Rockastar Games: Caught in Their Own Vices?

1. Describe the technological, social, and political forces acting on the video game industry.

There are many environmental forces that influence the video game industry. Technological forces include basic and applied research. According to research in the gaming world, violent games are overall accepted and embraced by consumers. Mature gamers expect intense simulation-type games to be produced to provide stress relief and escape from their monotonous lives.

Social factors can include attitudes, values and lifestyles. These factors influence what consumers will purchase and for how much. In pertaining to the game industry, American society seems to demand more violent, mature games. This is evident because they attributed to nearly half of Rockstar’s revenue in 2003, a company that dominates the mature video game field. Regardless of sales, certain populations in society are rejecting and fighting against the video gaming industry’s production of violent games such as Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto; arguing that it is causing violence in society among a younger population.

Political forces are the main focus of this issue. The main political issue is the rating of games and retailer’s negligence to apply to them. The rating M for mature indicates that a game should only be sold to consumers above the age of 17, yet the games still wind up in the hands of impressionable 14 year olds for example, leading to unnecessary violent acts. Many lawsuits have been filed as a result, and bills being filed to raise fines for retailers not complying with the gaming laws.

2. How is Rockstar responding to its environmental conditions? Do you agree with Rockstar’s approach? Why or why not?

Rockstar’s response to its environmental conditions is to produce what sells with little concern for morals or ethics. They produce for their target market not worrying whether or not their product ends up in the wrong, underage, hands. While society argues that “like drugs, alcohol and pornography, the games represent a threat to the psychological development of young people and should be controlled as such,” Rockstar responds that the M rating on the box is a sufficient alert for parents who do not want their children playing mature games. I agree with this approach because in theory, if