GTA IV Real Life Niko: guy stills Grand Theft Auto 4 with pepper spray

This is a really interesting story that makes us aware of a few different points and a debate, it also seems that the news reporters did not do their research that well as they made a few mistakes on facts about Grand Theft Auto 4 and the main character Niko.

On the same day that GTA IV hit shelves a 27 year old man tried to act a little like Niko by stealing $145 of video games and as this included GTA IV on the day of its release, it made the local news. Around 10.30am at a GameStop store, the man pepper sprayed two people in the store and made his getaway, only to be spotted by a helicopter soon after and arrested. When the police made the arrest, the young guy said “I wanted it, so I took it”.

Where this story gets interesting, is the way it was reported by the local news channel (see the video below), they said that the guy acted “probably just like the character in the game, he wanted Grand Theft Auto 4”. Did they forget that he also took some other games? They also said that he was “acting out his gaming experience”, so straight away they start blaming games, did they not think it could have been a movie he watched.

He did not get away from the law, but for the news reporters to say “unlike the character in the game, he surrenders to police” proves they have not played the game, as Niko mostly surrenders when police are right next to him with guns.

The fact is, some people will always break the law and it will be a combination of things that can include video games, films and their upbringing, but this does not happen to most people, as they know right from wrong. What we see in movies and on the news can be a lot worse than video games, although some people do lose touch with reality when they have no social life.

Watch the video below; let us know how you think video games affect people.

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