Go Ahead, Steal My Car

The Chronicle Review ponders the effects of Grand Theft Auto IV:

You need to be honest with yourself. Go outside and find a locked
car — or go to the back alley where missile launchers hover in a
glowing light waiting for you to pick them up, or go drive down that
street in your town where all the strippers hang out waiting for you to
pick them up — and see if you’re tempted.

But not just tempted. Not just amused or excited by the possibility
of becoming a dark hero of the criminal underworld. You need to
determine if you’re actually willing and able to act on those
temptations. You need to determine whether it’s possible for you to
change from whoever you were into someone completely different, someone
who no longer recognizes the conditions and regulations of a society
that, until you played the video game, were all you knew and believed
in. That is, you need to find out just how stupid you really are.