4. Humour
Humour has always had a place in video games. Ever since we started to get characters and constructing concepts, we have had humour embedded with in the fabric of the medium. If we even have a look at our most iconic character Mario, the idea of a small fat Italian plumber somehow getting sent to a Mushroom Kingdom where he contstantly has to save a princess who he loves from a massive dragon/turtle hybrid is so ridiculous it is funny. However, much of that child-safe, cartoon-esque humour had began to be played out by 1997. As the gaming community started hitting a maturer age, they started to crave something that would appeal to their newly developed sense of humour. Step in the GTA series. The game offered a mature and satirical humour that was not like much else on the market. We hadn't much seen a game use humour and extremes to make a commentary on western culture before. It is a humour that has stayed with the series and has been important to forging its identity. While it is often looked at with a critical eye from politicians, they often fail to recognise that the game is making a point about how ridiculous it all is. While yes, it is entirely fun and hilarious to go on a killing rampage against the police and civilians, the fact that it is is a joke in and of itself.