@ChiliC: What kind of question is that?

Algerian

So...

They want another Francisco Franco? D:

Mister_CrazyGuy

Taxis were really handy in that game, surley it promotes the taxi drivers business? I'd still be playing it if it wasnt for the quick warp :S.

Golem29

I love GTA taxi drivers. They're the fastest way to get around town in the game. Cabbies have nothing to fear from me.

flashtut

are people even still playing GTA4?

ChiliC

@AlbenoEpiX: Lol i'm glad you like it.

paeper

@paeper:

Goatscaping?

If that bears even a slight resemblance to manscaping, I'm officially disturbed.

AlbenoEpiX

This is terribly boring and predictable.

Why can't somebody do something really bizarre and then cite Viva Pinata or Zack and Wiki as their inspiration?

AlbenoEpiX

If people don't know that games are entertainment they really have a problem. I'm getting tired of GTA scapegoat.

DBobMane

@jello44: It is the most overused scapegoat in the history goat scaping! :(

paeper

This reminds me of the time my city banned the game Burger Time because some jackass kid sprayed his friend in the eyes with pepper spray and claimed he did it so he could pretend he was in his favorite game.

ceilingFANBOY

@jello44:

Oh my "good grief" was toward the article, not the poster, just to avoid any confusion. (Sorry if this double posts :) )

jello44

I want the film Taxi Driver banned, it makes me think all taxi drivers will go psycho.

jigglypoofs

Oh good grief...

@paeper:

As long as people keep using it as a scapegoat, it will continue to be talked about.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have these Molotov Cocktails that need to be thrown at some cars, and if I get caught, I'll just blame GTA, THE GAME MADE ME DO IT!!!1111

jello44

You don't even want to know of the horrible atrocities I committed after playing Loco Roco...

This game should be banned forever, too.

ZombieRace

murder,police,motolv cocktails,taxis, whats next? blaming GTA on speeding???

psgamer92

Should probably ban movies and music and books and paintings while they're at it, too.

SilentSeraphin

Can we have these nuts culled from humanity instead of releasing them after a short stay in prison. Either their truly insane and cant tell reality from fantasy or they're blaming games for the fun of it both valid reasons they should cease to be.

off topic, is anyone able to get into the inFamous Lights Things Up article?

Chaoticevl

Is that John C. Reilly in the back of that cab?

archibaldleech

I hope they didn't show the movie "Collateral" in Spain then

Kai200X

Can we just stop talking about GTA 4 controversy yet? It's so boring and we all know it's rediculous.

paeper

People need to start maturing and take personal responsibility for their actions instead of laying the blame on something that "inspired" them.

bmac320

Oh god! The sickness is spreading! Someone call Leon Kennedy- it's time to kill Spain.

Jayge

GTA does not cause violence. Shoddy parenting and warped minds do.

Amazon_Chris

This making GTA the scape of everything's goat has gotten out of hand. I mean Ninja Gaiden 2 was far more violent and gory but there hasn't been a peep about it from the media, or jackass kids for that matter. GTA is far more recognizable therefore is far easier to blame.
@Chaoticevl: I hadn't tried until you mentioned it, but now that you have, I can't either. Weird.

sandal-hat17

to be honest i don't blame them. i'll don my flame suit for this, but seriously, i wouldn't mind if they completely got rid of gta. they're great games, but as long as i've got rpgs, action games, racers etc i'll be happy.

argosy

nowadays, everything can be blamed on GTA.
sheesh

perfect excuse for every crime in the world huh ?

Mr.Sad

You know it's such bullshit that people believe that video games make you do shit. Before playing video games, I've never wanted to kill another living creature, let alone a human. And although killing people in gta is fun, and I mean incredibly fun, I can't stop Im addicted...anyway, I've never since wanted to hurt anyone...at all

54r93

better digital hookers than real ones i say. violent crimes have decreased since the video game industry took off.

blisteringbarnaclesandthunderingtyphoons

But if they just ban GTA no person on earth will ever be harmed again!

GOLD5

Oh for the love of God, will this ever end? Cause it sure doesn't seem like it.

Ashkihyena

Now this is just silly. Whether or not GTA is censored or banned, cabbies will still daily run the risk of bodily harm, be it malicious or accidental when they ply their trade. What makes the Catalan Taxi Federation think that pulling one game off the shelves will make a bit of difference in their world? Will would-be taxi jackers suddenly lose the will to commit their crimes now that everyone's favorite interactive crime drama is no longer on sale? This is silly, ridiculous, and more than a bit sad and disheartening. Again, games are being used and quite unfairly as a scapegoat. Shame on the Catalan Taxi Federation for taking such a reactionary stance to this situation rather than coming up with substantive solutions to enhance the safety of Spanish cab drivers.

Altersparck

Stupid kids who do crap like this just say "GTA inspired me to do it" to take some of the heat off of themselves.

Skyburnbright

@argosy: So because you wouldn't miss it its perfectly okay for something to be banned?

Gouki4u's avatar has a severe case of Jekyll and Hyde

Fallacious fear mongering is fun!

justhesh

Regardless of how this ends, and I don't think it will end well, punish that little sonofabitch to the full extent of the LAW. Don't let him use GTA to weasel his way out of this...

Enigma_20XX

Ok, seriously, how many of us actually jacked a cab on purpose when we needed to go somewhere?

RedRaptor

I actually take a cab more then I take the cab, and I don't shoot the drivers after my fare.
Guess they shouldn't have spawned so many taxis in GTAIV.

Hmm...Wasn't there a song on GTA2, "Taxi Drivers must Die"?

judacris

I think the game should be banned because it sucks.

MisterMcThursday

Man, they should want more guys to play GTA4. I used the taxi to get to places more than I actually drove myself.

nemesiscw

I want to commit a grizzly criminal offense just so i can list some cool titles i was 'inspired' by

KennyLanzJr

$10 says it will rrod

blisteringbarnaclesandthunderingtyphoons

When is Rockstar going to start going on the offense and go after these incidents with threats of libel/slander suits?

justhesh

I saw in the webpage of a well know nespaper (in spain) an article regarding this matter, that said:

"(...)ha pedido al Gobierno español la retirada del mercado del 'Grand Theft Auto' tras el asesinato en Tailandia de un taxista a manos de un fanático de este violento videojuego en el que vence el que más delitos comete"
[www.lavanguardia.es]

Roughly translated, It'd mean:

'(this person) asked the spanish goverment for the banning of 'Grand theft auto', after the murder of a Thailandian taxist due to a fan of this violent videogame where whoever commits most crimes, wins.'

Yep, that's how some journalists earn their salary here. If that's journalism, I'm a nun.
I'm glad it stopped there (nobody listened to this man) but everyone and their dog know about this story now and thinks that GTA is some "Taxi killer sim". Sigh.

Fulgurator

"When is Rockstar going to start going on the offense and go after these incidents with threats of libel/slander suits?"

Now that would be quite funny, although a little inappropriate.

I think the taxi drivers has the right to demand for whatever they want, but it will be the government's (and the rest of society's) job to weigh the legitimacy of the claim. And in this case, I would have to side with video games.
Now would be a good time for game companies to start hiring lobbyists and researchers to spread the truth about the media.
I do not doubt that everything you do will foster some habits, but some of these claims are just silly. Some violence, possibly, but most normal people can suppress that easily enough. Heck, I admit I had an urge to charge at flag poles after playing Battlefield for so long, and despite me already jogging that way, I did not do it.

swangtal

Its nothing new hearing about GTA.

Bob: *reading newspaper* Looks like some boys killed someone. OH HONEY!

Mary: Yes, Honey?

Bob: Looks like some boys killed a cab driver, they said Grand Theft Auto made them do it.

Mary: Ohhh those crazy kids, *sigh* to be young again.

*both laugh*

shrek187

You know, I fear that the Spanish Government will agree, I mean, blaming violence on violent videogames would be the perfect scapegoat, distracting people from the fact that the Spanish penitentiary system sucks, I remember hearing cases of murder and the murderer only got like what, 5 years in prison? Maybe even less.

But maybe I am just getting paranoid. Anyways, I've read the article and handpicked (and translated to Englis) some of the stuff I've thought interesting/ridiculous:

-They still got no idea what the game is about, all they info they gave about the game is "it's a game where whoever commits more crimes wins". Which kinda makes GTA sound like a multiplayer game. Original: "violento videojuego en el que vence el que más delitos comete."

-Although the kid blaming the crime on videogames just looks like a scapegoat to me. It's not the only thing he said, he also said that he killed the taxi driver to steal his money and buy the latest version of the game. Original: "explicó que lo había hecho para robarle la recaudación y comprar la nueva versión del 'Grand Theft Auto'."

-They also mention that Thailand has banned the game and that the US is considering banning the game on a national scale. Original: "La venta de este videojuego está sancionada en Tailandia con penas de hasta tres años de prisión y otros países, como Estados Unidos, se han planteado prohibir su venta a escala nacional."

LaughingCrow

@swangtal: "Now that would be quite funny, although a little inappropriate."

I don't think it would be. Countless times their products have been linked to incidents with which they've had no relation. Again and again, baseless claims have been made blaming them for tragedies for which they've not been remotely responsible. It's defamation of character, left to propagate without restriction. Only when Rockstar truly begins to stand up for themselves, and by association the industry, will people be forced to report truthfully about them.

justhesh

Just heard that a Chinese fellow attacked two American tourists at the Beijing games, killing one in the process.

BAN THE OLYMPICS!

XiangPenguin

The funny part about the Thai case? The teenager/boy never actually played the game. He asked for the game to his parent and his parents said no, so he killed a guy citing GTA.

Next time rockstar make another GTA how bout a bittorrent mini game, so when we got caught by the RIAA we can also said, "hey, it was on GTA" :p

nekoRamen

Spanish Taxi Drivers - The most powerful people in the World. Oh, wait. No, that's someone else entirely.

DwerG

First off... @argosy: YOU SICK TWISTED BEING!!!

Now, I do believe I've been right, GTA IV has turned into the ultimatum of the "Oh it's 'cos of video games..." excuse...again. Well I say LEAVE ROCKSTAR GAMES ALONE!!!

-Cue Chris Crocker-
LEAVE ROCKSTAR GAMES ALONE!!! WHAT DID HE EVER DO TO YOU!!! LEAVE HIM ALOOOOOOONE!!!!!!

Sam_Munro

I don't know if I've ever murdered a taxi driver in GTAIV. Hell, unless I'm being chased by the cops, I actually use them the way I'm supposed to and even pay for my rides.

Kenny

I want all the taxi drivers pulled after playing Crazy Taxi!

dandan0

@swangtal: "-They also mention that Thailand has banned the game and that the US is considering banning the game on a national scale. Original: "La venta de este videojuego está sancionada en Tailandia con penas de hasta tres años de prisión y otros países, como Estados Unidos, se han planteado prohibir su venta a escala nacional."

So... basically another country that hasn't done its duties on checking out facts about the game in the States, ugh. No, the US is not considering banning GTA on a national scale, geeze.

Ashkihyena

There's been also a petition from spanish gamer communities to get taxi driver licenses taken from them cause they're a real, demonstrable and bigger threat to pedestrians than GTAIV actually is.

BrunoKane

lol GTA4 has built in Taxi Simulator that encourages you to be the Taxi at the start of the game and lobbies for the Taxi industry by relying on them from getting to point A to point B.

GTA4 is actually Taxi training game to recruit new taxi drivers in real world

Gutter_Trash

I am sure what is really going on is that these guys are scared of some dumbass playing out the violence on them. I can't blame 'em seeing as a real life death is scary and permanent. There are too many idiots in this world that can't think for themselves and can only re-enact what they have seen on TV or video games. And btw - I am sure they don't mean us. Pulling the games off the shelves is an over reaction sure... the price many pay for idiocy running rampant. Self control seems to be rare these days, or is it that desperation is gaining a greater foothold?

Awoken

When I was a wee lad a person murdered a cab driver in our town with an axe. 10 years later GTA franchise was started. I blame taxi driver murder for video games about taxi driver murder and demand all taxi driver murder be banned.

Skeller

@Awoken: Well, that still doesn't mean that they should pull the game though, its not Rockstar's fault that people can't control themselves, and the people that can should not have to suffer for it.

Ashkihyena

How ironic that I was in Spain when this was written ;)

Spoony Bard

When riding in a taxi in GTA4, you can't possibly murder the driver.

dowingba

@Awoken: The thing of it is, nothing was ever reenacted. The misleading original story was wrong, and GTA had nothing to do with it. It was simply a robbery plan gone wrong.

justhesh

A lot of you are missreading the article. They don't want GTA4 banned because of the game itself, they want the game banned because people are trying to use it as a scapegoat when they commit their crimes. If I wanted to kill someone, and knew I could get away with a "videogames made me do it" defense, you better believe I would 're-enact the videogame.' Cab drivers already have a dangerous job, and with people using the game as an excuse to get off the hook of killing cab drivers, I can understand their fears.

Unfortunately banning GTA4 is troubleshooting a symptom and not a problem. If you want "game killings" to stop, then we have to stop allowing the "games made me do it" defense to have any validity. I don't see that happening any time soon.

Saxboy

What's next? Having the game pulled from shelves by politicians for the fear of it promoting sexual intercourse...?

That would be almost as bad as the woman who sued McDonald's because they didn't label her coffee as hot...

TheXanadu

i dont understand why people keep talking about this people do stuff on there own free will maybe gta4 has something to do with it but you gotta be stupid to do something like this anyway

supercr3w

okay all this blaming a game is so ridiculous , im going to blame cheating on my wife was cause of GTA dammit lol.

spark916

i think this whole blaming a game is so stupid. Im going to blame this game if i get caught cheating my wife.

spark916

@justhesh: Yeah, what is going to be happening more and more is that criminals are going to use the "it wasn't me, it was the evil video games that I played that corrupted me" defense. Justice is not served as long as video games or any other form of "influence" absolves a criminal. They need to be held responsible regardless of the "why".

Awoken

@Ashkihyena: I agree completely. Unfortunately when people try to save the masses the masses suffer.

Awoken

It's evident that people are influenced by GTA to commit murders and crimes, they even admit to it. If things keep going like this, the game SHOULD be pulled of most shelves, and it'll be the fault of the idiot people who do these "re-enacments" from the game. Why would you even try to defend them?

cowpop

People claim to be influenced by games just to get publicity (And give ammo to those Game-Haters out there). Just put it this way, Guy kills Taxi Driver. Ok, But: Teen Murders Taxi Driver influenced by A Video-Game that is currently in the public eye. Which one sounds more intresting, eh?

infestedDemon

I dunno, I kind of feel these people argument has some value. Exposure to media creates ideas for people they may not have had on their own. Most of the time, I think it's great. But when I was a kid I never had nightmares about Freddy Krueger until after I watched Nightmare on Elm Street.
Playing a game where you do terrible things, doesn't mean that person will do terrible things. But it does increase the frequency of those thoughts in their mind.
There are so many ways to have fun in games, why focus on murder and such?

Pylon