PushingPlay

Dr. Mom Reviews is a bi-weekly segment where Dr. Jacqueline Karsemeyer gives her opinions on games that her son has walked her through playing. Dr. Karsemeyer has a PhD in education and has been both a classroom teacher and an educational consultant.

Through the almost two decades that my son has been a gamer, I have only picked up a controller a handful of times. Recently, I had my first ‘next gen’ video game experience (a term I learned when generating this article at my son’s urging) with Grand Theft Auto 4. After hearing an endless stream of media coverage about this controversial game, I was finally convinced to give it a try.

Hit the jump to read Dr. Mom’s review of GTA4

After a perfunctory lesson on the mechanics of the controller, I hit the road, literally. My character Niko was like a radarless bat careening chaotically through an urban maze, until I was informed of the GPS-like radar in the bottom right corner of the screen. As I stepped off the sidewalk, an aggressive taxi driver ran into me, cursing. I suddenly felt very unwelcome in this digital world. Everyone I encountered spewed expletives. I wondered aloud why such homophobic, and sexist language was considered acceptable. Most alarmingly, my son’s reaction suggested that this was white noise to a generation of players. “I’m glad you’re not playing online” he said. Apparently online gamers indulge in exchanging even more extreme obscenities.

Jacob urged me to try a different scene, saying that perhaps I would enjoy the cinematic plotline a little bit more. This new scene was peopled by a silicone-injected receptionist surrounded by leering testosterone overdosed males swearing through their exaggerated accents. Sigh. I had had my fill of masculine fantasy land so I took Niko outside for a stroll, and in the process discovered the “jump” button. This was the first move that really excited me. I could make Niko jump for joy! He could enjoy the uplifting experience of raising his arms without smashing someone’s face in! He would feel better about life soon, I was sure of it. But unfortunately the denizens of Liberty City would allow no such thing. The other characters’ eyes remained glazed unless I was stealing a car or shoulder checking a pedestrian. No enthusiasm was reflected for Niko’s jubilant celebration of vertical fortitude. These people just weren’t programmed for the positive.

I developed a survival strategy: playing without the soundtrack of cursing and focusing on driving a commandeered vehicle with Formula One intensity. Car heists became pit stops and pursuant police cars were competing racers. There was a surge of adrenaline when I left everyone in the dust, including one poor man who dragged along the side of my (his) car, hanging onto the door handle after trying to take his reclaim his recently stolen car. Improved driving skill became its own reinforcer.
But no action happens in isolation as the police swarmed to arrest me like ants at a picnic. The context and content of the game closed in like dark clouds.

As I turned off the game I thought of what a sad life this Niko has. His future is filled with aggressive encounters with characters whose lives are equally loveless. I have serious doubts about a culture that slams people against the wall, watches them abuse each other and self-destruct, and calls it entertainment. Jacob tells me that the game’s narrative tries to illustrate the negative side of the kind of criminal lifestyle depicted in GTA. I have a hard time believing that anyone who plays this game is getting the positive lesson that Jacob seems so adamant is present. I certainly didn’t.

-Dr. Mom

PS. That is not me in the picture above… It was Jacob’s idea.