Grand Theft Auto VS The Power-Go-Round - Essay Example

In this case, what Finn is trying to emphasize is the fact that most of the agencies responsible for the monitoring and regulating of video games (in Australia, the Office of Film and Literature Classification), especially on video games with a violent and interactive content, usually fall short in properly classifying games that is to be played and not to be played by the Australian public; given that the game GTA3 has already been generating much sales on the video game playing public, and have already become one of the most popular games played by video game enthusiast before it was banned by the said agency (Finn 2006).

The fact here is that the violent game Postal 2 also shared the same experience, and even worse, wherein despite being involved with controversy due to its violent content, even gaining opposition from the American politician Senator Joe Lieberman, who decried in it Congress (Wolpaw 2003), the game was not banned in the United States (although it was banned in other countries) (Wolpaw 2003). Another important concept that was revealed by Finn in his essay is the fact that the reason why the Office of Film and Literature Classification actually bans video games is because if the fact that it actually “exceeded limitations” of how games are going to be classified; that is, according to “the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults; the literary, artistic or educational merit (if any) of the publication, film or computer game; the general character of the publication, film or computer game; the persons or class or persons or who amongst whom it is published or intended or likely to be published” (Finn 2006) From the said standards, it can be seen that the game Postal 2 certainly exceeds the limitation of these classificatory descriptions.

With regards to the “the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults” (Finn 2006), Postal 2 ultimately fails, given that the game actually shows and encourages players to “…drop-kick grenades and whip scythes at unsuspecting civilians if they refuse to participate in your everyday life story (which is, after all, the plot behind the game). Of course, this includes using cat carcasses as silencers on your gun, hitting people with anthrax-laden cow heads and playing ‘fetch’ with dogs using the severed heads of your dismembered victims” (Chomick n. d.).

Of course, such kind of behavior does not pass any standard of morality or decency of reasonable adults, given that such kind of behavior, which expresses and encourages cruelty, murder and defamation are considered totally unreasonable and unacceptable. In no way can drop kicking grenades and whipping scythes to “