[142]    (NDS) 93[143]
(PSP) 90[144]
The Ballad of Gay Tony    (PC) 90.00%[145]
(PS3) 90.00%[146]
(X360) 89.43%[147]    (X360) 89[148]
(PS3) 87[149]
Grand Theft Auto V    (PS3) 97.01%[150]
(X360) 96.24%[151]    (PS3) 97[152]
(X360) 97[153]

Ever since 2001, the Grand Theft Auto series has been a major success, both critically and financially. It has generated perfect or near perfect reviews and scores on almost all of the games, and has sold over 150 million copies worldwide, as of September 2013.[5] The Times Online reported that Grand Theft Auto IV recorded 609,000 copies in the UK on its first day of release.[154] In its first week, Grand Theft Auto IV sold approximately 6 million copies worldwide and grossed over $500 million.[155]

In 2006, Grand Theft Auto was voted one of Britain's top 10 designs among Concorde, Red Telephone Boxes, Catseyes, The Underground, Mini, Tomb Raider and the World Wide Web.[156]

The series has broken several records, resulting in Guinness World Records awarding the series 10 world records in the Gamer's Edition 2008. These records include Most Guest Stars in a Video Game Series, Largest Voice Cast in a Video Game (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas), Largest In-Game Soundtrack (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas) as well as Most Successful Entertainment Launch of All Time (Grand Theft Auto V). Guinness World Records also ranked Grand Theft Auto in third place on their list of top 50 console games of all time based on initial impact and lasting legacy.[157] Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is listed as the most successful game on the PlayStation 2 according to The Guinness World Records 2009 Gamer's Edition.

Grand Theft Auto III, San Andreas and Vice City currently lie at the 2nd, 5th and 6th highest rated PlayStation 2 games on Metacritic, respectively,[158] while Chinatown Wars is rated the best game on the Nintendo DS[159] and the second best on the PlayStation Portable,[160] and Grand Theft Auto IV is currently rated the second best game ever, with a score of 98, only trailing behind The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Also, Vice City, Grand Theft Auto III, San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto IV lie at 11th, 24th, 27th and 93rd best PC games of all time, on Metacritic.[161] Along with this, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony are currently placed 35th and 59th in the top Xbox 360 games.[162]

Most recently, Grand Theft Auto V became the fastest selling entertainment product of all time.

Grand Theft Auto V: witness torture and sexism[edit]

The mission "By the Book" involves a sequence wherein players use torture techniques including waterboarding to interrogate a man.
See also: Grand Theft Auto V controversies

A segment in the latest instalment caused controversy for containing scenes of player initiated torture. The mission "By The Book" features graphic depictions of kneecapping, electrocution, dental extraction and waterboarding, and the player is required to perform the acts in order to progress in the game.[90][91][92]

UK-based charity Freedom from Torture publicly condemned the use of torture scenes in Grand Theft Auto V. The organization who work to rehabilitate survivors of torture, joined other human rights charity's who were outraged at a torture scene in the game in which the players have to pull teeth and electrocute an unarmed man in order to extract information. The charity's CEO Keith Best stated: “Rockstar North has crossed a line by effectively forcing people to take on the role of a torturer and perform a series of unspeakable acts if they want to achieve success in the game."[90]

The game has been accused of sexism. The Los Angeles Times considered the game's satirical portrayals of women uncreative, and added that violent and sexist themes hurt the game experience.[93] Edge noted that while "every female in the game exists solely to be sneered, leered or laughed at", it treated its all-male lead characters in a similar vein through their stereotyped tendencies towards violence.[94] Sam Houser, Rockstar Games co-founder, felt that the development team sometimes overlooked their portrayal of women in Grand Theft Auto games, but that the weight towards male characters "fit with the story we wanted to tell".[95]

Grand Theft Auto[edit]

The game was controversial from the very first incarnation of the series.[76] Grand Theft Auto was condemned in Britain, Germany, and France due to its "extreme violence",[77] and Brazil banned it outright.[77] Publicist Max Clifford planted sensational stories in tabloids in order to help sell the first game.[76][78][79]
Grand Theft Auto III: general violence and crime[edit]
See also: Grand Theft Auto III controversy

The controversies flared up again with Grand Theft Auto III, since the 3D graphics made the violence more realistic, and players could pay the services of prostitutes to recover their health, and if they wished, killing them to get their money back.[79]

There is also criticism from the focus on illegal activities in comparison with traditional "heroic" roles that other games offer. The main character can commit a wide variety of crimes and violent acts while dealing with only temporary consequences, including the killing of policemen and military personnel.
Vice City: ethnic discrimination[edit]
See also: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City controversy

The sixth game in the series, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, also came under criticism. One mission in particular, in which the player must instigate a gang war between Haitian and Cuban gangs, has been controversial. Haitian and Cuban anti-defamation groups criticised the game.

Jean-Robert Lafortune of the Haitian American Grassroots Coalition is quoted as saying that "The game shouldn't be designed to destroy human life, it shouldn't be designed to destroy an ethnic group," for this and similar scenarios, including lines in the game's script such as "kill the Haitian dickheads" said by character "Diaz" during an altercation between the player and a Haitian gang. After the threat of a lawsuit by the Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition, Rockstar removed the word "Haitians" from this phrase in the game's subtitles.[80]
San Andreas: sex minigame[edit]
Main article: Hot Coffee mod

San Andreas was criticised initially due to its "gangster" elements, which include drugs, prostitution, and murder; but later due to the discovery of disabled interactive sex scenes, nicknamed Hot Coffee, which was a sexual minigame that was cut from the game, but remained in the game code, which was discovered in both the console and Windows versions of the game. Dubbed the "Hot Coffee mod", the minigame allowed players to have sex with their in-game girlfriends and also record sextapes.

After the release of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, modders managed to find the unused code in the game and released unofficial patches for the Windows and Xbox (with a modchip) versions as well as a PlayStation 2 version through the use of an Action Replay code enabling the player to engage in these sexual mini-games (dubbed "Hot Coffee" in reference to a euphemism for sex used in the game). These mini-games were left partially intact in the game's code. This prompted application of an AO (Adults Only) ESRB rating to the version of the game containing the leftover code. Take-Two Interactive was forced to re-release the game in order to restore the M (Mature) rating. A class action lawsuit against Take-Two was also filed as a result of the "Hot Coffee" code.[81][82]
Grand Theft Auto IV: drunk driving[edit]
Main article: Controversies surrounding Grand Theft Auto IV

One of the controversies involved with this game was Mothers Against Drunk Driving's (MADD) criticism of the ability to drink and drive as a new feature. MADD had even requested ESRB to change the rating of the game from "M" for ages seventeen and up to "AO", for adults only, because they felt it was inappropriate for children, even at the age of seventeen, to experience drunk driving in such a manner.[83] In the final game, drunk driving is a playable event, but it is a crime that automatically generates a wanted rating and main playable character Niko Bellic loudly (and drunkenly) proclaims that it is a "bad idea" and that he "should know better".[84]

Notably, it is impossible to drive while drunk in the GTA IV expansions, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony. These were released after the criticism.
The Lost and Damned: full-frontal nudity[edit]
See also: Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned controversy

The Lost and Damned expansion pack was condemned by U.S. parents group Common Sense Media who issued a public warning against the pack's content due to a full-frontal nudity scene during one of the cutscenes. They claimed the game was "more controversial than its predecessors" because it featured "full frontal male nudity".[85]
Chinatown Wars: drug dealing minigame[edit]
See also: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars controversy

There has been some controversy over a drug dealing minigame[86] along with comments that some Nintendo games are being aimed at children (despite the fact that the game was rated Mature). The drug dealing mini-game allows players to peddle six types of drugs around the city, but the profit the player makes depends on market conditions, which will be based on the area in which they deal, and the level of regular service this area receives from them.[87][88]“ Nintendo wanted us to make Grand Theft Auto, and we wanted to make a game on their platform. They didn't want us to make a Grand Theft Auto for kids, and we weren't interested in making a game we wouldn't normally make. ”

Controversies[edit]

Former lawyer Jack Thompson has been involved in a number of attempts to get families of murder victims to hold the Grand Theft Auto series accountable for the death of their loved ones. Due to his conduct in this and related cases, Thompson was disbarred in 2008[58] and was fined more than $100,000 by the Florida Bar Association.[59]

On 20 October 2003, the families of Aaron Hamel and Kimberly Bede, two young people shot by teens William and Josh Buckner (who in statements to investigators claimed their actions were inspired by Grand Theft Auto III) filed a US$246 million lawsuit against publishers Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive Software, retailer Wal-Mart, and PlayStation 2 manufacturer Sony Computer Entertainment America.[60][61] Rockstar and its parent company, Take-Two, filed for dismissal of the lawsuit, stating in U.S. District Court on 29 October 2003 that the "ideas and concepts as well as the 'purported psychological effects' on the Buckners are protected by the First Amendment's free-speech clause". The lawyer of the victims, Jack Thompson, denied that, but failed in his attempt to move the lawsuit into a state court and under Tennessee's consumer protection act.[62] Two days later, the plaintiffs filed a Notice of Voluntary Dismissal, and the case was closed.

In February 2005, a lawsuit was brought upon the makers and distributors of the Grand Theft Auto series claiming the games caused a teenager to shoot and kill three members of the Alabama police force. The shooting took place in June 2003 when Devin Moore, 17 years old at the time, was taken in for questioning by police in Fayette, Alabama regarding a stolen vehicle. Moore then grabbed a pistol from one of the police officers and shot and killed him along with another officer and dispatcher before fleeing in a police car.[63][64] One of Moore's attorneys, Jack Thompson, claimed it was Grand Theft Auto 's graphic nature—with his constant playing time—that caused Moore to commit the murders, and Moore's family agrees. Damages were being sought from branches of GameStop and Wal-Mart in Jasper, Alabama, the stores from which Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, respectively, were purchased and also from the games' publisher Take-Two Interactive, and the PlayStation 2 manufacturer Sony Computer Entertainment. On 29 March 2006 the case was dismissed and permission to appeal was denied.[65]

In May 2005, Thompson appeared via satellite on the Glenn Beck program on CNN's Headline News. Thompson mentioned Devin Moore and said regarding Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City "There's no doubt in my mind [...] that but for Devin Moore's training on this cop killing simulator, he would not have been able to kill three cops in Fayette, Alabama who are now dead and in the ground. We are suing Take-Two, Sony, Wal-Mart, and GameStop for having trained Devin Moore to kill. He had no history of violence. No criminal record."[66]

In September 2006, Thompson brought another lawsuit, claiming that Cody Posey played the game obsessively before murdering his father Delbert Paul Posey, stepmother Tryone Schmid, and stepsister Marilea Schmid on a ranch in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The suit was filed on behalf of the victims' families.[67] During the criminal trial, Posey's defence team argued he was abused by his father, and tormented by his stepmother.[68] Posey was also taking Zoloft at the time of the killings.[69] The suit alleged that were it not for his obsessive playing of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, the murders would not have taken place.[70] Named in the suit were Cody Posey, Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive, and Sony. The suit asked for US$600 million in damages.[71]

Several celebrities have sued Rockstar Games and/or Take-Two Interactive for violating their intellectual property or personality rights, including hip-hop artist Daz Dillinger[72] Karen Gravano of Mob Wives,[73] and actress Lindsay Lohan.[74]

According to The Guinness World Records 2008 and 2009 Gamer's Edition, it is the most controversial video game series in history, with over 4,000 articles published about it, which include accusations of glamorising violence, corrupting gamers, and connection to real life crimes.[75]

GRAND THAFT AUTO | WIKI