{"id":69,"date":"2008-05-20T08:46:00","date_gmt":"2008-05-20T08:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rglas.dds.nl\/wordpress%20blog\/index.php\/2008\/05\/20\/gta-iv-makes-babies-happy\/"},"modified":"2021-02-15T07:49:45","modified_gmt":"2021-02-15T07:49:45","slug":"gta-iv-makes-babies-happy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.reneglas.nl\/index.php\/2008\/05\/20\/gta-iv-makes-babies-happy\/","title":{"rendered":"GTA IV makes babies happy"},"content":{"rendered":"

I guess this is my first entry into the \u2018blogosphere\u2019. Well, here goes\u2026<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

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One of the best things about getting a little kid – she is one month old now and growing like crazy – is that I actually had more time to, well, do nothing much. Sure, taking care of the wee one takes up a healthy chunk of our time, and the whole sleep-poo-cry cycle can be tiring <\/a>for all involved. But I had taken some weeks off from work to be a full time family man, which freed up so much time that, suddenly, I had the liberty to do all those things I never had the time for! Did I read all those books and articles lying around? did I watch all those films and series I missed? Did I even go out in the sun which scorched <\/span>Holland<\/span><\/st1:place><\/st1:city> in the past weeks?<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

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No, I pretty much spend most of my free hours playing GTA IV<\/span>.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

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Perfect timing Rockstar!. Some recent <\/a>minor <\/a>distractions <\/a>aside, this is the first game to really pull me away from World of Warcraft<\/span>. Which wasn\u2019t that hard by the way, my WoW being hacked and plundered just after my kid was born (I lost 8000g on that one, thanks virtual economy<\/a>!). <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

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Thus, there I was, taking my new buddy Niko through all kinds of violent ordeals in <\/span>Liberty<\/span><\/st1:placename> <\/span>City<\/span><\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place>. And what a splendid killing spree it turned out to be. Gone are most of the troubles which plagued prior instalments like messy aiming, cars popping in out of nowhere, no multi-player. And now we can even skip those unnecessary long drives to and from quest objectives after failing missions again and again; now you can just take a cab, pick your location and skip the entire ride! <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

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Skipping the ride almost always feels like a loss though as GTA IV<\/span>\u2019s <\/span>Liberty<\/span><\/st1:placename> <\/span>City<\/span><\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> is one of the most beautifully rendered, vibrant and believable virtual worlds out there. It is however not just a <\/span>New York<\/span><\/st1:place><\/st1:state> 2.0 for virtual sightseeing<\/a>. It is clear that, like previous GTA<\/span>\u2019s, Rockstar wanted to make a sandbox <\/a>with a point. GTAIII<\/span>, <\/span>Vice<\/span><\/st1:placename> <\/span>City<\/span><\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> and San Andreas<\/span> all parodied American culture through its radio channels, billboards, dialogues and so on. GTA IV<\/span> follows suit but got rid of all the over-the-top silliness which tended to make you forget its finer details. So, no jetpacks, Area 51\u2019s or overkill of ramps here. Calling the changes \u2018gritty\u2019 or \u2018darker\u2019 is marketing mumbo-jumbo but there\u2019s truth in it as well. You could almost say that Rockstar has taken a more mature approach (gasp!).<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

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More than ever, Rockstar\u2019s <\/span>Liberty<\/span><\/st1:placename> <\/span>City<\/span><\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> is a bleak, dystopian depiction of the real. It takes no prisoners; the media, the internet, the government, the crime gangs, even people just walking down the virtual streets, all of them are degenerated, corrupted, spoiled. It might still be far off – \u2018it\u2019s only a game\u2019, remember – but it\u2019s eerily recognizable. As suggested elsewhere<\/a>, the American Dream has never been so far out of reach for <\/span>Liberty<\/span><\/st1:placename> <\/span>City<\/span><\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place>\u2019s inhabitants. Drawn to <\/span>Liberty<\/span><\/st1:placename> <\/span>City<\/span><\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> under false promises of freedom, peace and wealth, Niko\u2019s downward spiral into sin is entirely believable, even logical. And you wish him while doing so. <\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

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Exposing a child to such harsh, violent worlds might be a bit unethical but hey, where else but in your lap do you put a crying baby when you\u2019re playing! When I was ploughing down rows of pedestrians and crashing my car into other players (GTA<\/span> multiplayer is a hoot!), the pleasure the baby seemed to derive from the rumble my controller made on her tummy made it al seem ok. She really digs that!<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

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Ps. This post seems a bit dated already but Blogger decided to lock my brand new blog for suspicions of me being a spambot (sigh). <\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I guess this is my first entry into the \u2018blogosphere\u2019. Well, here goes\u2026 One of the best things about getting a little kid – she is one month old now and growing like crazy – is that I actually had more time to, well, do nothing much. Sure, taking care of the wee one takes … <\/p>\n

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