Aside from being one of the most widely successful games of all time, as well as one of the most influential, Grand Theft Auto is also one of the most controversial. It helped to usher in a decidedly maturer direction for gaming as a whole, which ruffled plenty of feathers in the process.
Among them, parents, law makers, religious leaders, and anyone else who consider themselves guardians of morals or good tastes. And it could be argued that the vitriol that they showed GTA with is a major reason why the game became the phenomena that it is today.
Series creators Dave Jones and Mike Dailly recently sat down with The Sunday Time to discuss GTA's formative years, which Destructoid recently highlighted, and game's intense reaction was touched upon. According to Jones and Daily, we can all thank a guy named Max Clifford, described as a "PR overlord" for all that:
Max Clifford made it all happen… He designed all the outcry, which pretty much guaranteed MPs would get involved… He’d do anything to keep the profile high.
He told us how he would play it, who he would target, what those people targeted would say. Every word he said came true.
They also claim that not once was any creative decision influenced by the desire to create controversy. It wasn't necessary because Max could take care of that himself:
We always did everything from the perspective of what's going to be the most fun. It just naturally kept pushing us down the darker direction.
Interesting sentiment, though if one does roll their eyes as a result, it's understandable. Feigning ignorance does seem a tad bit silly, even if it’s sincere. Surely Jones and Dailly knew from the beginning that their game would stir the pot; did they honestly believe some of the content they put forth would not cause the least bit controversy if this Max fellow was not around?
But it's also amusing to hear something that is equally obvious, and that's how those who wish to monitor and control our lives are ultimately easy to manipulate. Especially when it comes to selling video games.
