Grand Theft Auto

 Grand Theft Auto IV 

Grand Theft Auto IV is a 2008 sandbox-style action-adventure video game published by Rockstar Games, and developed by Rockstar North, which has been released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles, and for the Windows operating system. The game involves a separate timeline and world than its predecessors in the Grand Theft Auto series, starting the fourth "era" in the series, and is set in Liberty City, a fictional city based heavily on modern day New York City.^[a] The game follows Niko Bellic, an Eastern European war veteran who comes to the United States in search of the American Dream, but quickly becomes entangled in a world of gangs, crime, and corruption. Like other games in the series, GTA IV is composed of elements from driving games and third-person shooters, and features "open-world" gameplay, in which players can interact with the game world at their leisure. Grand Theft Auto IV also features several online multiplayer modes.

Two expansion packs have been developed for the game, originally released as downloadable content for the Xbox 360 version throughout 2009. Both The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony feature new protagonists. The two expansions have been released together for all platforms as a stand-alone game called Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City. Grand Theft Auto IV: The Complete Edition is a bundle that includes both the original GTA IV game and the Episodes.

Who is being represented?

The game grand theft auto 4 can only be played from a male's point of view. Seeing the world of Liberty City through a male's eyes has several implications; the most important however, is that no matter what role a woman plays in Niko's world, she has a sexual purpose. This mirrors the disturbing tendency of popular games treating women as sexual playthings. Throughout the whole of the story mode, you play as a character called Niko Bellic who constantly battles against many crime lords in liberty city. As well as causing destruction along the way, the game allows the audience to interact with other characters in the game who are women. Women are portrayed as sex symbols throughout the game but are also represented as the “new modern” woman who is allowed to go out to work and enjoy a free life.

Another key factor about this text is that they are only 13 of the 69 characters in the game who are female which can also show that this text is more aimed at more at men but also has a cross difference as many females enjoy playing grand theft auto. 

"Starting with Mallorie in the cab office, Niko watches as Vlad and Roman fight for her approval with flirtatious banter and passive-aggressive remarks to one another about "how to talk to a woman." Although Mallorie can be seen to represent a woman in the work force, this is completely overshadowed by the men vying for her attention.

http://www.mysocialnetwork.net/blog09/410/UN5/2009/03/assignment_2_gender_representations_in_gta_iv_and_wii.htm  

While playing the game Niko Bellic who is the main protagonist, the gamer can control him and can do wish whatever they want to. The game allows us the gamers to play in a free roam around mode which is not playing the storyline of the game yet just committing crime and grand theft auto. As the time in the game turns into night the portrayal of woman begins as the some dark quiet streets are constantly surrounded by a lot of female prostitutes. Once the prostitute is picked up she immediately jumps into the car that Niko is driving and they head off for the infamous journey. Once the car stops, an options list comes up with a list of 3 different price tags of being $20 $50 and $70. Once the options have been clicked the car starts to go up and down which shows that they are having sex. As well as the car is the shaking down, the controller also starts to vibrate which also tries to make the stimulation seem realistic which contributes to show how females are portrayed in this game. 

Reviews

http://uk.gamespot.com/ps3/action/grandtheftauto4/index.html

http://uk.ps3.ign.com/objects/793/793799.html
http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/grand-theft-auto-iv 

Controversies

 Prior to and since the release of Grand Theft Auto IV, the game had been subject to a great deal of controversy, as was the case with previous Grand Theft Auto titles. Figures including George Galloway, Jack Thompson and Hillary Clinton have criticised the game, as have organizations including New York City officials and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) MADD requested ESRB to change the rating of the game from "M" for ages seventeen and up to "AO", for adults due to the player's ability to drive under the influence of alcohol.

The version of GTA IV released in Australia and New Zealand was edited to remove content to allow the game to meet the requirements of the Australian classification system. However, the game was resubmitted to the New Zealand OFLC by Stan Calif, a 21-year-old student who was unhappy that New Zealand received an edited version of the game as a result of Australian censorship laws. The unedited version was subsequently given an R18 rating and cleared for sale in New Zealand.  The PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV released in Australia is reported to be unedited, identical to that of other international releases, under the MA15+ rating. The PS3 and the Xbox 360 versions of the game have since been updated to be completely uncensored while the complete edition has the console version uncut for the first time at retail.

There have been reports in the United Kingdom and the United States of crimes perpetrated against people purchasing Grand Theft Auto IV, as well as employees of stores selling the game. One of these incidents, an attack near a Gamestation store in Croydon, London was later reported to be an unrelated argument between two groups of people leaving a pub and the story has been referred to as a "media panic.
Six teenagers were arrested in June 2008 after engaging in a crime spree in New Hyde Park, New York, assaulting and robbing several people, and attempting a carjacking. According to police, the teens claimed that they were "inspired" by Grand Theft Auto IV.
The first downloadable episode The Lost and Damned has a brief scene containing full-frontal male nudity, uncommon in video games.

Instituion 

 Rockstar Games is a major video game developer and publisher based in New York City, owned by Take-Two Interactive. The brand is mostly known for Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, L.A. Noire, The Warriors, Bully, Manhunt, Midnight Club and Red Dead series and the use of open world, free roaming settings in their games. It comprises studios that have been acquired and renamed as well as others that have been created internally. While many of the studios Take-Two Interactive has acquired have been merged into the Rockstar brand, several other recent ones have retained their previous identities and have become part of the company's 2K Games division. The Rockstar Games label was founded in New York City in 1998 by the English video game producers Sam Houser, Dan Houser, Terry Donovan, Jamie King and Gary Foreman.


The headquarters of Rockstar Games (commonly referred to as Rockstar NYC) is located on Broadway in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City, part of the Take-Two Interactive offices. It is home to the marketing, public relations and product development departments.

Rockstar Games has a had a history of producing many violent and women degrading story lines for many of the games they have produced over the past years. The grand theft auto series has become very popular amongst its audience as they have made 5 different games which have all have been a sucess.