Rockstar North boss puts anti-GTA sentiment down to "fear factor"

Rockstar North president Leslie Benzies has pinned the media furore over violent videogames in recent years on a simple resistance to social progress.

“There is a big fear factor here. It’s the coming of the railways, it’s Elvis shaking his hips. It’s cars going over 25 miles per hour and making people explode," he said, talking to the Times.

“We’ve had such a beating over the past three years. If I get into a confrontation about it, once I’ve had my beating, I ask if they’ve ever played the game. Invariably they haven't.”

Benzies also claimed games should be treated in the same way as books and film, using Manhunt 2's banning as an example.

“We wanted to make a horror game that would scare you in the same way a film would," he said. "It doesn’t seem to me to be any worse than a film. If it’s a film or a book, you can do what you want. We seem to be in a different category."

More through the link.