30 April 2008

of grand thefts

if you like videogame consoles, i'm sure you must have heard of the latest release of grand theft auto IV. and even if you don't, you should at least know that gta is a game that has shaped the videogame industry -- you can use this knowledge in one of those conversations in which people are very passionately talking about some random topic, and you pretend you also know about that topic.

anyway, the game was released this week and it's expected to generate between $400 and $550m in revenue just in the first week! now, that's some hype!

i've always been surprised about the things people do to get a copy of a videogame or a movie before everybody else... but i think this latest story takes the cake!

due to its popularity, gta has produced much controversy since its very first version. as you can infer from its name, this videogame is about drugs, killings, and yes, stealing cars. people have claimed that this videogame may cause crime and violent behavior... and there have been stories like this published in major newspapers.

and now there is proof that this game causes crime -- although maybe not the type we imagined. three ups drivers were fired because they stole copies of gta IV from boxes that were being delivered to retailers. apparently, the copies they stole were for personal use... but why would you do this? why would you risk your job just to play a stupid videogame before everybody else? things like this lie beyond my understanding...