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The sensationalist British press is at it again, this time giving free publicity to GTA: Chinatown Wars because it features a drug-dealing mini-game.
The Sun’s gone with the headline: “Fury over drug deal vid game”.
The “fury” in question comes from Darren Gold of charity Drugsline, who said: “Anything using drug-dealing as entertainment is sending out the wrong message. Glamorisation doesn’t help our work trying to educate kids of the dangers of substance misuse.”
We can’t be 100 per cent sure, since it hasn’t been rated yet, but we’re guessing the cel-shaded Chinatown Wars isn’t being made for kids, and will have an appropriate rating, too.
The Daily Telegraph has gone with the less sensationalist headline: “Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars condemned by charities for drug-dealing features.”
In Chinatown Wars it will be possible to sell heroine, cocaine, weed, ecstasy, acid and downers to earn in-game money.
“We wanted to have a drug-dealing mini-game in lots of the GTA games,” Rockstar VP Dan Houser told Edge. “We played with it a little in Vice City Stories, because it worked really well juxtaposed with the main story.
“It works well with what GTA is, with driving around the map, and it gives you another thing to think about – another layer or piece of the puzzle to keep you motivated.”
The game’s scheduled for release this winter.
