Are gamers just outcasts, escaping reality by playing virtual
rags-to-riches stories spiked with copious doses of drugs, sex and
violence?
Newsflash world. Grand Theft Auto is not there for you to pretend to be a mobster, or even to “escape” reality. It
is there for you to entertain yourself, to play, not to live out some gangster fantasy. Gamers don’t care about the often paper-thin narrative and
movie-plaigarizing that grounds the main “story” in the game.
Grand Theft Auto is an action adventure game with light role
playing elements. The attraction is the sand-box world and free-roaming
spontaneous mayhem your avatar can wreak. The strength of the game isn’t the
violence, it’s the challenge and variety that ensues when gamers play out
different scenarios in a game world with rules and structure. In fact it’s the
thrill of trying to survive with the police
hounding you that make Grand Theft Auto entertaining. The ability to experiment
and free roam in a structured world, the clash with authority and the game-world that you rub up
against are essential to the challenge and drama that grounds
the game. A five-star chase is fun only because of the strength of the law
enforcement that comes after you when you go on a crime spree.
Grand Theft Auto is just a superior form of entertainment
than traditional TV and film. It is spontaneous, filled with variety and allows
you to act. Your agency as a player eclipses traditional media where
you are merely passive as a viewer. That’s why game reviews continue
to be dominated by the category of gameplay
unique to the entertainment category and distinct from traditional
entertainment criteria like aesthetics and narrative.
The world has changed, and games that continue to push
exciting, fresh, spontaneous game-experiences, like Grand Theft Auto 5, will continue to outperform staid
traditional entertainment.
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