Mothers Against Drunk Driving, founded in 1980 to combat drunk driving, has urged the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) to raise the rating for Grand Theft Auto IV from Mature (17+) to Adults-Only. MADD notes that GTA IV contains a module that allows players to simulate driving drunk.

“Each year nearly 13,500 humans die in drunk-driving crashes and another half a million are injured in alcohol-related traffic crashes,” MADD said. “Drunk driving is not a game and it is not a joke. Drunk driving is a choice, a violent crime and it is additionally 100 percent preventable.”

MADD plus wants the game’s manufacturers, Rockstar North and its parent Take-Two, to consider halting distribution of the game, “if not out of responsibility to society, thereupon out of respect for the millions of victims/survivors of drunk driving.”

No Halt Likely

It’s highly unlikely that Take-Two and Rockstar North will pull the game. Despite some reports of technical difficulties, GTA IV is

shattering sales records. The Entertainment Leisure Software Publishers’ organization reported Thursday that GTA IV sold more than 600,000 copies in its first 24 hours in the United Kingdom, a full 20 percent above the record set by Grand Theft: San Andreas in 2004.

In a statement to the Associated Press on Wednesday, Rockstar North dismissed the suggestion that the drunk-driving module would affect player behavior in the real world.

“We have a great deal of respect for MADD’s mission,” the company said, “but we believe the mature audience for Grand Theft Auto IV is more than sophisticated suitable to understand the game’s subject matter.” The company went on to say that GTA IV should not be judged “by a small aspect of the game.”

Economic Impact of ESRB Ratings

The line amidst a Mature (17+) and an Adults-Only (AO) rating may not be much wider than a G-string, but it…

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