They say comedy equals tragedy plus time, but how much time that is seems to be very subjective, and you need no further proof than a recent GTA 5 mod that adds the recently lost Titan submarine into the game. For those who may not have yet heard, the news has been abuzz lately about a submarine designed to bring wealthy tourists to visit the wreck of the RMS Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean. Shortly after beginning its descent, communication with the submarine was lost. After several days of the world waiting with bated breath, the news broke that the vehicle suffered a catastrophic implosion, instantly killing everybody inside.
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Why Add This to GTA 5?
Some of you may be wondering why the user in question felt the need to add this to GTA. “Some of you may have heard about this incident regarding the submersible and the Titanic,” says SkylineGTRR34Freak, the creator of the mod. “It was to be used as [a] tourist attraction for wealthy people to explore the wreck of the Titanic but this little guy here went missing with the people on board, and you know me, I already made a mod of the Chinese spy balloon when it was in the news so, um, there was this model, there’s Grand Theft Auto, and, well, here we are.” Naturally, this statement cleared up all confusion.
SkylineGTRR34Freak says in the description that “this mod was NOT made to mock anyone, so please refrain from doing so in the comments.” Regardless of this request, the comments are full of jokes and jabs about the event. In particular, many commenters have asked the modder to make the vehicle implode after diving too deep. Replying to one such comment, SkylineGTRR34Freak notes that “GTA 5 already has that implemented by default tbh.”
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The real-life vehicle was controlled from the inside using a repurposed Logitech G F710 Wireless Gamepad. As such, several commenters have astutely pointed out the “authentic” experience this mod provides by way of being a video game with controller support itself.
This GTA 5 mod is far from the first or even the most egregious of online jokes made about the event. Ever since the news broke, internet users have been in a frenzy of memes and jabs at the passengers who died aboard the sub, ranging from people trying to add the passengers to the death count of the Titanic itself to fake posters for a sequel to the 1997 classic James Cameron film, Titanic.
Many people have taken issue with this as well, however, calling these jokes insensitive and harsh. It is certainly difficult to deny the irony of the situation, being yet another maritime disaster in the same spot. James Cameron himself noted that there is a shocking comparison to be made between the original sinking of the cruise ship and this event, with both involving a captain who received and ignored various warnings given to him.
The Titan submarine used for the dive was never formally certified for such excursions, and as such its safety had been called into question several times even before this event. That may not do much good now that the vehicle has imploded and been modded into GTA 5, but as always in tragedies such as this, hopefully, the right lessons will be learned for the sake of future oceanic explorers.
How do you feel about this mod being made for GTA 5? Do you find it in poor taste, do you find it funny yourself, or do you think it serves as an appropriate tribute to those killed in the accident? Let us know in the comments and on our social media feeds!
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