As I played the upcoming Grand Theft Auto-like iPhone game Gangstar: West Coast Hustle earlier this week, I tuned the radio to 42.0 and got a surprise.
The 42.0 station, the frequency itself a reference to marijuana, is called āLegalize It. āItās one of four radio stations of original music in the game, which models its story of Latino L.A. street crime off of the storytelling and gameplay style of the GTA games. (Here is Kotakuās preview of Gangstar: West Coast Hustle.)
https://lastchance.cc/gangstar-preview-very-much-like-gta-on-an-iphone-5320179%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Drug use is less common in games, and any expression supporting drug use is virtually absent. Take gamingās most notorious series, Grand Theft Auto. In GTA: San Andreas, the pot-farmer voiced by Peter Fonda, a guy who goes by the name of The Truth, offers the gameās protagonist, C.J., some pot. C.J., who, with the aid of the player has shown little hesitation to kill cops and even, late in the game, try to blow up the equivalent of Hoover Dam, turns him down. Itās a line the game wonāt cross. In the most recent GTA, Chinatown Wars, the player can deal pot and other drugs referred to by their real name, but, as with the rest, marijuana is treated as nothing other than a money-making commodity used by characters not worthy of starring in a game.
As is the case for all the games on Appleās iPhone and iPod touch platforms, Gangstar: West Coast Hustle, wonāt be rated by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board. According to a publicist at its publisher/development studio Gameloft, it will be rated for 16 and up. The game is slated for an August release.
