I don't really see why you're saying Grand Theft Auto 3 is RUINING video games. Yes, it was somewhat controversial, but it was the first game of its type and it was amazing. No other game up to that point let you have the level of freedom that you had than the first time we rode through Liberty City. I love Grand Theft Auto 3 and have nothing bad to say about it.

I think the OP is trying to say GTA3 set a precedent in video games... this sort of real life simulation ( i know it's a stretch) where the encouraged activity is to go on rampages and destroy and kill life. The only problem I have with this is that the precedent has always been there, and not just in video games.

Look at football, where the main course of action is to hit the opposing team member as hard as you physically can without any thought to the health and well being of said opponent. I mean, I'm not saying that there is a problem with that, or that it should be changed. I'm just saying the presence of violence in games, as a whole, is not something new.

ExiledPariah: The OP is not saying that GTA ruined video games, he is asking whether you think it ruined the taste of video games. Two very different things.

NO GTA THREE DID NOT RUIN THE TASTE OF VIDEO GAMES.

I love all the GTA games, an immersive enviroment were you can do basically anything you want. Meaning that yes you can choose to be a dasturdly prick in the game. Maybe allowing people to work out their frustrations on video games keeps them from shooting up places.

I personally have always been against the ideas presented in GTA games. Sure it isn't real, but the over-the-top stuff makes crime seem humorous or something... I just can't condone the actions the player is encouraged to take in such a game. But GTA3 didn't ruin it, there were waaaay worse games beforehand (some are actually on here... due to the fact that we have every game for most of the older systems).
Bobbynibbles : Being bothered by video games is in no way wrong. It simply means that you actually do care about your values in life. Why play a game where you are encouraged to do something you'd be disgusted doing in real life? So what if they're not real, it's that kind of thing that can numb your mind to such stuff until your morals are watered down. I'm not saying it will make the nicest guy in the world into a murderer, but it can cause people to become harsher and more immoral, and doing that to any degree is too much for me.

chrisd636 : What exactly is an OP? I've heard it many times, but I don't know what it means.

alexanyways : OP means Original Poster... i.e. you

bignatealpha : I feel nauseous considering shooting someone dead. I cringe at the idea of carjacking someone. But I find both of those things just very entertaining and completely hilarious. I can separate reality from fiction.

While it isnt wrong to be bothered by a game, there is a difference between a game and reality, and some people ignore that.
I dont think being bothered by a game nessicarily means that the person cares about their values either, and that in alot of cases it is just that the person either cant seperate fiction from reality or that they have a superiority complex.
Anyone who gets their morals weakened by playing a game (in other words, fiction) is a pretty weak minded person in the first place in my opinion.

I also dont think that soing things in a game reflects what one might do in real life.
Look at Pokemon, the premise of the game is to capture wild animals and (in essense) make them fight to the death.
Alot of people play Pokemon, but would they do that in real life?
I would think alot of them would be disgusted doing that.
Or if you prefer, in most any RPG you have to fight (and kill) some poor weak animal (like a kitten), for no other reason then it attacked you because you went into it's territory looking for things to kill.
You know it cant hurt you, but you kill it anyway.

And while certain games might numb someones perspective on things, it doesnt mean that their morals are weakened.
Not unless they are weak minded or dont really believe in their morals.

All that said I dont like the GTA games, but this is more because I dont like the games storylines.

I agree with DH. I really hate it when people blame their bad actions on something like movies or games. If you can not handle it then don't play it, i play GTA all the time and i have never done anything in those games ever. I also think a lot of it isnt that they were really "demoralized" by the game, as much as it is they wanted to do something, they did it, and now they want some way to make this not their fault. It's all just an excuse if u ask me. Also i know that i have enjoyed just running around the cities in the GTA games and cheating vehicles in (see you don't have to steal) and driving really fast and crashing and doing the stunt jumps (see no killing required to play either).