The Interview Controversy Sheds Troubling Light On Video Game Acceptance

The video game industry has been embroiled in this sort of controversy for the past few weeks leading up to the news about The Interview. In two separate events, the gaming community (and even some outside the gaming community) have shown a willingness to accept and often times support acts comparable to Sony's just as often as it condemns them. The first happened when Target and Kmart stores in Australia decided they would not carry Grand Theft Auto V due to its depictions of violence against women . Then days ago, Hatred, the game that may yet actually morph into a scolding-hot button, was pulled from Steam Greenlight .


The one new release to chart for the month was LEGO Marvel's Avengers - in one note however, The NPD Group explained that if the chart were organized purely by the highest-selling SKU (rather than combined platform sales), last month's _Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam _ for 3DS would have charted at

Tweets about Hatred are much more skewed, and conversation about GTA V, much discussed in the video game press, seems to paint a two-sided issues. Defense of Target's decision as not censorship and a positive step toward equality were just as rampant, if not more so, than concerns over the kind of precedent their move set. Consider this, if it's not censorship for Target to pull the game, what if all retailers pulled the game? It's well within their rights, but it would achieve the exact same effect as a blatant censorship did. Thus, a de facto censorship - a universal lack of availability that's not necessarily enforced by law.


But, with just nine days left in 2014 it doesn't seem as though the developer is going to make its original timeline - maybe they've been too busy with the game's release on Xbox One and PS4. That's especially true when you consider that Rockstar is also working on GTA Online's Heists as well as the PC release of the game , which are both scheduled for early 2

Alternatively, Fonteno could actually be referring to Heist gameplay - instead of standalone story DLC. It has been noted that the latest trailer for the mode featured plenty of cut-scenes as well as voice acting and while plenty of people are excited for GTA Online Heists as it is, a cameo from Franklin would be a draw (or at least a nice Easter egg) for f


Overall, The NPD Group explained that consumers spent $605.2 million on gaming products at retailers in January, marking a 4% decrease from the same time last year ($627.6 million in January 2015). Hardware sales also accounted for $157 million in January, marking a 15% decrease from $185.4 million in the same period last y


The DLC timeline of GTA IV also suggests that GTA 5 missions|https://gta5Play.com/ V could be in line for some story DLC of its own soon. GTA IV 's The Ballad of Gay Tony and Lost and Damned DLC packs were released less than a year and a half after the release of the core game - so if Rockstar is employing a similar release strategy, we'd better get our wallets re


A year on from the game's initial release on PS3 and Xbox 360, GTA V has yet to get its first piece of single player story DLC. However Shawn Fonteno (the voice actor for main character Franklin) has now confirmed that more GTA V DLC is in the wo


"In January 2016, however, the sales of [current] generation consoles declined by 8 percent, despite relatively flat unit sales, as average prices dipped by 6 percent as a result of price cuts that took place between January 2015 and January 20


According to IGN , Rockstar Games parent company Take-Two Interactive revealed that GTA V made $800 million dollars in its first day of trading, to which they are quite understandably "thrilled" with. The company revealed that the game became "the highest first day retail sales of any title in the history of the company and the Grand Theft Auto series." For a company that has the entire back catalog of GTA , as well as games like Red Dead Redemption , that is no small feat. But that statement might still be selling this success sh


Grand Theft Auto V was always destined to make a ton of cash being one of, if not the biggest franchise in all of gaming. It was certainly going to need to after becoming the most expensive video game ever produced. Bloomberg had predicted that the franchise would make a billion within its first month, which seems to be a somewhat misjudged prediction now. Mostly because, after becoming one of the highest rated games of all-time , it should reach the billion mark point in just its first two d


And fans certainly seem to think so - or more specifically, video game modders . For those unfamiliar, "modding" derives from the verb "modify," and refers to the act of altering hardware or software to perform a function not originally intended by the designer - like dropping a superhero in the middle of **Grand Theft Auto ** , for exam


According to Rockstar Games (the publisher and developer of the Grand Theft Auto franchise), the size of Grand Theft Auto V 's map is bigger than Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas , Grand Theft Auto IV and Red Dead Redemption 's maps combined. But the picturesque Los Santos setting isn't all palm trees, mountains and the occasional flurry of snow ; GTA V is filled with a wealth of things to