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Rockstar Games, who can only be eclipsed in the news for a few days by bigger news, is in another battle over ads for Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories that appear on Boston subway cars.
Recently, sixty local community leaders in the Boston area signed a letter to the Massachusetss Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) requesting the GTA ads be removed from the cars. The letter, in part, read:
“At a time of escalating concerns about youth violence in the Boston area, it is unconscionable that the MBTA would feature advertising for a violent video game…
Advertising on the MBTA enables Rockstar Games to reach countless children – those who ride the trains and those whose neighborhoods the trains pass through…
It is both cynical and irresponsible for the MBTA to advertise a violent video game at a time of increased concerns about youth violence in Boston…”
The MBTA has responded to the concern by citing the First Amendment:
“As offensive as anyone may find the product being advertised, it’s not the MBTA’s role to regulate any products, whether they are movies, music, websites, books, or video games.”
The image featured at the top of this post is ©The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III key art / Original