Put "Grand Theft Auto 5" Back on Target Shelves in Australia
Put "Grand Theft Auto 5" Back on Target Shelves in Australia
The Issue
On December 3, 2014 Target Australia released a public statement saying they would remove the video game "Grand Theft Auto 5" (GTA 5) from their shelves (1). They were urged to do this by another Change.org Petition that claimed GTA 5 encouraged players to "commit sexual violence and kill women" (2).
However, this original petition to remove GTA 5 from Target is based on lies, deceptions, and distortions of what this video game is TRULY about. (Link to original deceptive petition: https://www.change.org/p/target-withdraw-grand-theft-auto-5-this-sickening-game-encourages-players-to-commit-sexual-violence-and-kill-women).
Although anyone who has played Grand Theft Auto 5 knows that the majority of the game has nothing to do with assaulting women, for the average uninformed individual whose only information about this game is from the original deceptive petition, they now believe this game is soley, or mostly, dedicated to sexually assaulting and killing women, which is patently false.
- The Lies:
The original deceptive petition uses distorting tactics to frame GTA 5 as a game in which the only thing players ever do is sexually assault and kill women. The petition's description starts with, "it's a game that encourages players to murder women for entertainment. The incentive is to commit sexual violence against women, then abuse or kill them to proceed or get 'health' points..." (2).
The petition further states, "This is Grand Theft Auto 5. This game means that after various sex acts, players are given the option to kill women by punching her unconscious, killing with a machete, bat or guns to get their money returned" (2).
By framing their petition with this kind of language, any uninformed readers who know nothing about GTA 5 are led to believe that the game is based solely, or mostly, on the act of sexually assauting and killing women, which is a blatant lie.
- The Truth:
GTA 5 is an "open-world, open choice" style of game. This means players have the freedom to do almost anything they want. However, not ONCE in this game are you required to harm a woman in order to progress forward. The petition, however, deceptively plays on the ignorance of concerned citizens, by making it seem that most, or all, of what players do in the game is harm women. Of course, this is a complete lie, as there is no single instance in the game where players are required to harm a woman to progress forward.
In fact, at best, GTA 5, because it is an "open-world, open-choice" style of game, allows players to make any choice they want, which can include anything from driving a car around the city, to sitting around on the side of the street, to enjoying watching the sun set, and yes -- to more violent acts like running over pedestrians, stealing people's cars, etc. But one can just as easily spend their time running over male pedestrians on the side of the street, as they can female pedestrians. There is nothing in the game that encourages players to exlcuslively attack women -- this is just another one of the many deceptions put forward in the original petition.
Grand Theft Auto 5 does not encourage players to sexually assault or kill women. At best, it gives players the freedom to make their own choices, and if a player chooses to be violent, they can just as easily be violent towards males in the game, as females. This is the age-old debate about whether or not violent video games lead to violence in real life. Statistically, given that video games are a multi-billion dollar industry, and that 1 in every 2 households (51% of the population in America, for example) own a video game console, there is no rational way to conclude that violent video games lead to real violence in real life -- certainly no more than violent movies, books, or other forms of entertainment media.
- Our Goal:
The purpose of this petition is to a) get Grand Theft Auto 5 back on the shelves in Target Australia, and b) expose the lies and distortions in the original petition.
We believe that, due to the deceptive and fraudulent nature of the original petition, Target Australia was pressued into making a decision based on erroneous information. We want to provide Target with the truth on this subject, so they can revise their choice to reflect not only what's true, but also the views of the MILLIONS of non-violent gamers who have never committed a violent act -- either towards women, or anyone else.
Non-violent gamers, who know how to separate fantasy video games from reality, represent a growing majority of the population. For example, Grand Theft Auto 5 broke 6 Guinness World Records during its release, including generating the highest revenue by an entertaitainment product in 24 hours, and being the fastest entertainment property to gross $1 billion (3). To date, an estimated 32.5 million copies of GTA 5 have shipped (4).
Gamers are a silent majority, and we believe that, through this petition, when Target hears our voices, and is presented with the facts about GTA 5, they will reconsider their decision and put the game back on their store shelves in Australia.
For more information regading the lies in the original petition, stay tuned for a video that will be posted on this page that further analyzes the deceptions.
SOURCES:
1. http://www.target.com.au/medias/marketing/corporate/PDF/media-release/GTA-Media-Release-v2.pdf
4. http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/02/03/gta-5-has-shipped-325-million-copies
The Issue
On December 3, 2014 Target Australia released a public statement saying they would remove the video game "Grand Theft Auto 5" (GTA 5) from their shelves (1). They were urged to do this by another Change.org Petition that claimed GTA 5 encouraged players to "commit sexual violence and kill women" (2).
However, this original petition to remove GTA 5 from Target is based on lies, deceptions, and distortions of what this video game is TRULY about. (Link to original deceptive petition: https://www.change.org/p/target-withdraw-grand-theft-auto-5-this-sickening-game-encourages-players-to-commit-sexual-violence-and-kill-women).
Although anyone who has played Grand Theft Auto 5 knows that the majority of the game has nothing to do with assaulting women, for the average uninformed individual whose only information about this game is from the original deceptive petition, they now believe this game is soley, or mostly, dedicated to sexually assaulting and killing women, which is patently false.
- The Lies:
The original deceptive petition uses distorting tactics to frame GTA 5 as a game in which the only thing players ever do is sexually assault and kill women. The petition's description starts with, "it's a game that encourages players to murder women for entertainment. The incentive is to commit sexual violence against women, then abuse or kill them to proceed or get 'health' points..." (2).
The petition further states, "This is Grand Theft Auto 5. This game means that after various sex acts, players are given the option to kill women by punching her unconscious, killing with a machete, bat or guns to get their money returned" (2).
By framing their petition with this kind of language, any uninformed readers who know nothing about GTA 5 are led to believe that the game is based solely, or mostly, on the act of sexually assauting and killing women, which is a blatant lie.
- The Truth:
GTA 5 is an "open-world, open choice" style of game. This means players have the freedom to do almost anything they want. However, not ONCE in this game are you required to harm a woman in order to progress forward. The petition, however, deceptively plays on the ignorance of concerned citizens, by making it seem that most, or all, of what players do in the game is harm women. Of course, this is a complete lie, as there is no single instance in the game where players are required to harm a woman to progress forward.
In fact, at best, GTA 5, because it is an "open-world, open-choice" style of game, allows players to make any choice they want, which can include anything from driving a car around the city, to sitting around on the side of the street, to enjoying watching the sun set, and yes -- to more violent acts like running over pedestrians, stealing people's cars, etc. But one can just as easily spend their time running over male pedestrians on the side of the street, as they can female pedestrians. There is nothing in the game that encourages players to exlcuslively attack women -- this is just another one of the many deceptions put forward in the original petition.
Grand Theft Auto 5 does not encourage players to sexually assault or kill women. At best, it gives players the freedom to make their own choices, and if a player chooses to be violent, they can just as easily be violent towards males in the game, as females. This is the age-old debate about whether or not violent video games lead to violence in real life. Statistically, given that video games are a multi-billion dollar industry, and that 1 in every 2 households (51% of the population in America, for example) own a video game console, there is no rational way to conclude that violent video games lead to real violence in real life -- certainly no more than violent movies, books, or other forms of entertainment media.
- Our Goal:
The purpose of this petition is to a) get Grand Theft Auto 5 back on the shelves in Target Australia, and b) expose the lies and distortions in the original petition.
We believe that, due to the deceptive and fraudulent nature of the original petition, Target Australia was pressued into making a decision based on erroneous information. We want to provide Target with the truth on this subject, so they can revise their choice to reflect not only what's true, but also the views of the MILLIONS of non-violent gamers who have never committed a violent act -- either towards women, or anyone else.
Non-violent gamers, who know how to separate fantasy video games from reality, represent a growing majority of the population. For example, Grand Theft Auto 5 broke 6 Guinness World Records during its release, including generating the highest revenue by an entertaitainment product in 24 hours, and being the fastest entertainment property to gross $1 billion (3). To date, an estimated 32.5 million copies of GTA 5 have shipped (4).
Gamers are a silent majority, and we believe that, through this petition, when Target hears our voices, and is presented with the facts about GTA 5, they will reconsider their decision and put the game back on their store shelves in Australia.
For more information regading the lies in the original petition, stay tuned for a video that will be posted on this page that further analyzes the deceptions.
SOURCES:
1. http://www.target.com.au/medias/marketing/corporate/PDF/media-release/GTA-Media-Release-v2.pdf
4. http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/02/03/gta-5-has-shipped-325-million-copies
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Petition created on December 3, 2014