I can understand not liking sand box games. I myself find them so overwhelming that I can only play one every so often.
But I think it\'s unfair to dismiss the merits of what Rockstar games has created. Grand Theft Auto is a great game. You can strip the offensiveness and still have a fun, popular game. See: Bully.
Violence and all that helped create controversy, but the game really took off because of its quality. Compare it to the controversial Manhunt 2 which had the violence but not as much in the quality department, and it didn\'t do as well.
And, because there was such a large, untapped population of gamers looking for adult themes in their quality games, Grand Theft Auto was in the right place at the right time. I don\'t think it\'s cheap marketing to give an audience what it wants.
Also, GTA4\'s maturity level is higher than previous entries in the series in that it is more realistic, and therefor much darker. Also, some of the characters within the game are those with a maturity level of "13-year-olds who say FUCK in every sentence." But those are important characters within the world, so they\'d be creating a different experience without them.
Low level drug dealers are not always society\'s most cultured members.
