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The bad behavior demonstrated by the Grand Theft Auto series has grabbed the attention of political leaders, lawyers, parents, and feminist groups, to name a few. Shireen Mitchell of Digital Sistas has written an article for Digital Divide stating her view on Grand Theft Auto and the video game industry in general.
“There are many government agencies working to get the ‘Grand Theft Auto’ game off shelves or properly labeled as adult content,” she writes, referring to the ability of players to beat prostitutes in the game. “But there are not that many encouraging educational reform for girls in science, math, technology, or gaming. If there were more girls involved in designing games this product may not have gone to the shelf with violence against women packaged in the scoring system of the game. Women are one of the highest purchasers of video games for their sons but they never check to see if there are games for their daughters. Most are completely unaware that game consoles like the Xbox were designed with no intentions on having options for women or girls.”
Although Mitchell is critical of gaming today, she does offer encouragement for developers to produce games that are more wholesome.
“The gaming industry is not the enemy; games can be excellent tools for learning if used properly. There are increasingly more software games being designed for schools and educational purposes. Social Impact Games focuses on games for public policy, health, wellness, business, and social issues. Whether there is a game that promotes anti-Bush agendas or ethnic cleansing, women must be involved.”