I hope everyone here is smart enough to know that the actual cops aren't the ones who are doing anything. It's the city lawyers who are investigating this. So the people who are saying the cops are wasting their time need to think more clearly, and understand the legal system better.

Vincent060

@Parrothead617:

Next, Owen will be telling us that the people in Alabama are bitter so they cling to their guns and their religion.

Not like their betters in Seattle who work in the press.

Kohath

"American video games, this series in particular" was made in that quaint little American town of Scotland!

Come on now.

TokeYo

I don't know if you're being particually fair to fair to either Austrailia/New Zealand or Alabama in that comment...

Zeouterlimits

Misuse of a police uniform is a civie putting on a police uniform and passing themselves off as a cop.

Bugger off.

RaepGoblin

@Parrothead617: Russellville has nice weather but I don't get American spelling. Look how many double letters are in the city's name? FOUR L's and TWO S's. WTF Why so many?

I think it would sound the same if you just spell out like this Ruselvil.

Schoolimangooli

@DigitalHero: Yeah, I'm pretty certain Rockstar North is a Scottish company...

I do kind of agree with the modder though, another 'GTA: London' would be pretty awesome.

Uhyve

I'll be the first to criticize Alabama. Our liquor laws are terribly outdated, our governors (both former and current) are inept, and the weather sucks.

But making asinine comparisons like the one in this article is nothing short of being a prick. Because clearly, everyone from Alabama is a gun toting, Bible thumping hick. Just like everyone from California is a pot smoking, PETA supporting hippie; or everyone from New England is an impatient jerk with a yacht. Oh wait, those are stereotypes.

But that's just American journalism, right?

Parrothead617

That's silly, Austrailians don't hate video games, they hate everything!

K-Squad! (Badass Edition)

Seems to me there aer better uses of police resources than this.

Strangelove

hmmm, instead of hot coffee, I wonder if there'll be "hot sheepy"
Bah, i'm going to work

QuickPick

This Owen guy is starting to grow on me.

akashhhhh

Coloring pixels = 25 to Life

RonMaverick

@Edmon: Totally agreed.

@ShaggE: Hey if he's got enough cash left he can buy all his guns back anyway then maybe, borrow, a cop car to get some vigilante justice of his own that even everything out

Dannon

@Brianemone: It's the internets. I'm sure he doesn't need anymore than he already has. :)

Americo

i guess they just have nothing better to do!

mentalboy11

@Edmon: /agree

GREY GECKO

hey, those new zealand police officers work hard.

it's not like the kittens get themselves out of the trees.

Captain Nobody

"sick of all this American rubbish" in the GTA franchise

Isn't Rockstar North (developers of GTA) in Scotland? Anyhow, Grand Theft Auto New Zealand doesn't sound so exciting. Do we want to jacking humvee's then run over dingo's and kangaroo's? Then collect the pelts to sell to a poacher?

DigitalHero

Who's to argue with decendants from a long line of British criminals lol!

They know crime best! :P

baysideSxoc

Hey Owen, Way to make friends.

Brianemone

So,

Let me get this right.

We have murderers, rapists and lawyers out there. All needing to be dealt with urgently.

Yet, they are wasting their time on this?

People wonder why things are going downhill in the world?

What an epic waste of police time this is. I am lost for words. Even catching speeders is more important than this...

Edmon

"sick of all this American rubbish"
Now thats Irony right there.

so that how you spell crikey
Thanks

Beyene

That's a real shame... The modding community of GTA:SA is what keeps me playing again and again. There's some real quality stuff out there because of people like this.

But this is ridiculous... From the article:
"I am not doing this in any way to make money or sell this modification; it was originally for me because I got sick of all this American rubbish and wanted it to be more realistic."
They're getting bent out of shape toward this?

Considering the amount of work he's done, I think I'm going to check it out. Sounds pretty detailed.
Hooray for him.

Arttemis

If they don't want to become a joke they should just send out a cease and desist. It could have been quick easy, and not on the internet.

t0yrobo

Eh, worst that could happen is that he gets arrested, loses his guns and some cash, and respawns in a different section of New Zealand.

ShaggE

Fuck cops. Yea, I said it. Fuck em. This is ridiculous.

ZWarren69

Nice first step cops, but maybe you should be arresting the entire internet. You know, where he probably got the digital copy of the logo.

ca$h

@Moonshadow101: agreed

starscream1101

Being a whiny bitch is conduct unbecoming of an officer, in my opinion.

Moonshadow101

hahah!
only in ameri...oh.

nikolaj

@ianovich: Scotland gave the world the Telephone, the Television, Penicilin, antiseptics, fax machines, Dolly the Sheep, fridges, whiskey, the US Navy and the chance to beat up prostitutes to gain your money back.

I think we win somehow :D

Ixistant

Yeah, that's not going to hold up. As one of the lawyers the police ought be rounding up according to Edmon, I'm pretty confident that you can't squeeze this type of thing under a misuse of uniforms offence. Criminal statutes are interpreted strictly, you can only interpret them to include acts that are clearly and unambiguously intended to be in the scope of the law. And something tells me a kid putting them into GTA wasn't on the mind of the legislature! And the cops know damn well they couldn't make the case.

So all we have is a bunch of cops getting their own back by trying to scare some kid who doesn't know that they can't really do this. He's probably going to wet himself wondering if he'll end up in jail!

kennyd1

@baysideSxoc and DigitalHero: I think you are confusing New Zealand with Australia. Australia is the former penal colony with kangaroos and dingos. New Zealand is where they filmed Lord of the Rings, and where Flight of the Conchords is from. So basically the best country ever.

ianovich

@Schoolimangooli: Heh, to be honest, I had to google that. I was thinking "There's no way in hell "-ville" OR "Russell" have English etymology."... :P

ShaggE

@ShaggE: Oh, Well you learn something new everyday I guess.:P

Thanks for the insight.

Schoolimangooli

@Parrothead617: "Because clearly, everyone from Alabama is a gun toting, Bible thumping hick. "

As an ex-Alabamian, this is an accurate statement.

Clamchop

Hopefully they'll drop this as soon as they realize that it's fairly ridiculous. The saddest thing is when they don't, and some random person gets in way more trouble than they deserve.

SapphireC

@Schoolimangooli: Both "Russell" and "ville" are French.

ShaggE

@Kid_Kitten: Ah, yes. That one was by Owen as well. Honestly, I expect far more from a professional writer.

JoRo1986

Everyone involved is an idiot. The game is made by a Scottish team, and the 'American rubbish' is overwhelmingly parody. The cops have far, far better things to do with their time. And yeah. Not impressed with New Zealand right now.

Huxleyhobbes

Hey, at least we can play an uncensored copy of GTA! And I'm pretty sure this is the first sign of pant's wetting on our end. It's all the Aussies I tells ya!

Although this is rather ridiculous, and doubt it will go much further once whoever started this realises they've become a bit of a knob

TheJeanGenie

This one.

[kotaku.com]

Kid_Kitten

@Crab_Botherer: If you want to help out with our "stupid people" problem, you could do us a favour and leave.

As for the original article, Grand Theft Auto is a game that comes from Scotland and therefore cannot be considered American. I'd make some kind of comment about it being typical for Americans to believe everything awesome in the world comes from them, but I don't want to be a stereotyping jerk like most in here. ;)

Donutta

@Kid_Kitten: When was the first one?

JoRo1986

That's two blows to the south this weekend. Isn't it a little irresponsible to stereotype your own readers? Sorry to bitch, but whether it was just a joke or not, I think Kotaku has higher standards than this.

Kid_Kitten

@Moonshadow101: Somehow this comment made my day.

Gutzman

Wow, don't know where the Alabama hate is coming from, Owen. I doubt you've even been here before. Oh well, yay for encouraging stereotypes!

JoRo1986

Comforting to know that the US isn't the only place where cops are little more than juvenile thugs in uniform,

O-Z

I think Cops get so upset when you mention there are serious crimes they could be investigating because they don't have a choice. It's like the military.

And traffic and parking violations are important because it makes money for the city/county/etc. Which makes the higher ups look better for promotions from the mayor/city council/etc.

It's very sad if you think aboot it.

AverageJoes

@Crab_Botherer: Hey, at least you're not in (dun dun dun duuuuun...) ALABAMA!

nikolaj

As a New Zealander, what can I say? We're a country of stupid people. Seriously, dont visit here. We kill babies on a weekly basis, and the cops cant do anything about that. But, white collar crimes, if you could call this that, are easy to deal with, and easy to make money off of.

Also, yes, our government doesnt allow us much freedom, and therefor, we (the govt) always seems to crap itself over any violent american game, because its not their way of thinking.

Why do you think we import so many games? Its illegal to play Postal2 here, even to possess a copy.....but I wasn't going to let someone else decide on my freedom.

NZ police have decided to take away this guys 'freedom' - the freedom to use a logo and uniform in a GAME.

Seriously, avoid New Zealand folks.

Crab_Botherer

@DigitalHero: This is New Zealand we're talking about, not Australia. The animals targeted for hit-and-run will be sheep.

Oyn

@Captain Nobody: lol comment of the day.

gravytoast

@Clamchop:

As an ex-alabamian I would have to disagree.

@Owen Good:
But about the comment in the article itself..what makes Alabama stand out from other states in regards to pants wetting about video games?

Are you referring to the fact that there is one court case involving a cop killing defendent pleading not guilty using a GTA defense?

How about using a state that has actually enacted a law against violent video games.

How about...

I've never been to either Australia or New Zealand, but crikey, their collective pants-wetting over American video games, this series in particular, makes them look like the Jack Thompson of western liberal democracies, and that comes from an American.

I mean I get that analogy...

Stereotyping ftw....and being from Alabama I guess that makes me an expert on stereotyping too...

O yeah, and mentioning liberal and Alabama in the same sentence = epic fail =[ (red state!!)

On the other hand I believe my comment now qualifies as "pants-wetting" over a perhaps innocent statement.

figaro1010

@Moonshadow101: In Australia probably.

artofwar420

The NZ police need to more focused on the huge rise in violent crime and meth use here.

pottsynz

Oh nice. I'm from North Carolina too you bastard!!! ;D

ca$h

@Huxleyhobbes:

What I love about the whole parody thing was the Scottish taking the piss out of the Scottish in Vice City. Gotta love some Love Fist.

cocomo

@Kid_Kitten: Ah, yes. That one was by Owen as well. Honestly, I expect more from a professional writer

JoRo1986

@Donutta:
Oh ha ha. Very funny. Tell me then, why has it taken 18 months + to prosocute some of those child killers here in NZ?

How does my comment make me 'stupid' ? I'm just laying out facts. We don't have that much freedom, and its stupid that the police are looking into charging him.

And its not about stereotyping - its just about facts. Maybe you should check your own stupidity before making a comment like 'why dont you just leave'. Idiot.

Crab_Botherer

It's ironic considering that Australia and New Zealand is full of criminals and outcasts from the UK.

Bulletkkake

@Kid_Kitten:

"I think Kotaku has higher standards than this."

Are you new? This is a Gawker site. There are *no* standards whatsoever. nada. Zip. Zilch. Nothing even remotely resembling a standard of journalism, or hell, even blogging. It's a constant attempt to seem edgy, urban and maintain "progressive" cred. You just have to know that going in and laugh at the "cool" hipster doofuses when they say stupid shit.

JimK

This is a guy. Named Stacy. Enough said.

Odin

@DigitalHero: I think you're a little confused.

@Crab_Botherer: I second what Donutta says.

juliopalio

...pretty sure GTA is Scottish.

Youlikeyams

@Crab_Botherer: "Why has it taken 18 months + to prosocute [sic] some of those child killers here in NZ?"

You didn't state many facts, just ignorance of how any legal system where lawyers are involved works. It's not fast when it's serious cases. it's not stupid cops, it's smart lawyers and an inherently slow system because the consequences are too great (ie prison time) to rush into it.

I'm not sure what "freedoms" you are after that we don't have. So we can't get postal 2? ok, any others?

monkeyjay

"sick of all this American rubbish"?? The game is set in a fictional representation of New York City. What the fuck was he expecting? Seriously, what a dick.

theherlihyboy

@ianovich: Thanks for clearing that up!

@Donutta: Agreed.

@monkeyjay: Thank you.

Personally, I am quite disappointed with this article - not the one from stuff.co.nz, the part written by Owen Good :

Honestly, what the fuck is it with Australasia and Grand Theft Auto? I'll just leave it at that. I've never been to either Australia or New Zealand, but crikey, their collective pants-wetting over American video games, this series in particular, makes them look like the schoolmarms of western democracy.

First, please a little fact checking. NZ =/= Australia.

Second, as the majority of commenters pointed out, kotaku has better standard than this.

I remember Crecente's point not too long ago about how out of control the comments got on the RE5 post. He said commenters needed to have a serious look at themselves.

Now I say this to you, have a serious look at your editors.

dnzperson

I don't really know much about New Zealand, except, as ianovich stated, it has awesome people like Peter Jackson and Flight of the Conchords, but it bothered me that this kid was bothered by GTA being a specifically "American" game. I think why GTA works so well, on a certain level, is that it is a total parody of American culture. I guess being an American, I tend to take that aspect of the series for granted. But does trying to "New Zealand-it up" actually apply well to those games? Despite him pasting the New Zealand PD insignia on the cars, I can't say how that would make it any less of an American game. There is something of American culture deeply ingrained in these games that can't be replaced by simple aesthetic changes. And I'd assume people outside of that culture would maybe appreciate that too, for different reasons than I do.

peAr_nectAr

@JimK:
I've been a regular for a few years now. I think Kotaku does have very high standards and sets an example for other gaming blogs. I respect all of the editors and appreciate their maturity toward the subject matter while including their opinions and making jokes. It's what gives the site the human feel that I love so much. I don't have a problem with Owen and have enjoyed his work so far on the site. He is new and I didn't intend for my posts to seem like I was coming down on him. Anyway, I felt that the Arkansas post was a little harsh since I have lived there all of my life. I understand the stereotypes and many of them are true, but they don't apply to all of us obviously. The Alabama reference in this post simply seemed like he was going out of his way to take a stab at the South since it really had nothing to do with the article. Either way, I still have much respect for this site and all of its editors and I hope that no one was offended by a passive crack at their home state. It's not a big deal. We can all take a joke.

There, I'm done. Keep up the good work, Owen.

Kid_Kitten

@Youlikeyams:

Yeah.......This is what I was thinking!?!?! Hmmmmm ....Funny awswell considering it was nominated as a great British invention not to long ago LOL!!!!

repoman123

@monkeyjay:

Manhunt[15]
Postal
Postal²
Reservoir Dogs

Also, a gimped GTA4 is a bit annoying. But your totally right, its smart lawyers milking it.

I'd just like the freedom to build on my house without paying damn council fees :)

Crab_Botherer

This is really poor journalism. I think I'll leave it at that.

The comments I've seen on this story are some of the most ignorant yet, though. Jesus, since when was New Zealand the same thing as Australia?

Next thing you'll tell me is that there's no difference between the US and Canada or that the UK and France are one and the same.

RaptorShadow

@UFO: Probably more refering to the fact that the game was trying to parody American culture/themes.

dnzperson

"collective pants-wetting over American video games"..erm, rockstar north are from the uk.

UFO

@BronzeHammer: I stand corrected. However, read some of the comments and you'll find that many do seem to think that NZ = Aus.

dnzperson

@dnzperson: "First, please a little fact checking. NZ =/= Australia.

You, sir, are full of fail. You even copied and pasted the quote where NZ is referred to as part of Australasia, not Australia, and still fucked everything up.

BronzeHammer

Half the world was colonized by British "criminals and outcasts." Doesn't make much difference these days, if it ever did.

JimK

@peAr_nectAr: "But does trying to "New Zealand-it up" actually apply well to those games? Despite him pasting the New Zealand PD insignia on the cars, I can't say how that would make it any less of an American game."

QFT. Driving around like a maniac with guns and hookers and outrunning cops is not at all representative of New Zealand's culture, even -- or especially -- parodically.

Evil Tortie's Mom

@Bulletkkake:

Yawn.

Yes, Australia had "criminals and outcasts" sent to it from the UK... but no moreso than the USA. I mean, New South Wales served as a penal colony, but then so did Georgia (and several other areas) in the USA.

The only reason convicts were sent to Australia in the first place was because the Americans declared independence, so the criminals couldn't be sent there anymore.

Marlor

@peAr_nectAr: All he did is retexture some cars and a plane with some NZ type stuff - nothing really worth mentioning except for the fact that the NZ police made some noise and the media swooped on it like a hawk.

Please don't let the reactions of one reflect on the rest of us (NZers), and I will try to believe that not everyone in the Northern Hemisphere is as ignorant as some of the posters here.

dnzperson

It's not New Zealand's fault we get a censored GTAIV. The destributors just can't be bothered going out of their way to deliver the UK version to us, when it's so much easier to give us the Australian version instead.

RiotPig

@Ixistant: A real Scot would know it's spelled "whisky", no "e"! The no e is the POINT, laddie.

Mmmm... single malt.

Evil Tortie's Mom

Boy, I sure do wish I lived in a country like the US, where people don't complain about games like Grand Theft Auto, and where the use of a trademarked logo doesn't result in frivalous lawsuits.

And as an added bonus, I could rest easy knowing that the games I can and can't play weren't decided by my government....... Just the ESRB, Nintendo, Sony and Walmart.

V1L3

@dnzperson: As a commenter, you are only held to the standards as defined by Kotaku. The writers are held to whatever standards the head editor sets. Both are up to change at any time.

I don't even know what started the conversation between you two, I am just responding to dnzperson's comment about standards posted at 6:11 PM.

DeeBG

@ca$h: When the commenters are held to standards, shouldn't writers as well?

dnzperson

@dnzperson:
ooh that's real heavy stuff man. Simple fact I say to not just you, but all the people bitching about 'Kotaku's standards.' It's a internet BLOG, which means they can write whatever they want, however they want to write it. If you don't realize what that means, or don't like it, you can just stop reading it and never come back! Otherwise, please shut up. And with that I permanently leave this article to its stupid commenters to their own devices. Have a nice day :)

ca$h

@V1L3: I assume this is your go at sarcasm. I understood the first part, but not the second.

The ESRB just puts ratings on games. You are free to play whatever you want in the US, even if it's unrated. As far as Nintendo and Sony (I noticed you skipped over Microsoft... fanboyism mayhaps?), this goes back to the early days of home consoles such as the Atari and anyone could release whatever they wanted for that console, and if it was bad (in any number of ways), it reflected on the company that produced the system in a lot of people's mind. The only way to change that was for the console companies to either say "well, everyone, go at it" and most likely fail or to impose a quality control system.

Lastly, I don't particularly like Walmart for my own reasons, that's why I choose not to shop there. Thankfully with the internet, even if you happen to live in a town with nothing but a Walmart to buy games from (or nothing period), you can have access to the internet for all your buying/importing/etc needs.

DeeBG

I am going to play the Devil's advocate for a moment and say that it serves him right for being a jingoist patriotic idiot. It's one thing to hate America - a country ever so worthy of hatred. But it's quite another thing to be a brainwashed dumbass and love one's own equally shitty country to the extent of being willing to go the trouble of painstakingly modding a game to replace American insignia. If you're going to mod the game, mod it in a useful, entertaining, and interesting way.

Whaaat an iiidiot! (Zoidberg voice)

shikaningen

@DeeBG: I think he's saying that if a retailer or console manufacturer sees the game as negatively affecting their reputaion the won't sell it - effectively banning it for the majority of the population.

However, it's a flawed argument as this applies for everyone all over the world, not just America.

And DeeBG, thanks for your comments - it's nice to see some informative one now and again ;-)

dnzperson

Australia =/= New Zealand

Rususeruru

Wow, epic ignorance in this thread.

DismantleRepair

Wait. It's a virtual suit. Unauthorized use of a police uniform refers to an ACTUAL uniform, right?

...right?

Gungnir

@Rususeruru: New Zealand = Australasia. Australasia is the general area and doesn't just refer to Australia. Same way that North America = Canada.

Ixistant

@dnzperson: I wasn't trying to make a blanket statement about New Zealanders. Sorry if you got that impression.

peAr_nectAr

"their collective pants-wetting over American video games, this series in particular, makes them look like the schoolmarms of western democracy."

Yeah, because obviously anything American is hated here. It's obviously because it's American, not because Australia doesn't have an R rating at all. No, that'd be too simple / not sensational enough way to put it. You know, there's a fair few Australian's here, and a blanket statement about all of them like this is pretty... annoying. =/

Aprocalypse

@shikaningen: You're taking it too far, he's just a kid. He wanted to add some realism to the game he enjoyed playing, so he went ahead and did that. He never states his opinion of America nor New Zealand, so your backlash is unfounded. Assumptions are bad for your health.

Libo

@floppylobster: Or worse....Gore!

J-Fro

@ShaggE: Are you kidding? What if they respawn in Hamiltron?!

floppylobster

@J-Fro: OMG, lol.

Guess I can't talk though, I'm on the West Coast.

dnzperson

@ShaggE:
comment of the week? its only monday... give the rest of us a chance!

GMC

@Aprocalypse: IAWTC.

Seriously - was that really necessary, or even in any way amusing?

Achenar

So THAT'S why I never saw a picture of those elusive cops... I tell ya, I've been looking so long but there just ISN'T any photographic evidence of cops in New Zealand.
I'm starting to believe they don't actually exist.....

StartRunning

And this from the country next to the country that gave us bullet-proof full-body armor for all your crookin' needs. What has the world come to?

Purple Dave

"their collective pants-wetting over American video games, this series in particular, makes them look like the schoolmarms of western democracy."

Oh, giving democracy lessons now, classy comment.

MadGodji

it's because we only get Japanese developed *cough* square enix *cough* games three years after their original release, aye!

XAnthonyX

@ShaggE: You sir, wins the internets. Again.

Tei

This kind of garbage makes me ashamed to be a kiwi. I have always thought kiwis as a rule were more liberal than places like the states, but my government keeps proving me wrong by acting like a pack of catholic grannies.

Elroc

@Crab_Botherer: I take you're not thankful to live in country where baby deaths are still rare enough to warrant reporting in the media?

floppylobster

Australia/New Zealand the new France!!!!!!!

freespeech