GTA IV fever is far from over, and the controversies are still pouring in. But for one organization, it’s not the sexual content or graphic violence of the game that they find objectionable, it’s the in-game drunk driving.
MADD, or Mothers Against an Average Weekend, released this statement today:
Each year nearly 13,500 people die in drunk 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 have to drive drunk. 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. 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.
True enough, but does it really qualify — over the other, more obvious questionable material in the game — as something that should have a dreaded AO rating?