Rockstar's business approach was pure genius, no doubt about it.

They looked upon the gaming offerings available at the time and saw damsels in distress that needed saving (Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time) and realized there should be more to the gaming industry than pleasing kids and geeks. While there was much that they learned from their predecessors especially with regard to how a three-dimensional world should even function - having to break away from top-down 2D side-scrolling (GTA 1 & 2) - they understood they could bring something completely different to the table that appealed to a mainstream, "cooler" audience of males.

They were - and still are I think - a company that creates games during a time of equalizing women's rights, the blending of societal gender roles both in the workplace and in the home and depression among men coming to the fore more than ever before. Back then it was obvious that the majority of gamers were male and many of those men felt emasculated by progressing times (automation, white collar work), college debt and falling wages, lack of role models or transitional rituals into manhood and manliness becoming associated with oppression.

Men no longer felt as fundamental or as necessary as they had always been. They weren't the pillar, the rock that all of society was built around. That left a void inside them that they needed to fill. There was a need to feel in control again, feel importance, like they could do anything that they wanted. Like nobody could tell them no.

Rockstar made a killing (17.5 million units of GTA: Vice City sold worldwide by early 2008) preying upon feelings of inadequacy and the insecurities of men. They gave them exactly what they asked for, a playground when men were kings. Poured on as much testosterone fuel as they could, over a hundred different vehicles, more than enough weapons to murder anyone you want, collectible porn and completely fuckable, killable prostitutes as you say.

Genius, really. I wish I was smart enough at the time to exploit the male population in such a way. GTA V sold 12 million units in its first day to the tune of $800 million in sales, over 90 million units sold recorded to date. Sounds like retirement to me. It's hard to argue, the numbers are all there - it's exactly what the paying customer wants. Although Rockstar hasn't reached the towering heights of Mojang (Minecraft, 144 million units sold) or Elektronorgtechnica (Tetris, 177 million units sold).

Vice City is a great game, for all the reasons you describe - more so the open world exploration and secret finding in my opinion - and I'd personally rate it a 9 out of 10. It's that good, but in a way it misses the mark when it comes to Best Game Ever Made. Playing it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I think you should feel proud to play the Best Game Ever Made with anybody, even your grandma. I know I'd have an unusual amount of trouble sharing anything GTA with my grandma.

That said I've nothing against ladies of the night in games. The Witcher I, II & III were some of the best gaming I've ever had and those games were filled with sex. It might have been Geralt's amnesia, or maybe my interpretation of him, but Geralt had a certain respect for women in a medieval world that treated women like shit. He was submissive to women, and they would often use him for sexual pleasures or otherwise. He'd often defend women's rights or encourage women to do what they want. He rebelled against injustices, didn't create them.

Maybe you're right though. I just don't enjoy murdering hookers.