After the incident, the Entertainment Software Association changed the game's rating to Adults Only, greatly restricting it. Rockstar Games later released an updated version of the game.
"Because it was so popular ... it became this touchstone and this whipping boy to create culture wedge issues," Sessler said.
Advance copies of Grand Theft Auto 4, which sells for about $60, were not released. Journalists had to play the game in New York under Rockstar's supervision. According to the company's promotional materials, the game for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 systems follows Niko, an Eastern European immigrant, in his quest for the "American Dream." Players are able to explore Liberty City (a fictional stand-in for New York) while following the set plot line.
"They have created a city," Sessler said, praising the design of the game. "It's massive not just in the virtual acreage but the sense of detail that really makes the city that comes to life. You are inside of it."
Concerns about the game haven't stopped large retailers like Best Buy and Wal-Mart from stocking it. Many area stores, including the Best Buy in the Inner Harbor, planned to stay open past midnight last night to sell the first copies of the game.
Jesse Miller, an operations manager at Best Buy, said the chain will be enforcing its existing ID- carding policy, and cashiers have been instructed to remind parents of the game's mature rating.
Robby Rackleff, a 27-year-old graduate student at the Maryland Institute College of Art, said his rental copy of Grand Theft Auto 4 should show up tomorrow.
"Judging by what I've seen on game-related Web sites, I'm pretty excited to play it," Rackleff said. "I haven't been excited about this type of game for a while."
As for the controversy, Rackleff said: "I don't see ... them upping the ante that much. I see a more developed work of art."
tim.swift@baltsun.com
Sun reporter Sam Sessa contributed to this article.
