Thursday, May 01, 2008

I'm in Ur Grand, Theftin' Ur Autoz

It's Golden Week vacation time in Tokyo, and if I fail to leave the house to enjoy the weather, it's probably because I'm playing Grand Theft Auto IV. Happily, the Asian PAL version of the game (which is compatible with the Japanese NTSC Xbox 360, unedited for content and completely in English) was released in select Japanese retail chains just a day after the stateside release.

As a long-time opponent of legislation as a substitute for parenting, let me just say this: Mommas, don't let your babies play GTA4. At least, not if you wouldn't let them watch Scarface or The Sopranos. I've already run into youngsters in the multiplayer mode who sound about 11 years old. I can accept that some parents have viewed the game's content and made the informed decision to let their pre-teens play, but I cannot accept that such cases are the majority. So all you lazy parents, take notice. Your little kid is playing an adult game. He's bugging the hell out of all us grown-ups. And your refusal to take responsibility is creating undo publicity for some self-serving fool.

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