Today, the police are having fun with GTA 6. 26 years ago, they feared Grand Theft Auto!

Game news Today, the police are having fun with GTA 6. 26 years ago, they feared Grand Theft Auto!

Bad advertising is still advertising

You certainly cannot miss the various messages published by National Police accounts on social networks. Faced with the excitement of the first trailer for GTA 6 released on December 5, 2023, she tried to ride the wave by launching.RP version of GTA 6“, according to a message posted on Twitter/X. In this release, the National Police took to Tik Tok to show a video inspired by the famous Rockstar game. We see a driver in first person view who is stopped by a police officer explaining to him that in real life… well It’s not like in GTA ! Crazy, right? The communication campaign was quickly mocked on the Internet, with dozens of inflammatory comments. Don’t they say bad publicity is still publicity?

The first Grand Theft Auto in the late 1990s managed to get people talking about it.. With a communication campaign based on provocation, often offensive, the title quickly gained a bad reputation with some mainstream newspapers and some political leaders. In typical Anglo-Saxon periodicals, advertising posters published various profiles of criminals on double pages, with humorous text explaining their dark sides. “I love sleek, fast cars with room in the back. You see what I mean?” can we read under the photo of a woman wearing zebra-patterned pants.

Other advertisements emphasize the side “bad boy“Game, remind (in red) that the software is not recommended for people under the age of 17, and list all the misdemeanors/crimes that may be committed. “Murder, driving, pimping, police raids, adultery“…”This game is going to be one of the most controversial ever” we see on the poster with a quote from GameFan Online.

Be careful, nasty game

“The whole of Britain knows Grand Theft Auto before its release“Matthew Lallart writes in the book”GTA Saga: Transgressions and Visions of America” (Third Edition). In France, BMG Interactive continues the strategy launched.Be careful, nasty game“Can we read one announcement of the game, before giving way to another slogan: “As long as you’re a bastard, you might as well be the worst” Like the posters published all over the channel, we can only see a few images of the game. And that’s normal, GTA was already mostly technologically outdated in 1997 when all the eyes of console players were focused on software like Tomb Raider 2. Or Super Mario 64. So he relies on the only characteristic he has to get people talking about him: his gratuitous violence..

The violence would be quickly pointed out in France by Jean-Louis Arajol, then General Secretary of the General Police Union. As Matthew Lallart explains in his book, a police officer discovered the title’s existence through his young son who was able to get his hands on it thanks to a demo distributed in the official PlayStation magazine. In January 1998, the Union Claims Simply removing GTA. The press of the time reported this information and thus put the BMG Interactive title in the spotlight. Television news broadcasts stories recounting the multiple excesses of this video game where the objective “Become enemy number one, killing bystanders and police officers in the process“

Cops vs. Thieves

“A kid holding a controller can become the first criminal in town” exclaims Jean-Louis Arajol in a report broadcast on TF1. Daniel Guerin, investigations manager for the General Police Union, laments that he “Deliver medicines“and carries out”the murders“, which he believes”Especially worrying for children” “Telling young people that they will win the game (…) if they kill a lot of cops (…), I think there are enough games that (… ) incite anti-cop hatred.“ Adds Jean-Louis Arajol. A child psychiatrist interviewed emphasizes the fact that “Some children and adolescents do not really distinguish between reality and imagination and may see in GTA “a model of behavior in reality.“

Buy GTA Trilogy on Amazon

On the part of the publisher, BMG Interactive, we are trying to show our credentials. The company’s general manager, Benoit Daniau, explains that they have applied the recommendation to people over 16 years of age.On his own initiative” “I personally don’t want my 8 year old daughter to play with this game” he admits. Yet he adds that the kids at school want to play both policeman and thief, which means “evil” is also a part of our education, in a certain way, even if it is done through play. A few days later, Senator Philip Darnich is calling The government so banned the latter in FranceThe import, sale or distribution of this video game is unacceptable for its content and unacceptable for its graphics” (sic). More generally, the senator calls for the withdrawal of all games “Ignoring all human and civil decency“. Ultimately, the Home Ministry does not prefer any kind of ban.

Also read:

Grand Theft Auto is quickly becoming the game everyone is talking about. His provocative appearance – described by the newspapers of the time – brought him unexpected popularity. In future, each new episode will generate its share of controversies. Grand Theft Auto III will be seen as illogical while recharging its prostitutes’ life bars, Grand Theft Auto IV will be seen as an anti-police release with little protest from its police officers, and Grand Theft Auto V will be suspected of advocating torture. . Controversies surrounding Grand Theft Auto VI have already started while the game is still far from being available, as the trailer is considered very vulgar, even offensive to the image of women. Meanwhile, Rockstar and Take-Two are preparing to count the tickets.