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Childhood Gaming Restrictions

Multiple commenters recall secretly playing GTA games behind parents' backs due to violence concerns, including GameBoy Color versions and borrowed copies

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Many commenters recall a childhood defined by the thrill of playing early *Grand Theft Auto* titles in secret to bypass strict parental bans on violent media. Whether borrowing handheld copies from friends or covertly installing the game on school computers, players were captivated by the series' unprecedented open-world freedom despite its controversial reputation at the time. Interestingly, these restrictions meant some fans did not fully experience the iconic 3D entries until they reached adulthood, leading them to view the once-scandalous pixelated violence of their youth as remarkably tame by modern standards.

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My first time playing anything in the GTA series was the GameBoy Color version of GTA 2. I borrowed it from a friend for a week or two, and enjoyed it quite a lot. My parents were pretty against me playing any kind of “violent” video games. So secretly playing GTA 2 on the GBC was kind of exciting due to that as well. Even though the “violence” in GTA 2 on GBC is of course very tame in terms of any kind of graphic realism or anything. A few years later one of my friends was playing GTA III on the PS2 at his home. I also had a PS2, but there was no chance of my parents letting me play that, and I didn’t even play it at his house either. Later still, Rockstar was giving away GTA 2 for PC for free on their website. So I played GTA 2 a little bit on PC too, after GTA III (and probably Vice City) was already out. It took many years before I finally had a chance to play GTA III, GTA Vice City and GTA San Andreas. My first time playing GTA III and GTA Vice City was when I was an adult with an iPhone and they sold iOS ports of those games in the App Store. I ended up completing GTA III and GTA Vice City on the iPhone and have played a bit of GTA San Andreas on the iPhone as well, including completing the famous train mission.
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I haven't played GTA 2 much, but the first one was certainly pretty violent narratively speaking. I remember a mission where you have to drive a truck full of explosives into a building and blow it up, for instance.
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Oh yes! I remember playing that at a friend's house when I was 5 years old and having my little mind blown. I couldn't believe you could just take any car and go anywhere you wanted. I later got my hands on a copy of GTA2 and played that a lot, behind my parents' back of course
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I remember when there was a kid who kept installing this and the Chex doom on the school pcs in 7th grade. GTA was pretty controversial as a game even though it is incredibly tame by today’s standards. I’m pretty sure they never caught him.