Completely agree with that. I don't understand why some people would be squeamish about GTA for whatever reasons.
It's not really about being sqeamish. It's more like what GhanBuriGhan last wrote, it's the role you play. But for me it's also too close to home… meaning it's too close to reality, at least for me.
When I run around killing monsters and thugs in Gothic 1, there is definatley a disconnect from my actual reality compared with the 'reality' of the Gothic 1 game world. And this distinction I find important for me personally.
GTA games hit close to home in the reality department. A Contemporary world where you are shooting and killing both thugs and innocents alike - whether intentionally or via 'friendly fire.' And for me, the behaviors you engage in with the GTA games don't end with just the killing aspect. The game revolves around a contemporary underworld and all the ugliness of that kind of reality. I just don't like that for me personally. I'm uncomfortable with it and I'm uncomfortable with a game like that being in my house with my young boys.
But again, I can't stress this enough, if you like GTA and play it, I'd be the last person on Earth to judge you for it. I've watched movies myself far worse than anything depicted in GTA. But at least with movies, I'm not playing the part. That's my half-baked hugely flawed argument.