Kid Oakland, now a frontpage diarist on the Kos, has a bit that references GTA (as well as Biggie and Tupac) to make a point about prison. The usual flamewar about the virtue (or lack thereof) of the GTA franchise ensues.

This is something I'm interested in tracking, not only because I'm interested in politics and the next round of the culture wars, but because I'm fascinated by the continued emergence of videogames as a cultural product, a medium for narrative and for representing myths, values, etc.

I think the reflexive reaction to violence in games is just that: reflexive. People inevitably fixate on the fact that in all three modern installments of Grand Theft Auto you can pick up a prostitute, watch your car rock back and forth, loose some money, then kill the girl when she gets out of your car and take your money back. I remember being blown away by this when I first heard/saw it a few years ago, not because it was so depraved, but because it was so logical. The great advance that Rockstar Games (makers of GTA) have made is to build an unprecidented level of logical consistency into a world founded on comic-book/action-movie violence, which ultimately creates a much more engaging experience for human beings on the playing end.

So while it's just breaking into the mainstream that this game creates a fantasy world wher really awfully brutal things are possible -- and this is bringing around the real possibility that there will be a push for some kind of regulation soon -- I believe the step up in gameplay and engagement will make it a powerful medium for narrative development, leading to Videogaming as a source of positive social values. It's already happening, as per this comment:

Having played "GTA: San Andreas", I can tell you, the one time I sprayed everyone in a pizza shop with bullets for money, I was guilt ridden for the rest of my time in the game. Even in the video gaming world, I felt this kind of behavior was "cheating". I didn't earn my money as I should have...and innocents died because of it. I think these games are very interesting and open up parts of your brain which wouldn't be touched otherwise...

I'd point out that San Andreas is decidedly anti-crack, and points out the geopolitical relationship between the soviet union's collapse and the massive rise in street crime in the early 90s. That's a long way to come from Space Invaders and Pong.