♪ (mellow synthpop music) ♪

- (voice-over) With Grand Theft Auto V,

Rockstar have tried to re-imagine the open-world game

in a number of ways.

The sprawling... - Oh, that's a video game?

- (voice-over) ...modern Southern California.

- I could get into Grand Theft Auto.

- (voice-over) ...the game features not one

but three would-be heroes. - It looks so real.

- (voice-over) Michael, a once successful bank robber

and now less successful family man.

- (son) You know, you're a real [bleep].

- (laughing) - (voice-over) Franklin...

- "Hey, shut up! Whack!"

- (voice-over) And then there's Trevor. - Oh my goodness.

He's flushing something down the toilet.

- Ooh.

- Ew! (Trevor yells)

- (voice-over) Introducing three lead characters

transforms both the narrative into one interwoven story.

- I think I just figured out, this is a game, isn't it?

- (Michael) Yeah, I could use a little backup here.

- (voice-over) And from one high-octane moment to another.

- (Franklin) I got you. (gunshot)

- He's smokin' him!

(gunshot) - Pretty graphic!

- (voice-over) This helps to give missions new levels

of diversity and intensity. - Wow, it's so real looking.

- (voice-over) It's packed with a vast array of things

to see and do. Cars to customize.

- Cool. - (voice-over) Planes to fly.

Clothes to buy.

- Hard to watch. Too many things going on at once.

- (voice-over) Nirvanas to pursue. - It's not just violence.

- A whole panorama of activity. (in game: commotion)

- (voice-over) Everything from driving and shooting...

(gunshots)

...to tennis and bike riding... - (snickers)

- (voice-over) ...feels fun and responsive.

- Ooh. So edgy, the tennis part.

- (voice-over) ...a series of increasingly audacious heists.

You decide what to spend your money on.

Anything from sensible investments, like tattoos and fast cars...

- How is a tattoo a sensible investment?

- (laughing) - (voice-over) ...to risky ventures

like stocks and Los Santos real estate. - This is great.

- (amazed) Wow.

That's amazing!

That's not just shoot 'em and kill 'em

and how much gore you can get on the screen.

- With a game like this,

your kid'll never have to get off the coach.

- Did you make this?

(movie reel clicks)

- (Finebros) So have you ever heard

of the the Grand Theft Auto video game series before?

- No.

- I don't think so.

- No.

- No, I hadn't.

- Oh yeah.

- Yes.

It's just like one of the biggest video games--

if they still call them video games-- ever.

- Yeah, I've watched it a little bit. It's pretty wild.

- (Finebros) Where have you watched it? - You guys!

- (Finebros) From what you saw,

what does the point of the game seem to be?

- I think there's lots of points.

- They don't know what the point is.

- Mayhem.

- I guess the point is to be the best thief.

- To be a successful criminal, I think.

- Well, the three heroes are trying to solve crimes.

- (Finebros) You play as the criminal. - No heroes?

- (Finebros) And the point of the game

is to be a successful criminal.

- Oh, that should be sort of fun.

I've never been one before, but it'd be my first chance.

(chuckles) (sinister chuckle)

♪ (dramatic music) ♪

- (Finebros) So here is another clip of the three characters

to get to know them a little more. - Okay.

- Okay.

- (blandly) Oh great, I can't wait. My buddies.

♪ (Queen, "Radio Ga Ga") ♪ - (daughter) Dad!

Jimmy called me a bitch!

- Oh, that's Queen.

- (Michael) ...love my family, you know, live the dream.

Gimme that. - (daughter grunts)

I hate you! - Oh. He's an abuser also.

- Oh, I remember when my son told me

he hated me for the first time.

- (Michael) ...I really want the other stuff too.

- You need psychological counseling, sir.

- (Michael) I'm rich, I'm miserable. - (chuckles)

- (Michael) I'm pretty average for this town.

- (therapist) I think you need a new therapist.

- Huh, you need a new therapist? You need a new life.

♪ (Jay Rock, "Hood Gone Love It") ♪

- Oh, dang.

- (sighing) Oh, god. Booty, booty, booty, booty.

Shooty, shooty, shooty.

- Oh, a pole dancer.

- (gang member) Gangsta [bleep]. (gunshot)

- They got role models for everybody.

- Whoa, way too much.

- (gang member) Enjoy them hoes, homie!

- (Franklin) Yeah, whatever.

♪ (Waylon Jennings, "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way") ♪

- (amused) And you got a redneck. It just doesn't get any better.

- (Trevor) I'm new in town. I'm making friends, all right?

(fierce yell)

- They have a strange way of making friends.

- (Trevor mutters) Nice new [bleep], by the way.

- (laughs heartily) - (Trevor) Abandonment issues.

- (man) Uh, n-n-no, I really don't--

- (Trevor) Do you want me to get my dick out again?

- (disgusted) Oh!

- It's fascinating. They've taken movies one step beyond.

- They went cheap on the plots.

I mean, can we get out of the gangster mood

or the hooker mood?

Let's make something of ourselves

without having to kill all those people.

- (Finebros) So of the three characters,

which one would you want to play as? - None.

They're just all... doofuses.

- I don't like any of 'em. (chuckles)

- Franklin might be kinda fun.

- Franklin has access to the nicer butts.

I've always been an ass man, I don't know what to tell ya.

(laughter)

- (Finebros) A lot of people have blamed Grand Theft Auto

for violent crimes in real life.

- Yeah, and so was Judas Priest in Idaho, and they were sued.

And blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

- (Finebros) Do you buy into that? - Oh, yes, very much so,

'cause kids are so impressionable.

- Take a look at the crime rate.

People kill people in Chicago like it's a sport.

Like it's a video game! (imitates automatic firing)

- I mean, it's a good outlet for kids, I think.

It's probably healthier for them to do this

than it is to deal drugs on the side in high school and college.

- If the person is psychologically normal,

I don't think it would influence that person.

Um, he would realize that, you know, it's fiction.

- That whole thing like, "My kid watched this video,

subsequently became emo,

and went out and shot up his classroom stuff" is like,

uh, I think that's supposed to be called parenting?

- You know, it's kind of sad, because it gives people an idea,

you can get away with that,

and you can live a regular life and be a criminal.

I gotta tell ya, I spent 20 years as a cop;

I never saw one decent criminal that had a decent life.

- (Finebros) Does it concern you at all

there's a video game out there

that's all about criminal activity? - Yes.

How do you become anything in life

if you fill your head with such dark, ugly, black things of life?

- Whatever you do, you take a little bit home of it with ya.

- When I was a kid,

we shot each other all the time playing army,

playing cowboys and Indians.

But none of my friends went out and shot anybody in real life.

- Oh no. No, no, I've always had a secret desire...

for the darker side. (chuckles)

(sinister chuckle) ♪ (dramatic music) ♪

- (Finebros) Outside of the violence, what are your thoughts

about how a video game can have this open world

that anything you can think that you would do in real life,

you could also do in the game?

- That's-- so now we don't have to have real life?

And there we go. We just-- we're in our room.

- Nobody's gonna get up and go actually do anything,

which is just gonna make us even fatter as a society.

- "Do I kill somebody today, or do I go to the library?"

You know?

"Am I gonna drive over somebody and dismember 'em,

or should I read a good book?"

- (Finebros) And when you have sex with a prostitute,

you can kill her after and get your money back.

- Great! And you can get infectious diseases too, I bet!

(chuckling)

- And that's the good side of what you're seeing, yes.

You can play the tennis and have the fast cars and all that.

But are we giving him the message that in order to do that,

I have to do all the criminal activities to get that?

- (Finebros) All that said, though, Grand Theft Auto games

also have been hailed as some of the most revolutionary

and critically acclaimed video games of all time.

- What's revolutionary about theft and murder?

- Oh no, I get it. It's totally amazing to just look at that.

- That I can understand in terms of the technology.

- You can put your own tats on and get your new clothes

and wander 'round looking for cute booty.

Sure, it's revolutionary.

- (Finebros) What do you want to say to people out there

that are very excited to play this game? - Shame on you.

- Get a life.

- Don't live through these people! Good gravy! It's fake!!!

- Hey, blow some [bleep] up.

- Go for it. (Finebros snicker)

I'll join you.

(sinister chuckle) ♪ (dramatic music) ♪

- (Finebros) So finally, are you ever going to play

Grand Theft Auto V yourself? - I would.

- Yes, yes, yes.

- Yeah. I'd try it. I'd love to try it.

- No.

-No.

It's just not my style. I'm more like a Halo guy.

- Doesn't ring my chimes, and I cannot see why

so many people are attracted to it.

- NEVER WILL I PLAY GRAND THEFT AUTO V...

IV, III, II, or I!

- Here's the problem.

I can POUND you from kindergarten, first and second.

Third, it got bad. Fourth, I was being wiped out.

So what am I gonna do?

Play for a minute and a half, and every character is dead.

- Thanks for watching another episode of Elders React.

- If you haven't yet, why don't you hit the Subscribe button

AND the Like button?

- Goodbye, everybody. See you soon. Thanks for watching.

- Goodbye. See you again. Au revoir.

STAY OUT OF THE GAME WORLD! ¡Adios!

♪ (ragtime music) ♪