Napolean. Leonardo da Vinci. Didier Drogba. The bombing of Hiroshima. The hybrid car. Teri Hatcher's boobs in 'Seinfeld'.

These events, people or things have had a profound impact on the world.
And now we have one more to add to the list.

GRAND THEFT AUTO. FOUR.

I won't bore you to death with a review, as there are many people more articulate that I who can confirm how excellent this game is.
Rockstar have certainly taken all the cool elements of previous GTA's and improved on them.
Graphics on the Xbox 360 are great; maybe not as good as some other games I have played, but then most other games don't allow you to go 10 Pin Bowling with a potential girlfriend, engage in some hand-to-hand combat with pedestrians or drive drunk whilst being pursued by the cops.

I have only played the game for an hour, but that hour was something special. I escaped from the cops twice, honked the car horn to make people move and I got some pretty funky sunglasses for nothing!

All in all, this game is superb. Massive environment, most of which is interactive. Good storyline. Guns, hookers, fast cars.

In a word, BRILLIANT.

I have also heard a lot of people criticisng the game for "promoting violence." I laugh heartily when I hear such foolish remarks.
Wht about boxing? Ricky Hatton is a great boxer who does a lot for the community, and is an idol for many youngsters, but he gets paid (and paid well) to FIGHT other men.
Is this not promoting violence also?

I have played every incarnation of GTA, going right back to when you had that birds eye view of the city and driving was really hard. I must have killed hundreds of police in the game. I have stolen hundreds of thousands of fake money; smashed up thousands of cars; had sex with a hooker; gambled away all my money; used brass knucks, baseball bats and all sorts of guns to mow down innocent civilians by the truckload, yet one thing remained constant. I KNEW IT WAS A FUCKING GAME! Not once did I think "Hmmm, maybe I should try this in real life!"
To my knowledge I have never killed anyone in real life, or robbed people, or smashed up other people's cars. Yet I have played GTA for years.

Is something wrong with me?
No. I am normal. And hopefully always will be. 99.9% of the GTA playing population are just like me. Using games as something fun to pass the time.
NOT as a platform from which to launch a career of homicdal tendencies.

We ned to accept that some peopl are just retarded and would probably still go on a murderous rampage after playing Alex Kidd on an old Sega Master System.
The sooner we accept this fact, the better off we will be.

The game comes with an 18+ rating in most countries, so kids shouldn't be able to buy it. Yes, I realise that there are many ways to get around that (I myself have purchased ae restricted material in the past when I was underage) but I think retailers should check ID before making a sale.

Also, parents need to take responsibility for what their kids are doing. Stop blaming others for your fuckbag kids being little cunts.

Word

I am off now to blow some shit up. Just in the game though, don't worry.