For as long as Grand Theft Auto is just about the most popular gaming franchise ever, there will always be people trying to prove it turns children into murdering lunatics.
First things first, that big red 18 sticker isn't on there for decoration.
Anyway a new study suggests that playing Grand Theft Auto desensitizes people to death.
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Researchers showed young male gamers who had been playing Grand Theft Auto Vice City and San Andreas images of an adolescent girl who had been physically abused by a boy.
According to Metro they showed less empathy towards the woman.
The people they surveyed? 154 volunteers aged 15-20. Again, 15, 16, 17-year-olds shouldn't be playing those games in the first place so if the game is having a negative impact on them then that surely justifies the mature label the game has.
The other games that were played were Half Life 2 or Dream Pinball 3D.
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Credit: Rockstar Games
Violent games without a sexist component - such as Half-Life 2 - had no effect on the gamers' response to the image of the abused women.
Lead researcher Brad Bushman of Ohio State University noted that in GTA games, women are secondary characters and most are prostitutes or strippers who are used as sexual objects by players (always voluntary).
'Most people would look at these images and say the girl pictured has to be terrified. But males who really identified with their characters in the sexist, violent games didn't feel as much empathy for the victim,' said Brad Bushman, co-author of the study and professor of communication and psychology at The Ohio State University.
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All true, but is this little more than anti GTA individuals highlighting what we've all known for 15 year plus now? It's a mature game with lots of violence and questionable story-lines and characters.
Credit: Rockstar Games
This study, like many studies in the past has received a negative backlash form the gaming community.
Lizzy Finnegan of games site The Escapist has this to say in defence of the game, and called the study "seriously flawed."
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"According to the data for the study, 48 of the participants played one of the Grand Theft Auto titles, described in the data as "violent sexist games." Of those 48, 22 were 15 years old, 22 were 16 years old, 3 were 17 years old, and a single participant was 18. Yet both games that these participants were given were recommended for players ages 18 and older. The fact that people universally deemed too immature to play a particular game may have concerning reactions to playing aforementioned game is not particularly groundbreaking - otherwise all games would be recommended for all players."
What do you think?
Words by Matthew Cooper
Lead Image Credit: Rockstar Games
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Study, Grand Theft Auto