Mothers Against Drunk Driving, a non-profit grass roots organization that aims to prevent underage drinking, is seemingly not happy with the content of the newly released "Grand Theft Auto IV" video game, the next installment of the "Grand Theft Auto” franchise. The game contains a module where players have to drive drunk.
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“Each year nearly 13,500 people die in drunken driving crashes and another half a million are injured in alcohol-related traffic crashes. This is why MADD is extremely disappointed by the decision of the manufacturers of the game Grand Theft Auto IV to include a game module where players can drive drunk,” the group said in its official statement. “Drunk driving is not a game and it is not a joke. Drunk driving is a choice, a violent crime and it is also 100 percent preventable.”
In the game, xbox 360 and Playstation 3 players have the choice of patronizing a bar and then attempting to drive drunk. While virtually under the influence, the screen becomes indistinct and the controls are more difficult to use. Players also have the option of hailing a taxi or walking. The intoxication effects diminish after a few minutes in the game.
Due to this content, MADD is urging the Entertainment Software Rating Board to re-rate the game, bumping the rating up to AO for Adults Only from the current rating of M for Mature.
“MADD is calling on the Entertainment Software Ratings Board to reclassify Grand Theft Auto IV as an Adults Only game, a step up from the current rating of Mature and for the manufacturer to consider a stop in distribution – if not out of responsibility to society then out of respect for the millions of victims/survivors of drunk driving,” the group said.
The parental group is also asking the game's developer Rockstar to consider stopping distribution out of a sense of social responsibility or out of respect for those who've been hurt or killed by drunk drivers.
In response to MADD’s move, Rockstar Games said in a statement that they duly respect MADD's mission, but at the same time they stressed that the mature audience for 'Grand Theft Auto IV' is more than sophisticated enough to understand the game's content. "For the same reason that you can't judge an entire film or television program by a single scene, you can't judge 'Grand Theft Auto IV' by a small aspect of the game," the statement read.