I think a lot of people missed the point in GTA:IV – all those crappy minigames you hate, the variety of wacky interfaces and systems you must learn – that is the point of GTA:IV – if you can conquer that, you can conquer any system a computer can throw at you. In the digital age, things evolve so fast there will be no more getting used to a system you use for years or a lifetime. You’ll have to get used to a system you use for months, and eventually, days. However, these systems will all be evolutions of one-another, making coping with them a matter of practice. Reacting quickly to changing systems and stimuli is what made primitive man so great and caused modern man to achieve so much.
So far it’s taken nature 13.7 billion years to evolve human intelligence – an introspective endeavour that demands of us taking control of our evolution and our destinies. Are you on the side of life or on the side of the inorganic? Life desires more change and more order, who are we to deny such universal imperatives? Everywhere we look in the universe there are galaxies, with their attendant stars and planets. Life, as we know it and not, will be found everywhere some day.
That demands of us constant and quick action and reaction to ever-changing stimuli, rules and interface options. That is the lesson of GTA:IV.
Though I do wish there were an option to turn off the tutorial dialogs – allow the self-starters to check the briefing if they need any help with the game controls, otherwise let them figure it out.