Young and old were out early to be among the first in the country to get their hands on one of the year's most highly anticipated games. 

The game is the fifth in Grand Theft Auto series and is rated R18+. Macquarie University deputy director of the children and families research centre Doctor Wayne Warburton said a lot of research had been done on the effect of violent games on gamers.

“Research suggests that in the first 10 or 15 minutes after you play a game you are increasingly likely to be aggressive," he said.

Dr Warburton said if you are playing a video game over a certain period of time each day then it can affect a person’s actions.

“If you are playing a game for six hours a day then it will affect the way you think and feel,” he said.

The Bendigo Advertiser posed the question, “do you think this game is too violent for young people to play?” on Facebook.

It had a strong response from the community.

Brayden Hayes posted this, “it’s violent but I don’t think that it is too violent for those fifteen and older.”

“Due to everything in the media today, there is nothing that they haven’t seen before.”

Jess Bouck posted this, “there is more violence going on in the real world, look at Syria and Egypt.”

Kevin Ferguson said, “I’ll tell you what, it’s nothing you don’t see in the movies and on the 6 o’clock news.”

kristen.alebakis@
fairfaxmedia.com.au