1

The advertisement for Grand Theft Auto IV presents a disturbing preview of the game. Rather than highlighting the game’s features and challenges, this ad promotes the game’s violence. As a result, it appeals more to those who are looking for video games that depict murder and other crimes than to those who choose a video game on the basis of the skill it requires.

2

The “hero” of this game is Niko Bellic, a war veteran from Eastern Europe who has left his country to build a new life in the fictional Liberty City. Instead of finding peace, he has found a new kind of war. Now, trapped in the corrupt world of organized crime, Bellic is willing to do whatever it takes to fight his way out. His idea of justice is vigilante justice: he makes his own rules. The ad conveys this sense of Bellic as a loner and an outsider by showing him as a larger-than-life figure standing tall and alone against a background of the Liberty City skyline.

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3

In the ad, Niko Bellic holds a powerful weapon in his huge hands, and the weapon extends higher than the tallest building behind it, dominating the picture. Clearly, Bellic means business. As viewers look at the picture, the dark image of the gun and the man who holds it comes to the foreground, and everything else—the light brown buildings, the city lights, the yellow sky—fades into the background. In the center, the name of the game is set in large black-and-white type that contrasts with the ad’s hazy background, showing the importance of the product’s name.

4

This image, clearly aimed at young players of violent video games, would certainly be appealing to those who want to have a feeling of power. What it says is, “A weapon makes a person powerful.” This is a very dangerous message.